Dr. Patricia D’Souza is Team Leader of the Clinical Laboratory Program in the Vaccine Clinical Research Branch of the Division of AIDS, NIAID. The Branch funds the HIV Vaccine Clinical Trials Network (HVTN). This is the largest international program for testing vaccines investigates ways to prevent infection with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. As a Team Leader, I work to find with some of the best and smartest scientists and clinicians around the globe to develop and standardize tests to predict the effectiveness of potential HIV vaccines before they move on to large-scale clinical trials, so resources can be steered to the most promising candidates. Based on assessments we make in my Team; vaccine candidates get advanced or buried.
I’m particularly proud of the opening in 2013 the Cape Town HVTN Immunology Laboratory (CHIL), a subsidiary of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. CHIL performs assessments of immune responses to candidate HIV and tuberculosis vaccines being tested in South Africa and neighboring countries. The laboratory also trains African scientists to carry out cutting-edge clinical laboratory research. Out of the 34 million HIV-positive people worldwide, 69% live in sub-Saharan Africa. And 91% of the world's HIV-positive children live in Africa. The facts that the NIAID cares about Africans and is training the next generation of scientists is hugely important to me. I was born and raised in Kenya. In today’s interconnected society, outbreaks of infectious diseases have worldwide implications, both directly through the transmission of disease and indirectly through the economic and political instability that these health concerns can provoke, so I’m particularly proud of the NIAID global footprint. I have visited some of the townships in South Africa and witnessed firsthand the sorrow of seeing orphans are raised by other orphans, or youth without hope. It makes realize how really important this work is. Vaccines are one of the most cost-effective medical treatments in modern civilization and are responsible for saving millions of lives. Yet, good vaccines are very difficult to design. The sooner we can get a vaccine, the more lives we save, the more hope we give.
On a personal level, I was worried about moving to a fully administrative job. I thought I would be viewed as a failed bench scientist. Decades later, I view the world as my bench. HIV/AIDS field has galvanized some of the smartest minds in the world. I feel privileged and honored to work with such smart people. There isn’t a dull moment in clinical research. I love Monday mornings. I’m excited to go to work. I feel thrilled that I get paid to do work I love! I’m proud of the story I am telling, brick by brick.