Nearly 30 years ago, renowned immunologist James E.K. Hildreth, M.D., Ph.D., was compelled to start researching the virus that causes AIDS. He marveled at its enigma and was pressed into action by its ability to cut lives short and devastate communities. The disease set him on a course of medical inquiry that has included biomedical breakthroughs in understanding its transmission. In this conversation, Dr. Hildreth discusses his latest move to UC Davis, his tenure at Meharry Medical College, why he's frightened for Black women and what makes him hopeful about HIV/AIDS 30 years after the first AIDS cases were reported in the United States.