January 03, 2024
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Adaora Adimora, MD, MPH, FIDSA, an infectious diseases physician, researcher and mentor described as a trailblazer in her field, has died.
Adimora’s death was announced by the Infectious Diseases Society of America and HIV Medicine Association and by the University of North Carolina, where she was a distinguished professor of medicine, professor of epidemiology and the first African American woman in the university’s department of medicine ever to achieve tenure.
Adimora was aged 67 years and died Jan. 1 following a long illness, the university told Healio. She had been a Healio | Infectious Disease News Editorial Board member since January 2019, lending her advice and perspectives on HIV, STDs, COVID-19 and ID workforce issues.
“Dr. Adimora, a brilliant and compassionate physician scientist, left an indelible mark on our department and the broader medical community,” UNC said in a statement of remembrance, calling her “a true pioneer.”
“With over 25 years of clinical experience, she dedicated her career to treating patients with HIV disease and investigating the epidemiology of HIV and STIs,” the university wrote in the statement. “Her groundbreaking work shed light on the epidemiology of heterosexual HIV transmission among African Americans, emphasizing the role of sexual network patterns and addressing the impact of macroeconomic and social forces on racial disparities in the U.S. HIV epidemic.”
In a 2016 guest commentary written for Healio, Adimora described the Affordable Care Act’s role in improving health insurance coverage among people with HIV and the gaps in coverage that still remained, particularly among people of low socioeconomic status and Black patients.
“Ada was a brilliant person. She was a passionate advocate for health equity and HIV prevention, particularly among women,” Healio | Infectious Disease News Editorial Board Member Carlos del Rio, MD, executive associate dean at Emory University School of Medicine, told us. “She mentored many but influenced thousands. She will be missed.”
Adimora was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2019 and held various advisory positions in her career, including on the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS, the HHS guidelines panel for HIV treatment and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ advisory council, UNC noted.
She “exemplified the difference a single person can make in the world,” IDSA President Steven K. Schmitt, MD, FIDSA, and HIVMA Chair Allison Agwu, MD, ScM, FIDSA, said in a joint statement. “We are grateful for her generosity and service to IDSA and HIVMA. May her compassion and commitment to health equity and science continue to inspire us all.”
Adimora received a BA from Cornell University in 1977, an MD from the Yale University School of Medicine in 1981 and completed an internship and residency in internal medicine at Boston City Hospital from 1981 to 1984, according to a version of her curriculum vitae posted online. She was a clinical and research fellow in ID at Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York from 1984 to 1986 and received an MPH from UNC in 1993.
Her husband, Paul Godley, MD, PhD, MPP, was vice dean for diversity and inclusion at the UNC School of Medicine before his death in 2019. They had a son and daughter together.
Adimora’s funeral will be held Monday, Jan. 8, starting at 12 p.m. at the World Overcomers Christian Church in Durham, North Carolina, according to the university. In lieu of flowers, Adimora’s family requests that people consider donating to the Southern Coalition for Social Justice.
We will add more remembrances to this story as we receive them.
References:
- Adaora Alise Adimora, MD, MPH. https://sph.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/112/2016/10/CV_Ada_Adimora.pdf. Curriculum vitae.
- IDSA & HIVMA on the passing of ID & HIV leader Adaora Adimora, MD, MPH, FIDSA. https://www.idsociety.org/news–publications-new/articles/2024/idsa–hivma-on-the-passing-of-id–hiv-leader-adaora-adimora-md-mph-fidsa/. Published Jan. 2, 2024. Accessed Jan. 3, 2024.
- In memory of Dr. Ada Adimora — A trailblazing physician scientist and mentor. https://www.med.unc.edu/medicine/news/in-memory-of-dr-ada-adimora-a-trailblazing-physician-scientist-and-mentor/. Published Jan. 3, 2023. Accessed Jan. 3, 2023.
- Remembering Paul Godley, UNC School of Medicine vice dean for diversity and inclusion. https://unclineberger.org/news/remembering-paul-godley-unc-school-of-medicine-vice-dean-for-diversity-and-inclusion/. Published April 4, 2019. Accessed Jan. 3, 2024.
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