Dr. Helene Gayle ’76 Delivers Annual
Barnard Distinguished Women in Science Lecture
 A pediatrician, public health physician, and internationally recognized expert in the fight against HIV/AIDS, Dr. Helene Gayle spoke just one week into her new job as president/CEO of the international poverty fighting organization CARE USA – the first woman and first person of color to lead the organization in its 60-year history. Earlier in her career, she spent five years at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 20 years at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Speaking before an audience of some 200 Barnard students, faculty, alumnae and interested members of the general public – including International Women’s Health Coalition president Adrienne Germain, New York City Council member Robert Jackson, and Global Alliance for Women’s Health president Elaine Wolfson – Gayle outlined the latest developments around women and HIV/AIDS, explained the issues driving CARE’s new global women and poverty campaign, and shared a few insights into what has made her the woman she is today.
Click the links below to watch video from the event:
Introduction by Judith Shapiro  (Real Video, 6:52)
Talk by Helene Gayle (Real Video, 31:28)
On Female-Controlled AIDS Prevention Strategies:
“Women are more vulnerable to HIV/AIDS – biologically, economically, and socioculturally (especially in Africa) – so there is an urgent need for female-controlled prevention methods. The diaphragm covers the cervix (where HIV is thought to be contracted in women), is proven to prevent pregnancy and reduce STIs, and is already approved and marketed worldwide; its use as a viable method of preventing sexual transmission of HIV/AIDS is now being studied.”
On Gender Inequality and Women in Poverty:
“CARE’s mission is to fight poverty, and women make up 75% of the poorest people in the world, so any lasting solutions to poverty mean improving women’s conditions and rights – including the right to education, the right to consensual marriage, and the right to inherit property.”
On Why Empowering Women Matters:
“It’s not about helping women vs. helping men, but that women are the point of entry. Women channel their resources into the well-being of the household, so investing in them is the best way to guarantee the future of the family and the community.”
On Becoming a Successful AIDS Researcher:
“There are many paths but all along I’ve tried to expose myself to the things that interest me, and I encourage you to ask yourself, what are the things that really ignite your passion?”
On her Barnard Education:
“Had it not been for Barnard, I would not be the person I am today. It was the place that introduced me to a broader view of the world and who I am as a woman.”
Related Links:
CARE website
Media Alert (PDF) – including Gayle biography
Barnard Women in Science Fact Sheet (PDF)
—4/11/06
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