Diary Prequel Package — page 299

praising Henry who has become an old "warrior" friend of mine over the years. I have testified before Committees that he either chaired or was minority about 25 times over the past 28 years. He was very appreciative of my presentation. Nov. 29, 2012 - Big day today. It was the official celebration of World AIDS Day (WAD) and there was a celebration at the State Department from 10:30 to 11:30 AM. Hillary Clinton unveiled the "Blueprint" for PEPFAR to end the AIDS Pandemic. It took place in the Franklin Room of the State department. She called me out from the audience and thanked me for being the scientific leader that got us to where we are. Beautiful chilly Fall day with bright sun. After the State event, went to the White House to celebrate WAD. Program of several speakers. I was the final speaker giving a talk about the scientific basis of being able to end the AIDS pandemic. Extremely well-received. Other speakers include: Valeria Jarrett; Michel Sidebe; Eric Goosby; Sec. Sebelius; a panel chaired by Rosie Perez. Nov. 30, 2012 - Viewed a screening at the State Department of the acclaimed movie "How to Survive a Plague" about the HIV activist movement. Host was the director of the movie, David France. After the movie I was on a panel with Mark Harrington and 2 others to discuss the movie and answer questions from David France who moderated and from the audience. Went very well. Have seen the movie before, but it still brings me to tears. I was seen several times in the movie looking extremely young from the 1980s. Also, very poignant features of Peter Staley, Mark Harrington, David Barr, Spencer Cox, Jim Eigo, Larry Kramer and many others from "the old days". In the afternoon I taped a World AIDS Day segment that showed that evening on the PBS NewsHour hosted by Ray Suarez. I thought that it was one of the best segments that I have done . December 1, 2012 - had dinner over Mark Dybul's home on Wallach Place in northwest DC together with Chris Grady, Jason Claire, Kristen Silverberg (former assistant to President George W. Bush and an old friend of mine from that administration (see above (2002) and her husband, and other guests. We celebrated the appointment of Mark to be the executive director of the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. December 3, 2012 - had a town hall meeting with the Vaccine Research Center principal investigators and other staff to reassure them that they have nothing to worry about related to the departure of Gary Nabel to Boston to work at Sanofi. Gary left the VRC solely because his wife Betsy Nabel took the job 3 years ago as President of the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. Gary has been commuting ever since to be with her on weekends and it is wearing him out. Unfortunately, Gary is leaving the best job in the world at the VRC and he has done a spectacular job. He is clearly damaging his scientific trajectory of his career by making this move. I told them (the VRC PIs) that I was extremely satisfied with the performance of the VRC and would do everything in my