Catherine Wilfert

Catherine Wilfert (26 July 1936 - 13 September 2020) was an American pediatrician specializing in infectious diseases. She became a professor at Duke University School of Medicine and known internationally for her work in pediatric HIV prevention. After 1993, using zidovudine during pregnancy led to an estimated reduction of mother-to-infant transmission of HIV in the United States by 75 percent In 1958, she graduated from Harvard Medical School as one of only five women in her class. She did her pediatric residency at Boston City Hospital, in the early 1960s and interned under John Enders.

Career In 1969, Wilfert became a pediatric faculty member at the Duke University School of Medicine. Her research was in virology and epidemiology of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. In 1976, she became the division chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases. and later became the new standard of care, leading to an estimated reduction of mother-to-infant transmission of HIV in the United States by 75 percent. She was an "avid gardener, seamstress, photographer and admirer of visual artists, her favorite being Georgia O'Keeffe."