In 1974 a young doctor arrived at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with one goal
in mind: to help eradicate smallpox. The only woman physician in her class in the Epidemic
Intelligence Service a two-year epidemiology training program Mary Guinan soon was selected
to join Indias Smallpox Eradication Program which searched out and isolated patients with the
disease. By May of 1975 the World Health Organization declared Uttar Pradash
smallpox-free.During her barrier-crossing career Dr. Guinan met arms-seeking Afghan insurgents
in Pakistan and got caught in the cross fire between religious groups in Lebanon. She treated
some of the first AIDS patients and served as an expert witness in defense of a pharmacist who
was denied employment for having HIV - leading to a landmark decision that still protects HIV
patients from workplace discrimination. Randy Shiltss best-selling book on the epidemic And
the Band Played On features her AIDS work.In Adventures of a Female Medical Detective Guinan
weaves together twelve vivid stories of her life in medicine describing her individual
experiences in controlling outbreaks researching new diseases and caring for patients with
untreatable infections. She offers readers a feisty engaging and uniquely female perspective
from a time when very few women worked in the field. Occasionally heartbreaking sometimes
hilarious Guinans account of her pathbreaking career will inspire public health students and
future medical detectives - and give all readers insight into that part of the government
exclusively devoted to protecting their health.
