Sally Lynn Hodder , M . D .
Professor and Associate Vice President for Clinical and Translational Research , WVU , and Director , West Virginia Clinical & Translational Science Institute
JACKIE WHETZEL
Sally Hodder , M . D ., is an infectious disease physician who has spent most of her career focusing on HIV treatment and prevention .
Hodder graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor ’ s degree in chemistry from Mount Holyoke College in 1976 and earned a medical degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine ( CWRUSOM ) in 1980 , during which time her research interest was piqued .
“ As a medical student in Cleveland , I was surrounded by many of the giants of 20th century infectious diseases ,” she recalls . “ Among them was Dr . Fred Robbins — CWRUSOM dean and winner of the 1954 Nobel Prize for growing the polio virus , a necessary step to the later vaccine .”
After medical school , Hodder interned at the University of California San Francisco , where she saw patients with a new disease — later named AIDS — that was not reported until near the end of her internship . Hodder also witnessed the emergence of HIV / AIDS in Africa , where she spent time working on a research project .
“ It is no surprise that HIV / AIDS has defined much of my career ,” she says . “ In those early years of the HIV epidemic , nothing was known about how best to treat HIV . Research provided solutions that took HIV from being a death sentence to a manageable chronic disease .”
Hodder later joined the faculty at
CWRUSOM . After 10 years , she left Cleveland when her spouse accepted a professional opportunity on the East Coast . The move offered new opportunities for Hodder as well , and she joined Bristol Myers Squibb in 2000 and was named vice president of virology medical affairs in 2002 , overseeing more than 100 worldwide trials .
“ It was an exciting time in HIV research , as better tolerated drugs that controlled HIV were being developed , including the first once daily single tablet regimen ,” she says .
Hodder left Bristol Myers Squibb in 2006 to build an HIV program at Rutgers University . At the time , Newark , NJ , had
Photo by West Virginia Clinical & Translational Science Institute .
the highest proportion of women among persons living with HIV in the U . S . Under Hodder ’ s leadership , the program received National Institutes of Health ( NIH ) funding for HIV prevention and treatment trials . As there was limited understanding of HIV incidence among American women , Hodder was funded to lead an NIHsupported study of HIV among 2,099 participants .
While her work there was impactful , she was recruited by West Virginia University ( WVU ) in 2014 to direct the West Virginia Clinical & Translational Science Institute ( WVCTSI ), the mission of which is to build research infrastructure that addresses health disparities in the Mountain
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WEST VIRGINIA EXECUTIVE