Sarah Gutin, PhD, MPH, (middle) with her partner, Ben, and friend, Meritt, before AIDS Walk San Francisco in 2013. Photo by Sarah Gutin
AIDS Walk San Francisco and UC San Francisco have formed an unbreakable bond through the decades.
The University – a trailblazer in HIV/AIDS care, prevention and research – has been involved in the storied event each year since its inception in 1987, often finishing among the top five fundraising teams. With its roots tracing back to 1864, UCSF is a San Francisco institution that has served the city and community for 160 years and counting.
As the 2024 edition of AIDS Walk San Francisco gets underway in Golden Gate Park next month, that long-time partnership will grow even stronger.
Sarah’s Cause
Last year, UCSF teams participating in AIDS Walk San Francisco raised more than $50,000 for programs and services that serve people living with HIV.
The University’s fundraising success has been driven by passionate individuals like Sarah Gutin, PhD, MPH, assistant professor in the UCSF School of Nursing’s Department of Community Health Systems.
Gutin has been close to HIV as a learner and researcher for many years, first joining the fight as a professional when she moved to South Africa in 2004 to begin her master’s degree in public health at the University of Cape Town. There, Gutin got involved in community-based projects serving people living with HIV and was part of prevention research – all while South Africa was dealing with the worst HIV epidemic in the world at the time.
“2024 marks 20 years that I have been involved with HIV prevention and care research and projects. I wanted to commemorate this anniversary,” Gutin said. “It felt really important to take stock about where HIV/AIDS is now. I want to raise as much as I can for the walk and local organizations. That’s why I’ve set an ambitious fundraising goal this year.”
Gutin’s passion for HIV prevention and care dates back to high school.
That interest has followed her on a winding path that’s gone from her native New Jersey to the University of Michigan, South Africa and Uganda, UCSF, back to Michigan for her PhD degree and now a faculty position at UCSF. “It was UCSF that was really doing the cutting-edge HIV research,” Gutin said of what drew her to San Francisco.
Some of that work at UCSF included Carol Dawson-Rose, PhD, RN, FAAN, and now the dean of the School of Nursing, as Gutin worked on her HIV prevention project in Mozambique, yet another connection to a continent struggling to address the needs of people living with HIV.
Throughout her career, Gutin has found time to participate in and fundraise for AIDS Walk events across the country in places like Philadelphia, Detroit and San Francisco. In 2024, she’s set a personal fundraising goal of $6,000 on the School of Nursing team – a number that would almost double the money she’s raised over the years.
“AIDS Walk gives us a chance to come together and reflect on where we’ve been and where we’re going,” Gutin said. “Despite so many years of work, the stigma surrounding HIV is still there. We can come together and stand up to that stigma.”
Gutin is currently working on research related to safer conception for HIV-affected couples. “In Uganda, we had been doing training for HIV community health workers and a woman living with HIV came up to me at the end of the training and she was tearful,” Gutin recalled. “She said, ‘I didn’t know I could get pregnant safely.’ I gave her a big hug. It’s moments like that that stay with you and are so meaningful. It’s the reason why I continue to do this work.”
Read the complete story on the UCSF News website.