Dr. Alan Kristal: Activist & Researcher

Dr. Alan Kristal discusses his professional and personal journey from New York to Seattle surrounding the AIDS crisis. Kristal was a founding member of the New York AIDS Network, the forerunner to Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC). In the early years, difficulty establishing specifics around the disease and it’s causes, coupled with public fear, made control and care an arduous task. Kristal moved to Seattle in 1986 after New York’s death toll was too much to handle. However, the crisis was not contained to New York, and his partner died in Seattle from complications from AIDS in 1990. Even through the tragedy brought on by the AIDS crisis, he attributed his love of life to years of knowing that every day is precious. Dr. Kristal was member Emeritus at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and UW Professor Emeritus of Epidemiology. He died at age 66 of pancreatic cancer on March 22, 2019.