Scholarly & Research Technologies
Interview with Judith L. Axelrod, MD by Norma M.T. Braun, MD, 6/29/17
Abstract of Recording
Judith L. Axelrod, MD is on the staff of the Division of Infectious Diseases of Department of Medicine at St. Luke’s Hospital. She speaks about her early influences, her training, professional relationships, her experience as a woman working in medicine in the 1970s through the 2000s, and how her work meshed with her family life. Dr. Axelrod also discusses the beginnings of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. During her interview, Dr. Axelrod speaks about Donna Mildvan, MD, Arthur Ashe, John Hutchinson, MD, Solomon A. Berson, MD, Theodore B. VanItallie, MD, Michael H. Grieco, MD., Jeanne Baer, MD, Airlie Cameron, MD, and Sami A. Hashim, MD.
Transcript of Judith L. Axelrod, MD interview (INT 0172)
Video Recording of Judith L. Axelrod, MD interview (INT 0172)
Biographical Sketch
Dr. Axelrod was born and raised in Massachusetts, where her father was a general practice physician. Her interest in medicine grew from his influence, as she joined him in making house calls as a young girl, and enjoyed reading through his medical textbooks, finding her interest drawn to the chapters on microbiology, and bacteriology and immunology. She was pre-med at Wellesley College, where she was encouraged to pursue medical school by her Dean. She graduated from Cornell University Medical College, and spent a year of residency at Montefiore Hospital, transferring to Mount Sinai for the second year and Fellowship training (1969-1972). She was hired by Dr. Theodore VanItallie for the Infectious Disease Division of the St. Luke’s Hospital Department of Medicine at the end of her fellowship, and was the head of the unit between 1976 and 1980.