DR. GARY BLICK, MD
Dr. Gary Blick attended medical school with the intention of becoming a plastic surgeon. But while at the University of Miami Medical School in 1981, the first reports of homosexual men contracting rare pneumonias (Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia) and skin cancers (Kaposi’s Sarcoma) were published in the Center for Disease Control’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. This prompted Dr. Blick to make special trips to the Jackson Memorial Hospital medical wards to visit members of Miami’s gay community who were dying from an unknown illness initially referred to as Gay-Related Immunodeficiency Syndrome (GRIDS), later in 1984 renamed Human Immunodeficiency Virus, or HIV. These heart-wrenching medical experiences, which happened to occur at a time when Dr. Blick was coming to terms with his own sexuality and questioning his own motivations behind becoming a physician, determined the course for him to become the internationally renowned HIV/AIDS clinician, clinical researcher, and lecturer that he is today.
Midway through his internship at Jackson Memorial Hospital, fate brought Dr. Blick to Connecticut where he befriended the Broadway playwright Bill C. Davis. Mr. Davis invited Gary to his farm in northwest Connecticut and introduced him to Dr. Donald Evans, an HIV specialist. Conversations with Dr. Evans influenced Gary to complete his medical residency through the Yale University School of Medicine. While providing care for the daughter of Greenwich cardiologist Dr. Carl Jaeger, Gary demonstrated an expertise in HIV and showed a unique compassion for his patient. Dr. Jaeger convinced Gary to remain in Greenwich at Greenwich Hospital where he continued his work in HIV.
In 1988, fate again played a role in Dr. Blick’s life. Fear of the stigmatization associated with caring for people with HIV/AIDS caused the unexpected and abrupt termination from his medical practice at Greenwich Hospital. At this time Gary met Lucy B. McKinney, widow of the late Congressman Stewart B. McKinney, and through her graciousness and generosity it was now possible for Dr. Blick to open his own practice and focus on the care and treatment of people infected with HIV/AIDS. In turn, Dr. Blick helped Ms. McKinney form the Stewart B. McKinney Foundation which provides housing and emergency medical funding for people with HIV/AIDS.
More than 18 years later, Dr. Blick remains on the cutting edge of HIV/AIDS care, having provided medical treatment to over two thousand individuals with HIV/AIDS. Dr. Blick has been the Principal Investigator in over 75 clinical trials designed to benefit people with HIV/AIDS, and authored or co-authored more than 80 medical manuscripts and scientific presentations regarding therapies and treatments for those with HIV/AIDS. He continues to lecture locally, nationally, and internationally to physicians, scientists, clinical researchers, healthcare workers, and the public regarding HIV/AIDS care and treatment. He is one of the original members of the American Academy of HIV Medicine (AAHIVM) and is certified as an HIV specialist.
Dr. Blick remains active in the community in many capacities. He is an advisor to the Guardian Health Association, Connecticut’s main HIV/AIDS information resource, and is a member of the Executive Board of the Mid-Fairfield AIDS Project (MFAP), and the Connecticut AIDS Drug Assistance Plan (CADAP) formulary committee. He provides free HIV and STD education, counseling, medications, and preventative vaccinations at CT Gay Pride events and GLBT community centers. In 2003, Dr. Blick formed the Connecticut HIV/AIDS/STD Task Force to develop a model for reducing the latest epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV in Connecticut’s MSM community. He remains an advisor, consultant, and speaker for some the world’s most prestigious pharmaceutical companies in the HIV/AIDS field.
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