13th RCMI International Symposium on Health Disparities: Dr. James Hildreth

The most memorable aspect of this weeklong conference dedicated to Dr. Sidney McNairy was the presentation of James Hildreth, MD, PhD.  An accomplished HIV research scholar who completed his education at Harvard and John Hopkins, he has contributed to the advancement of RCMI research institutions including Meharry Medical School.  His presentation was invited in response to being selected the 2012 recipient of the Fred C. Greenwood Award.

Dr. Hildreth’s presentation was both humble and awe inspiring.  He talked about his early life, and the inspiration to attend medical school sparked by the death of his father that he attributed to a lack of health care given to African Americans at the time.  He was able to explain his research to the general audience without losing them by being overly detailed while not talking down to them through oversimplification.  He described his current position as Dean of the College of Biological Sciences, University of California, Davis and his vision for the development of a new paradigm for biological research, which he labeled translational biology.  He emphasized how much data can be generated in modern day research, and how the bottleneck is now analysis of data rather than its generation.

Just to emphasize how powerful our data generating capacity is, a few speakers including Dr. Hildreth contrasted the past to the present.  Indeed, it took 6-8 years and 1 billion dollars of funding to originally sequence the human genome – the so-called Human Genome Project.  Now, individual human genome analysis takes only a few days, and the cost is working its way down very rapidly to ONE thousand dollars.

Dr Hildreth provided a personal perspective targeted to inspire the new investigators in the audience.  It’s really not what he said that was novel, but the way he said it.  From humble beginnings he projected an understated clarity, energy and passion to his presentation that was genuine and sincere.  His accomplishments, impressive as they are, were presented as an inspiration for others - to follow their dreams and passion as he has done, rather than to serve the needs of other or just do what is expected at the institution.  When he described the feeling and excitement of new discovery, of being the only human in the world to possess a new morsel of knowledge, he had the audience paralyzed in thought, as he had truly captured the imagination of the audience as someone who they truly believed experienced a moment of clarity, a moment of exhilaration, and a corresponding sense of fulfillment.             

His presentation and tenor lacked any trace of self-aggrandizement, arrogance or pride.  Indeed, he seemed almost embarrassed to detail his stellar accomplishments, a wonderful example for others to see in a world showered by ubiquitous displays of dishonesty, self-interest, arrogance, megalomania and detachment.   What a wonderful contrast from this cynical view of human behavior for us to witness.

Indeed, I’ve been sitting uncomfortably (uncomfortable chairs, bad back, leg cramps, neck pain, etc) in the audience anxious to learn from others during most of my early and adult life spanning more almost 60 years.  Presentations have spanned the broad range of education and research topics; credentials of the presenters range from almost none to Nobel Prize laureates.  Most relate to their audience adequately, but few inspire.   Some expose their average intellect through their inability to articulate; some cloak this through diligent preparation and a confident and positive stage presence – like window dressing.  Some are brilliant, but their mind is too focused or cluttered, their social and presentation skills so lacking that their lectures are a reflection of their convoluted cerebral circuitry - precluding any opportunity to articulate their thoughts.  We maybe truly impressed with these individuals for what they have discovered, but learn nothing from their attempt to communicate. It seems that their minds and mouths are travelling at different speeds and maybe directions, as when the mouth has completed one thought, it goes back to the mind for the next segment that has leapfrogged way beyond the connecting point the mouth was looking for. Finally, some of the best presenters are nobodies from nowhere, who have a natural ability to relate to their audience and impart their insight and wisdom effortlessly. 

Dr. Hildreth qualifies for none of the descriptions detailed above.  He is both intelligent and communicative.  He is accomplished and humble.  He has proven himself as a researcher, as an educator, as an administrator, as a pubic servant, and as an outstanding visionary and inspiring role model.  It is truly rare to witness someone who is so skilled in so many ways, truly rare.