As the AIDS epidemic spread its way across America, Ian Gilson, M.D., recalls struggling with other physicians to make sense of the complicated disease that was claiming so many lives.

Gilson is an internal medicine physician who joined the fight against AIDS in its earliest days. Motivated by his compassion for AIDS patients and driven by his intellectual curiosity about the complexity of HIV, he has always been one of Wisconsin’s leading physicians on HIV care and treatment.

"Treating HIV patients has always been about problem solving. It was just so interesting and complex in the early days that I immersed myself in whatever literature there was."

Gilson served as a leading member of the Wisconsin AIDS Research Consortium, which brought important new drug therapies to HIV patients.

In 1985, Dr. Gilson cared for his first AIDS patients. Since then he has provided his patients cutting-edge treatment with compassion and support. In 2005, Gilson expanded his practice to help increase access to HIV care in Milwaukee.

Ten of his patients have been with him since he started his HIV practice.

"We’ve become old friends. We are all survivors."