A Unique Role in the San Francisco AIDS Office

Bridge HIV has been fighting HIV/AIDS since the epidemic began. Our journey started with the San Francisco Department of Public Health’s City Clinic. From 1978 to 1982, City Clinic studied hepatitis B in gay and bisexual men. This research led to the first licensed Hepatitis B vaccine in the U.S. . Soon after researchers discovered that the AIDS epidemic affected this same group of men. So, those in the hepatitis B studies were invited to join a new study, the San Francisco City Clinic Cohort Study (SFCCC). Data from this study helped the discovery that AIDS was caused by a sexually transmitted agent.

The SF Department of Public Health soon formed more teams. They aimed to track the HIV/AIDS epidemic, start prevention efforts, and coordinate treatment. Our group, leading the City Clinic Cohort Study, and these teams formed the original AIDS Office in the SFDPH.

After the discovery that HIV caused AIDS, men in the City Clinic Cohort Study were asked to allow testing for HIV antibodies in their stored blood samples. The tests revealed the history of HIV infection among some of these men, in some cases dating back to 1978. The City Clinic Cohort Study eventually became a world-renowned resource for understanding HIV infection and disease.

The original Hepatitis B research came from the long public health tradition of looking for ways to stop disease. That tradition continues in our research today. Decades later, we function as a grant-funded research unit of the San Francisco Department of Public Health. We engage daily with diverse Bay Area communities and global networks. And we are proud to be local leaders in groundbreaking HIV research that aims to end the pandemic.

In those early days, we helped identify the leading risk factors for HIV. We also found the most common signs of disease progression. Later, we developed into a clinical trials unit, testing HIV prevention strategies. San Francisco is unique in this. We are one of the few public health departments with our own HIV clinical research unit.

We take great pride in our heritage. Our mission: pioneering HIV prevention studies to revolutionize public health outcomes. We push boundaries, seeking breakthroughs that transform lives and communities worldwide.

Learn more about the studies we’re currently enrolling at HelpFightHIV.org.

Explore key research studies from our history.