Denise Maillet Main is a leading

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

activist and a preeminent doctor in the

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

Bay area. Main is the President of Siempre Unidos California, and is Director of the Prenatal Diagnosis Center at California Pacific Medical Center.

Biography

Born on February 8, 1950, to Andre and Vera Maillet in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, Main grew up in

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

and

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

, returning to the United States only for college. Main received her B.A. degree from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in 1972. She then graduated from Medical School at the University of Vermont College of Medicine in 1977. She did her internship at

St. Louis Children's Hospital St. Louis Children's Hospital is a dedicated pediatric hospital in St. Louis, Missouri, and has a primary service region covering six states. As the pediatric teaching hospital for Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis Children's Hos ...

in 1978 and had residencies there and

Barnes-Jewish Hospital Barnes-Jewish Hospital is the largest hospital in the U.S. state of Missouri. Located in the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis, it is the adult teaching hospital for the Washington University School of Medicine and a major component of ...

from 1979 through 1982. Main received a fellowship from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

in 1984. Main is board certified in Obstetrics and gynaecology, maternal fetal medicine,

medical genetics Medical genetics is the branch tics in that human genetics is a field of scientific research that may or may not apply to medicine, while medical genetics refers to the application of genetics to medical care. For example, research on the caus ...

, and

pediatrics Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until th ...

. She has published over 30 peer-reviewed articles and has been cited in .

Career

AIDS work

Starting with a trip to

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

in 1995 as with St. Stephen's Episcopal Church,

Belvedere, CA Belvedere is a residential incorporated city located on the San Francisco Bay in Marin County, California, United States. Consisting of two islands and a lagoon, it is connected to the Tiburon Peninsula by two causeways. At the 2020 census, the ...

, Main saw the urgent need for anti-retroviral medication. Main is the president of

Siempre Unidos Siempre Unidos is the leading care provider for HIV-positive individuals in Honduras. It is a unique fusion of a local self-help group and a US-based not-for-profit, ensuring that the services provided are closely tied to the needs of the communit ...

California. In 2007, the Yale College of Divinity recognized her important work with an honorary doctor of humane letters.

Maternal fetal medicine

Main has served on the board of the Society of Maternal Fetal Medicine and was a founding fellow of the American College of Medical Genetics. In 1990, she established California Pacific's Prenatal Diagnosis Center, which has grown into one of the most respected Prenatal Diagnosis centers in the United States. Main regularly appears on lists of the best doctors in maternal-fetal medicine.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Main, Denise 1950 births Living people American HIV/AIDS activists Yale College alumni University of Vermont alumni