Noted scientist delivers Health, Equity, and Inclusion Lecture

Quillen College of Medicine cosponsored a guest lecture by noted scientist, physician, and administrator Dr. James E.K. Hildreth, who spoke at East Tennessee State University on Oct. 13, 2022.

Hildreth, President and CEO of Meharry Medical College, delivered a lecture titled “An Immunological Paradox Explained: HIV as Trojan Exosome,” which was sponsored by the university’s Black American Studies Program. It is also part of the ETSU College of Public Health’s Leading Voices in Public Health Lecture Series serving as the second annual Health, Equity, and Inclusion Lecture, which is co-sponsored by the Quillen College of Medicine and Office of Equity and Inclusion.

Hildreth is known as a world-class infectious disease expert and emerged as a respected national figure in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He was appointed to the FDA Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee in September 2020, and in February 2021, he was named to President Joe Biden’s Health Equity Task Force.

Hildreth is leading the technological, academic, and clinical transformation of Meharry Medical College in Nashville, one of the nation’s oldest and largest historically Black academic health science centers dedicated to educating physicians, dentists, researchers, and health policy experts.

Before joining Meharry Medical

College, Hildreth was Dean of the College of Biological Sciences at the University of California, Davis. He also spent 23 years at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine as a student, post-doctoral researcher, professor, and associate dean. His research on HIV resulted in international recognition for several key discoveries, including identifying the critical role of cholesterol in HIV infection.

In addition to his M.D. degree from Johns Hopkins, Hildreth holds a Ph.D. from Oxford University and a B.A. from Harvard University. His many honors include membership in the Tennessee Health Care Hall of Fame and being named among the “50 Most Influential Clinical Executives” for 2021 by Modern Healthcare.