The UW mourns Dr. King Holmes, who transformed the study of sexually transmitted infections
Holmes fought stigma to turn the study of STIs into a respected field of research.
He is universally acknowledged as a founder of the academic field of sexually transmitted infection research, epidemiology, prevention and care. Dr. King Holmes, ’68, ’69, was a longtime University of Washington professor and researcher known for his brilliance in the lab, his candor and his disarming approach.
The title of his first book, written with Jennifer Wear, says it all: “How to Have Intercourse Without Getting Screwed.” Once, at a lecture, he explained the pun: “I wrote it for my kids.”
Holmes was the first to chair the UW’s Department of Global Health and a leader in the Division of Allergy & Infectious Diseases in the Department of Medicine. His work in STI research resulted in improved care—and just as important, the destigmatization of both patients and researchers around the world. He wrote the field’s definitive textbook and trained and mentored 170 scientists.
His impact was immediate and far-reaching. In 1989, with the support of the deans of the UW’s six health-sciences schools, he created the Center for AIDS and STD to unite all AIDS- and STD-related research, clinical and training programs at the UW and affiliated institutions. He had the vision to expand the UW’s impact in international health, resulting in the rapid development of groundbreaking programs in HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases around the world.
From 1984 to 1989, Holmes served as chief of medicine at Harborview Medical Center, where he supported expanding on-site research facilities with the Harborview Research & Training Building and the Ninth & Jefferson Building, which houses the Seattle King County Public Health Sexual Health Clinic, the UW Center for AIDS and STD, the UW International Clinical Research Center and another lab for research on HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.
Holmes “brought sexually transmitted diseases out of the closet,” Judith Wasserheit, a UW colleague, once told The Seattle Times. “King did pivotal research on almost every aspect, every single STD, every diagnostic or treatment.”
Holmes died March 9 at the age of 87.