Join our distinguished panel as they reflect on the early days of another pandemic that left lasting impacts on society: the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980s. Our panelists will reflect on their experiences as caregivers, activists/ advocates, and authors when this disease first appeared as a medical mystery and discuss how its course sparked social, political, and cultural change. Loyola’s Mark Kuczewski, PhD, and Gail Hendler, MLS, will moderate.

Rebecca Makkai, MA

Her novel, The Great Believers, was a finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award; it was the winner of the ALA Carnegie Medal, the Stonewall Book Award, the LA Times Book Prize, the Clark Fiction Prize, the Midwest Independent Booksellers Award, and the Chicago Review of Books Award. She is on the MFA faculties of Sierra Nevada College and Northwestern University and is the Artistic Director of StoryStudio Chicago.

Paul O’Keefe, MD

Paul O’Keefe completed his MD at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine in 1971. He joined the Stritch faculty as Assistant Professor of Medicine in 1977 and established the Division of Infectious Diseases in the Department of Medicine. During
his time at Stritch, he partnered with the Cook County Department of Public Health to establish the Maywood Clinic. The clinic continues to operate at the Maywood outpatient facility and is now known as Access to Care.

MK Czerwiec, RN, MA

MK Czerwiec is a nurse, cartoonist, educator, and co-founder of Graphic Medicine. She is the author of Taking Turns: Stories from HIV/AIDS Care Unit 371. She also co-authored the Graphic Medicine Manifesto in 2014. Her latest book, Menopause: A Comic Treatment, was released in May 2020