AIDS Memorial Quilt frames discussion

A 12’-by-12’ AIDS Memorial Quilt — created to memorialize lives affected by AIDS — served as the backdrop for a discussion about HIV/AID that drew participants from on and off the UW-Madison campus, on December 11, 2014, at UW-Madison’s Red Gym.

The discussion featured Dr. Ryan Westergaard, an assistant professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, talking about his research combating HIV/AIDS and providing care to patients in Dane County.

Rachel Bowers-Sword, an HIV case manager at the AIDS Network in Madison, also spoke. Bowers-Sword served as a community health volunteer with the Peace Corps in Ecuador (2011-13), where she helped a university design and implement a health campaign (starting with a fair for World AIDS Day) and facilitated student training about sexual health and HIV/AIDS prevention.

The event was sponsored by the Division of International Studies, the Global Health Institute, and the UW-Madison Peace Corps Office.

Peace Corps AIDS quilt 017 Dr. Ryan Westergaard talks about providing care to HIV/AIDS patients. Click here to see more photos from the event.