How the Funds Raised at AIDS Walk Help UCSF’s HIV Research and Programming

By Eric Brooks ( article is listed here)

UC San Francisco’s ties to AIDS Walk San Francisco go back decades.

But the funds raised at each event, including this year’s walk, will advance critical HIV research, care, and programming at the university for decades more. 

“All the money that comes in every year goes out to places like UCSF,” said Robert Mansfield, long-time AIDS Walk treasurer and board member, and executive assistant to UCSF Institute for Global Health Sciences Executive Director Payam Nahid.

Hundreds of teams participate in AIDS Walk.

Each year, AIDS Walk board members select up to 20 co-beneficiary teams to receive up to 80% of the funds they raise for the event, which amounts to their overall total minus AIDS Walk registration fees. Four teams from UCSF are always included in that group: Ward 86, UCSF HIVE, UCSF 360: Positive Care and Women's HIV Program, and the UCSF Alliance Health Project.

In all, last year’s entire UCSF coalition raised an impressive $100,657.

Of that amount, about $71,000 went directly back into UCSF’s many HIV programs.

In 2024, each UCSF team received a $5,000 match of what they raised, and the top fundraisers – UCSF’s 360 and Alliance Health Project (AHP) teams – received bonuses on top of that, Mansfield said. Both teams raised a combined $43,000 for AIDS Walk 2024 and got back about $58,000 in total after all was said and done, he added.

Funds going back to the UCSF HIVE Clinic, a perinatal HIV clinic based at Zuckerburg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, support intensive clinical care and social work services to pregnant people living with HIV and families affected by HIV. That includes operations and educational materials for patients and providers around topics such as safe pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use during pregnancy and infant feeding choices for people living with HIV.

The fundraising support we receive this year will go toward our most pressing needs.” 

Monica Hahn, MPH, MS, MD

“This is of critical importance, especially as women, children, and families are often overlooked in major HIV funding and publicity efforts,” said Monica Hahn, MPH, MS, MD, HIVE medical director and clinical professor, UCSF Department of Family and Community Medicine. “The fundraising support we receive this year will go toward our most pressing needs.” 

The same goes for Emily Huang’s ambitious personal fundraising goal.

The project coordinator in the UCSF Division of General Internal Medicine and policy analyst in the UCSF Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Services first walked at the event in 2001, just after she joined UCSF. She then joined the School of Nursing’s AIDS Walk team in 2003, later serving as team captain for many years. This year, Huang is part of the AHP team, as she’s involved in one of the organization’s studies on post-traumatic stress disorder treatments potentially improving well-being and reducing symptoms for LGBTQIA+ people. 

Nancy Hessol (left), MSPH, Lewis Lehman (center), MD, and Emily Huang (right) participate in AIDS Walk San Francisco 2022. Image provided by Emily Huang

“This year, I set a goal of $2,500 because it's my 25th year participating in AIDS Walk,” Huang said. “I decided to go big.”

As an AIDS Walk participant for many years preceding his time as treasurer, Mansfield has seen UCSF’s commitment to promoting health worldwide show itself – literally – time and again. He expects the same next month at Golden Gate Park.

“I'm always very proud of the fact that UCSF is in the community and we show up at events like this,” he said. “It really warms my heart when I see our people out there.”

UCSF’s overall fundraising goal is $110,000.

UCSF Teams at AIDS Walk San Francisco 

Neuroscience at UCSF
UCSF 360: Positive Care and Women’s HIV Program
UCSF Alliance Health Project
UCSF Campus Life Services
UCSF Contact/Call Center
UCSF Department of Cell and Tissue Biology
UCSF HIVE

UCSF Institute for Global Health Services
UCSF Neurology
UCSF Real Estate
UCSF School of Nursing
Ward 86
Team UCSF

UCSF faculty, staff, and community members gather for AIDS Walk on Sunday, July 16, 2023, in San Francisco. Photo by Noah Berger