Best of CASE District VII Award
 

Institution: University of California, San Francisco

Title of entry: AIDS Care at UCSF: One Doctor's Journey Through the Epidemic

About this entry: This seven-minute documentary-style video profiles Dr. Paul Volberding, one of the physicians who treated the first AIDS patients at San Francisco General Hospital and helped establish UCSF as a global leader in HIV/AIDS care and research. Produced to accompany a feature in UCSF Magazine, the primary audience included donors, alumni, faculty, staff, and the general public. The strategic goals were to elevate UCSF’s reputation, steward donor relationships through meaningful storytelling, and educate audiences about UCSF’s role in transforming a deadly epidemic into a manageable chronic disease.
The video combines a present-day interview with Dr. Volberding and carefully curated archival footage from the 1980s, including historic interviews, hospital imagery, and scenes from San Francisco during the height of the AIDS crisis. The narrative moves between past and present, allowing viewers to experience the urgency, fear, and stigma of the early epidemic alongside the scientific and ethical breakthroughs that emerged from UCSF’s response.
Distributed via UCSF Magazine, Vimeo, YouTube, and a short-form cut on Instagram for World AIDS Day, the video achieved strong qualitative and engagement outcomes. 25% of viewers completed the full seven-minute piece, and the Instagram short became UCSF’s highest-performing video of the year, earning over 1,000 likes and meaningful comments from clinicians, alumni, and community members. The project reinforced UCSF’s legacy of compassionate, stigma-free care and translational research that continues to shape global medicine.