HIV at 40: Amazing Advances but Challenges Remain Advertisement Donald Abrams, MD, Constance Wofsy, MD, and Paul Volberding, MD. Source: UCSF Library Special Collections Ward 84-86 Records Courtesy of UCSF HIV at 40: Amazing Advances but Challenges Remain Pioneering HIV doctor Paul Volberding and veteran activist Gregg Gonsalves reflect on the legacy of AIDS and its implications for COVID-19. Advertisement On June 5, 1981, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Report (MMWR) published the first report of AIDS, describing five cases of unusual Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) among previously healthy young gay men in Los Angeles. On July 1, his first day on the job, Paul Volberding, MD, then age 31, saw the first Kaposi sarcoma (KS) patient admitted to San Francisco General Hospital (SFGH). Two days later, a second MMWR report described 10 more cases of PCP among gay men in Los Angeles and San Francisco, as well as 26 cases of KS. A follow-up report in August included more than 100 cases.