Fresh out of college in the 1960s, Mary Guinan aspired to be an astronaut-until she learned that NASA's astronaut program wasn't recruiting women. Instead, Guinan went to medical school and became a disease detective with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Epidemic Intelligence Service. Selected to join India's Smallpox Eradication program, Guinan traveled to remote villages to isolate smallpox cases and then vaccinate all uninfected persons within a ten-mile radius. By May 1975, the World Health Organization declared Uttar Pradesh smallpox-free. During her barrier-breaking career, Dr. Guinan met arms-seeking Afghan insurgents in Pakistan and got caught in the crossfire between religious groups in Lebanon. She was one of the first medical detectives on the ground in San Francisco at the start of the AIDS crisis. And she served as an expert witness in a landmark decision that still protects HIV patients from workplace discrimination. Randy Shilts's best-selling book on the epidemic, And the Band Played On, features her AIDS work, as does the HBO movie of the same name. In Adventures of a Female Medical Detective, Guinan weaves together twelve vivid stories of her life in medicine, describing her individual experiences in controlling outbreaks, researching new diseases, and caring for patients the world over. Occasionally heartbreaking, sometimes hilarious, Guinan's account of her pathbreaking career will inspire public health students and future medical detectives-and give all readers insight into that part of the government exclusively devoted to protecting their health.
Mary Guinan, PhD, MD (INCLINE VILLAGE, NV), is the founding dean emerita of the School of Public Health at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She was the first woman to serve as the chief scientific advisor to the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Anne D. Mather (HOSCHTON, GA) was the managing editor of the CDC newsletter, the MMWR, during the years when smallpox was eradicated and AIDS was discovered.
Acknowledgments Introduction 1. My First Outbreak Investigation 2. Something to Believe In: Operation Smallpox Zero 3. A Gift of an Elephant 4. Dr. Herpes 5. Healthcare Workers and Enemy Information in a War Zone, Pakistan, 1980 6. An AIDS Needlestick at a Rundown Hotel in San Francisco, 1982 7. ACT UP Acts Up at CDC over the Definition of AIDS for Women 8. The HIV-Infected Preacher's Wife 9. Few Safe Places 10. Expert Witness for John Doe, the Pharmacist, 1991 11. The Milk Industry Challenges CDC over the Source of a Listeriosis Outbreak 12. On Getting AIDS from a Toilet Seat and Other STD Myths and Taboos References Index
"A rip-roaring read."-Nature
Light-hearted and easy to read. Guinan's stories embody the modesty and humor inherent in the culture of epidemiology as practiced by the Epidemic Intelligence Service of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. * Emerging Infectious Diseases * A punchy whodunnit. * Times Higher Education * Author Mary Guinan is a true pioneer, and the stories she tells of her early career are jaw-dropping. In every job-related battle she fought, Guinan's tenacity is impressive and empowering. * Bookworm Sez * A frank and illuminating look at how scientists-female scientists in particular-actually work to combat disease. * The Washington Post * A rip-roaring read. As a 'medical detective,' Guinan presents a series of case studies in explicit homage to super-sleuth Sherlock Holmes. * Nature *
