After 20 years at founding director of UCSF's Center for the Health Professions, Ed O’Neil is stepping down to retire and Sunita Mutha has been named interim director.

After being infected with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) in a laboratory study, rhesus macaques that had more of a certain type of immune cell in their gut than others had much lower levels of the virus in their blood, and for six months after infection were better able to control the virus.

Fourth-year medical student Sam Brondfield has spent his student career exploring disease in every stage. It’s ambitious, but Brondfield — who first was interested in studying the stars — has always seen the bigger picture.