Adaora Alise Adimora

1956 - 2024

Adaora Alise Adimora

May 5, 1956 - January 1, 2024

Chapel Hill, North Carolina - Dr. Adaora (Ada) Alise Adimora was an extraordinary woman, mother, wife, scholar, clinician, mentor, friend, and advocate. Ada served as the Sarah Graham Kenan Distinguished Professor of Medicine at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A world-renowned physician epidemiologist, Ada dedicated her career to investigating and advocating for solutions to the pervasive racial and gender disparities heightened by the HIV epidemic. As a clinician, she provided unwavering and compassionate care to her patients. Ada departed this earth far too soon, on Monday, January 1, 2024, at age 67, surrounded by the love of her children and a wide circle of friends.

After receiving her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Cornell University, Ada earned her Medical Degree from Yale University. She went on to complete Residency at Boston City Hospital and an Infectious Disease Fellowship at Albert Einstein/Montefiore Medical Center in New York. She received a Masters in Public Health from the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). With this diverse training, she approached infectious disease risks, lived experiences and outcomes in the context of the social forces and structural factors that influenced them.

She joined the UNC faculty in 1989 as a clinical assistant professor and became a full professor in 2009. A true pioneer, she made history as the first Black woman to achieve tenure within UNC's Department of Medicine.

Ada's scholarship characterized the epidemiology of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, and the role of prevention and treatment of HIV among women. Her seminal work with long-time collaborator Victor Schoenbach highlighted the role of sexual network patterns in the spread of HIV, elucidating the importance of macroeconomic and social forces in racial disparities in the U.S. HIV epidemic. Her later work highlighted the role of incarceration in the epidemiology of HIV among Black Americans, demonstrated the increased risk of comorbidities and mortality among women with and at risk for HIV, and highlighted the complex role of structural factors, such as poverty, racism, and health insurance in health outcomes.

She was a tireless advocate for women's health and a recognized leader in the field, serving as the Chair of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) HIV Prevention Trials Network Women at Risk Committee, leading the NIH-funded Multicenter AIDS Cohort/Women's Interagency HIV Study Combined Cohort Study, and serving on The Well Project's Women and HIV/AIDS Research program, among others, thereby ensuring that women's voices were included in the national and global HIV clinical and research agenda.

Ada was invited to serve on the highest-level professional, advisory, and agenda-setting bodies: the Presidential Advisory Committee on HIV/AIDS, the NIH Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council (OARAC), the HIV Medicine Association, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Antiretroviral Treatment Guidelines Panel, and the CDC Advisory Committee to the Director.

As a testament to Ada's exceptional leadership and intellect, she was elected twice as a North American representative on the International AIDS Society's Governing Council, served as a member on the Board of Directors for the HIV Medicine Association, and was inducted as a Fellow to the Infectious Diseases Society of America. In 2019, she was elected to the National Academy of Medicine.

Despite the demands of the national and international stage, Ada made time to contribute locally. She served in the NC Department of Health Communicable Disease Control Section and co-lead the UNC Fogarty AIDS International Training and Research Program and the UNC Center for AIDS Research.

Ada's standing in the field also has been recognized by numerous awards, including The UNC Thomas Jefferson Award, the HIVMA Clinical Educator Award, the Infectious Diseases Society of America Edward H. Kass Lecture, the Johns Hopkins University B. Frank Polk Lectureship, and the University of Maryland John P. Johnson Memorial Lecture. She was selected by The Root magazine as one of the top 100 African American leaders for her leadership and service, and one of the POZ Magazine 100 as one of the "bravest, most dogged and downright effective AIDS fighters we know."

Ada was a selfless mentor to numerous students, fellows, research staff, and junior colleagues––not just at UNC but in Malawi, China, and Cameroon. She shared her time, data, and academic prowess to help them launch successful careers in clinical practice and research.

For all her awards, recognition, and international acclaim, Ada's colleagues describe her as humble, kind, quick-witted and always generous. She was passionate about work, family, life, and justice, had a great sense of humor-including about herself. She was a refined and fastidious woman, who appreciated fine food and wine, fashion, and music-especially jazz.

Ada's death is preceded by that of her soulmate, the late Dr. Paul Alphonso Godley. She is survived by two children-Alegro Nwanneka Adimora Godley and Bria Adimora Godley-who love and miss their mother and best friend.

A brief service was officiated by Pastor Andy Thompson on Monday, January 8 at 12:00 pm at World Overcomers Christian Church (2933 S. Miami Blvd. Durham, NC 27703) and will also be live streamed on the church's website for friends, colleagues and family who are unable to attend: https://www.youtube.com/@worldovercomersdurham.

In lieu of flowers, please consider contributions in Ada's honor to the Southern Coalition for Social Justice (https://southerncoalition.org/donate/).