Gene Copello, the executive director of The AIDS Institute, died Oct. 7 at the age of 49 at a Washington, D.C., area hospital. The cause of death involved complications of kidney disease.
Copello received his doctorate in public policy and medical ethics from Vanderbilt University, where he directed the Vanderbilt AIDS Project. That led to six years heading up the San Mateo (Calif.) County AIDS Program, and a stint as chief of HIV services for the San Francisco Department of Health (SFDH) .
The AIDS Institute evolved from a community-based organization in the 1980s to later add ties to the University of South Florida College of Medicine. Copello first worked with the medical school and in the Tampa office of the Institute. He opened the Washington, D.C., policy and program office in 2003.
It quietly became one of the most influential HIV advocacy groups in the capital, principally through Copello's leadership in uniting other groups doing similar work. He exemplified the Washington maxim that much can be accomplished if one does not focus on who gets credit for the accomplishments.
He worked tirelessly to ensure that advocacy and resource allocation reflected the changing demographic and geographic face of the epidemic.
In a movement often dominated by anger, ego and larger-than-life personalities, Copello was the opposite. He had a zen-like calm about him, a low key sense of mirth, a quiet knowledgeable professionalism and an abiding dedication to teaching and mentorship that garnered praise from a broad spectrum of those who met him.
One key to understanding his temperament and orientation might be found in the fact that he earned dual masters degrees in divinity and social work.
'He was one of the few AIDS office staffers [at the San Francisco Department of Health] who would return phone calls from me when I was reporting,' said Cynthia Laird, now editor of The Bay Area Reporter.
'Even though we were adversaries when he was head of the AIDS office, I always liked Gene,' said activist Michael Petrelis. 'He returned my calls, not because he wanted to implement an idea of mine, but, he claimed, to hear what a critic of the DPH's HIV program had to say. I'll remember Gene as someone who went out of his way while in San Francisco to bring more voices to the AIDS debate.'
Michael King, an AIDS Institute board member from Alaska, said Copello 'brought out the best in people and the best in me. His example always encouraged me to give my best and do my best for the Institute and in life as well.'
Michelle Long, director of HIV Health Services at SFDH, called Copello 'a strong advocate for equality and fairness in the distribution of scarce resources for persons with HIV/AIDS.'
'He was a fervent leader in the domestic AIDS movement,' said Paul Kawata, executive director of the National Minority AIDS Council. 'Dr. Copello is irreplaceable.'
He is survived by his partner, Frederick Wright.
