Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2007. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Bay Area Reporter - November 29, 2007
Liz Highleyman, liz@black-rose.com
Dr. Sande was born on September 2, 1939, and raised in Mount Vernon, Washington. He received his medical degree from the University of Washington School of Medicine and training in internal medicine and infectious diseases at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center. He headed the Department of Medicine at the University of Virginia before taking a position as chief of medical services at San Francisco General Hospital and vice chair of the Department of Medicine of the University of California at San Francisco in 1980.
Dr. Sande had only been at SFGH for a few months when the first cases of the disease later known as AIDS began to appear. In early 1981, physicians in Los Angeles and San Francisco began to see gay men with an unusual form of pneumonia, as well as Kaposi's sarcoma (an uncommon skin cancer) and other opportunistic infections associated with weakened immunity.
As the city's primary public health hospital, SFGH became the epicenter of the new epidemic. With little information about the cause of the new syndrome - initially dubbed "gay-related immunodeficiency disease" - much less how to treat it, Dr. Sande and his colleagues learned as they went along, becoming some of the first experts in the field.
In 1983, Dr. Sande was instrumental in establishing SFGH's outpatient AIDS clinic (known as Ward 86) and the hospital's inpatient AIDS ward (Ward 5B), both the first of their kind in the United States. A decade later, he played a key role in obtaining funding for the Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology.
Dr. Sande was an influential leader in organizing the early response to AIDS, serving as chair of the Mayor's AIDS Task Force during the Dianne Feinstein administration and the University of California's Statewide AIDS Task Force. He helped create the first set of AIDS infection control guidelines - even before HIV was identified - which were widely adopted by healthcare providers. With Dr. Paul Volberding, he co-authored one of the earliest textbooks about the disease, The Medical Management of AIDS .
In 1996, Dr. Sande left SFGH to head up the Department of Medicine at the University of Utah. In 2005, he returned to Seattle and was appointed professor of medicine at his alma mater, the University of Washington School of Medicine.
While still in San Francisco, Dr. Sande had taken an interest in HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment in hard-hit sub-Saharan Africa. In 2001, he created the Academic Alliance for AIDS Care and Prevention, a partnership between North American and European infectious disease researchers and their counterparts in Uganda, and served as president of the associated nonprofit Academic Alliance Foundation. He co-founded the alliance's Infectious Diseases Institute at Makerere University in Kampala, which has trained nearly 2,000 African physicians in the care of AIDS and malaria.
Dr. Sande served as president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America in 1993. In 2006, the society presented him with its highest honor, the Alexander Fleming Award.
"Dr. Sande set the standards by which AIDS patients still are cared for and managed today," IDSA stated in bestowing the award. "Very few contributions to medical practice have had such positive and sweeping effects to the lives of both patients and providers."
Dr. Sande is survived by his wife, Jenny Lo; former wife Mary Ann Sande; son Eric; daughters, Suzanne, Missy, and Sarah; and eight grandchildren.
Donations in his memory may be made to the Dr. Merle A. Sande Memorial Fund, Academic Alliance Foundation, 1611 North Kent Street, Suite 202, Arlington, VA 22209 (www.academicalliancefoundation.org).
071129
BR071112
Copyright © 2007 - The Bay Area Reporter. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the The Bay Area Reporter.
AEGiS is a 501(c)3, not-for-profit, tax-exempt, educational corporation. AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted funding from Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Elton John AIDS Foundation, the National Library of Medicine, Pacific Life Foundation and donations from users like you.
Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2007. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.
Copyright ©1980, 2007. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .