Don Francis's Mission – Kids and Kids' Health

Dr. Don Francis, Vaxgen

Don Francis, a pioneer in the field of HIV/AIDS research, had a long history as a pediatrician and an employee of the CDC before he joined Genentech to develop an AIDS vaccine. He realized that the only way to truly combat AIDS was to develop a vaccine. He chose Genentech because it was the world leader on vaccines at that time, but he became disappointed when the development was not going anywhere and decided to start his own company.