Remembering AIDS warrior Sue Cowell

Sue Cowell – friend, colleague, AIDS warrior – died on Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023.

As I've been putting my things together to go to the UR libraries, I found a folder about Sue with some things that we've done.

Sue and I first met in 1977. Our first jobs were with the University Health Service. She was a new nurse practitioner and I was a new infectious disease doctor. That was the beginning of a long road of dealing with HIV and LGBT issues.

John Altieri, left, Sue Cowell and Dr. Bill Valenti in 1983 after a meeting of the Rochester Area AIDS Task Force. Provided by Dr. Bill Valenti

She was a mover and a shaker and she was right on top from the beginning. She stood out as an AIDS advocate. She wanted to get people tested and she wanted to overcome the stigma.

She helped write a paper that was published in 1986 that looked at T cells of the immune system in gay men. They were studying patients in the University Health Service. They made an important conclusion. They said that HIV was responsible or played an important role in the immune problems associated with AIDS.

Sue Cowell added to research that helped further knowledge about HIV/AIDS. Provided by Dr. Bill Valenti

Fast-forward to 2015, when a group of people and the then-Gay Alliance established the Sue Cowell Scholarship Fund at the Rochester Area Community Foundation. I found the remarks that Tim Tompkins and I made.

Tim talked about Sue Cowell’s top 10. They talk about establishing AIDS Rochester. AIDS Rochester in 1985 started on Sue Cowell’s front porch on Wilmer Street. And then in 2010, it merged with community health Network to form Trillium Health.

Tim says at the end, the No. 1 thing is that you have been many of the spokes in our community wheel. That says it all.

She also was good at using her contacts. When we were setting up our PrEP program, she put us in touch with the Calamus Foundation in New York. They ended up funding our program, the first investment in HIV prevention outside of New York City. I thanked her for that. “Networker extraordinaire. The work that you've done and your efforts on our behalf made a gigantic difference in the lives of thousands of people in the Rochester region. As you move to end the HIV epidemic in New York state, you are a star in my book and always will be.”

That's the truth.

Sue, you did a great job. I wish we could have had you for longer.

Rest well, my friend.