King Holmes was not a typical medical student. His love of research allowed him to diversify, ultimately making him a hybrid of clinician and scientist. (See CV)

After being drafted into the navy in 1964 from a medical internship at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, Holmes became an epidemiologist at a Pearl Harbor preventive medicine unit. At the same time, he studied for a PhD in microbiology at the nearby University of Hawaii.

His first task as an epidemiologist was to find a cure for penicillin-resistant gonorrhoea, which was becoming widespread onboard ships. “I had visions of working on exotic tropical diseases, such as malaria and haemorrhagic fevers, but this was the most common problematic infectious disease facing the navy at the time,” he says. He co-designed a randomized trial for a treatment that combined penicillin with probenecid, a drug that reduces blood levels of uric acid. This proved to be 100% effective in curing the disease.

After three years in Hawaii, Holmes left the navy to train in internal medicine and infectious diseases with Marvin Turck at the University of Washington in Seattle. A faculty position in pulmonary disease opened the door to a 14-year career at the US Public Health Service Hospital in Seattle, although he soon switched departments to infectious diseases. With cases of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) increasing in number, Holmes' experience meant he was in high demand.

He and several colleagues carried out their research at the Seattle-King County STD clinic until a separate clinic was built at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. There, he trained a series of fellows who went on to become leaders specializing in diseases such as gonorrhoea, chlamydia, genital herpes and, later on, AIDS.

In the mid 1980s, Holmes approached the dean at the University of Washington's School of Public Health and Community Medicine about starting a programme in international health. It didn't happen, but by 2000 a new dean had realized the dream with the creation of the Department of Global Health, which was funded in part by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Holmes begins his tenure as chair of the new department this month. He plans to provide broad interdisciplinary training by involving every school of the university.

“AIDS is the biggest challenge of my career,” he says, adding that it will take the creativity that interdisciplinary programmes foster to conquer the extensive health problems and inequities faced by developing countries.