Evolution of an Epidemic

“It’s very important to be here and talk to people, to understand what it is that makes the epidemic in South Africa different than the epidemic in America.” —Adedoyin Olateru-Olagbegi ’20

Understanding the ongoing global AIDS epidemic and the drivers of new infections is best achieved in context. That’s the rationale for HST.434 Evolution of an Epidemic, an MIT class taught each January by Howard Heller of MIT Medical and the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology Program, and Bruce Walker of the Ragon Institute and MIT’s Institute for Medical Engineering and Science. This video captures the experience of one group of MIT undergraduates who traveled for the class to the heart of the epidemic in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa.