From the Epidemiology Section of the American Public Health Association
James W. Curran, MD, MPH
Introduction by Stanley H. Weiss, MD
(Acting Chair, Awards Committee; Section Chair-Elect)
It is my delightful privilege to introduce Dr. James W. Curran, who was born in Monroe, Michigan, graduated from the University of Detroit High School, and received his BS from the University of Notre Dame.
He continued his studies at the University of Michigan for medical school, publishing his first abstract early on in medical school, a harbinger of what was to come from his industriousness and creativity. After a 1 year internship in OB/GYN, he joined the CDC in 1971 as a Clinical Research Investigator of the Venereal Disease Branch. Exemplifying his abilities to get resources, he garnered CDC-USPHS “career development training” to do a General Preventive Medicine Residency at the Harvard School of Public Health. After a fellowship at the Harvard Medical School Department of Preventive and Social Medicine during which he completed his MPH at the Harvard School of Public Health, he became Board Certified in General Preventive Medicine.
In 1975, he went to Columbus, Ohio to coordinate research for the CDC’s Venereal Disease Control Division as well as serving as the Assistant Commissioner of Health for Medical Services for the Columbus Center Health Department and as a clinical assistant professor at Ohio State University College of Medicine. In 1978, he joined the CDC Headquarters in Atlanta, as the Chief of the Operational Research Branch of the Venereal Disease Control Division.
In July 1981 he was appointed the Coordinator of the CDC “Task Force on Kaposi’s Sarcoma and Opportunistic Infections.” Over the course of the next 15 years, with nearly a dozen changes of title, he remained the Director of AIDS and HIV epidemiology and prevention activities at the CDC. More about this in a moment.
In 1995, after nearly a quarter century under the aegis of the CDC and 17 years since his last academic appointment as a clinical assistant professor, he moved next door to become the Dean of the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory. He was also appointed Professor of Epidemiology and the Director at the Emory Center for AIDS Research.
He has authored over 250 journal articles, book chapters and books, and innumerable abstracts. He served on the advisory committee for the first ten International Conferences on AIDS.
Indeed, for the 15 years he headed AIDS activities, Dr. Curran was the key person with the finger on what was happening around the world – both with respect to prevention and research.
Although his resume is long and extensive, it fails to mention that Dr. Curran is a longstanding member of the APHA epidemiology section, and we’re proud to claim him as one of our own. From 1996 to 2000, he served on the APHA Executive Board.
Dr. Curran is a fierce competitor, and he argued tirelessly for increased financial resources to fight the AIDS epidemic. This was against a backdrop of a Federal Government Executive Branch in the early 1980’s that refused to acknowledge the scientific data marshaled before it regarding the burgeoning epidemic and pandemic. A sidelight: in successfully garnering extensive resources for the CDC and by marshalling arguments on the importance of the CDC’s work, the footing of the CDC itself was shored so as to remain an independent agency helping to guard our public health.
Dr. Curran sacrificed his personal family time, globe trotting to counsel and to produce efforts from recalcitrant governments world-wide as well as in every corner of the U.S.
He also continuously sought outside counsel to ensure that the latest information got disseminated.
In the early 1980’s, he visited the scientists at NIH many times, with select meetings convened to critically examine the state of HIV/AIDS research and of research efforts. At one early meeting, he asked who thought an infectious agent was involved, getting a nearly unanimous affirmative response.
Shortly after HIV was discovered, in a large closed meeting at NIH, he asked whether the risk of developing AIDS was low or high if someone had HIV antibody. It turned out that almost no one concurred with Bob Gallo’s view – almost all thought the risk was low. Privately, I recall Dr. Curran sharing with me his concern that Gallo might nevertheless be right.
Dr. Curran critically assessed data from throughout the world, using that data to direct basic research and guide prevention efforts.
Without question, when historians write their sagas of the HIV epidemic, Dr. Curran will be pictured as a key tireless hero in the raging battle.
On a personal side, he’s a consummate gentleman, invariably inquiring with genuine interest about the lives and family of his colleagues – and he remembers key details years and decades later, just another sign of his prodigious memory coupled with humanity.
Five years ago, the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiology awarded Dr. Curran the “Pump Handle Award” for outstanding achievement in applied epidemiology.
Today, for his efforts in epidemiology and his global impact on prevention and the countless lives saved as a result of his efforts, the Epidemiology Section of APHA is delighted to honor him with the “real” John Snow Award, as our award is the only one that is officially sanctioned by The John Snow Society (which is hosted by the Royal Institute of Public Health, London, England; Dr. Curran was also inducted today at our Awards Session as an honorary member of The John Snow Society.)