(Philadelphia, PA) – Rob Roy MacGregor, MD, Emeritus Professor of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, has been recognized for his many contributions to Penn and the field of Infectious Diseases.

The first recognition of MacGregor’s longtime efforts was to rename the infectious diseases’ outpatient clinic at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) after MacGregor, who helped found the clinic in 1988. The MacGregor Infectious Diseases Clinic was re-named this May.

“Back before the AIDS epidemic, there was very little space dedicated to outpatient services for patients with infectious diseases,” said MacGregor. “But as AIDS spread I realized we were going to need these facilities. I started to look for some kind of permanent space for outpatients. I was Division Chief at the time so I did alot of the legwork finding and outfitting the space needed. We now have a very busy outpatient clinic of which I am very proud.”

The MacGregor Infectious Diseases Clinic on the third floor of HUP’s Silverstein Building has expanded to now include eight examination rooms, a nurses’ office and a pharmacy coaching room to instruct patients on how to properly take their medications. The clinic staff continues to grow as well. At any given time staff can include up to four doctors, two nurse practioners as well as a registered nurse, a pharmacist and a full-time social worker. The clinic also participates in a variety of multicenter clinical research studies.

The gratitude for Dr. MacGregor’s accomplishments didn’t stop there. During the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Medicine graduation ceremony on May 15th, 2006, MacGregor was presented with the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award. This award is given to the faculty member who illustrates professional behavior by example, who displays cultural sensitivity in working with patients and family members of diverse ethnic or religious backgrounds, and who demonstrates the highest standards of compassion and empathy in the delivery of care to patients. The award consisted of a certificate for framing and $1,000.

“In my 35 years at Penn I have always tried to emphasize we are not just dealing with disease but we are dealing with people,” MacGregor explained. Our patients should know that their doctor isn’t going to be distracted by outside influences and that we are going to be totally focused on the patient as a whole. I guess people have been hearing me say that long enough that they thought the award was appropriate.”

According to MacGregor, his career can be broken up into two very different, but equally important parts - before AIDS and after AIDS. “Before AIDS there was a broad array of things I worked on,” MacGregor said. “My particular interest was how alcohol consumption made people vulnerable to infectious disease. It was a well-known phenomenon but the causes weren’t known. That’s what I was working on in the 1970s into the 80s before the AIDS epidemic overtook us. Since then my primary focus has been on the natural history of HIV. How do other opportunistic infections attack HIV patients? How much damage do they cause?”

After 20 relentless years of AIDS research and clinical work, Emeritus status has slowed MacGregor only a little. “I enjoy what I am doing now. I can pick and choose what I do now -- which is much of the same stuff as before. And I am pleased to serve as mentor to some of my junior colleagues as I ease into semi-retirement.”

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