Helen C. Epstein (born 1961) is an American professor of human rights and public health, with a special interest in Uganda and other countries in East Africa.
[1] In 1993, she moved to Uganda in search of an AIDS vaccine and taught molecular biology in the medical school at Makerere University in Kampala for a year.
Although Epstein's efforts to find a vaccine failed, she was able to witness firsthand the suffering caused by HIV, which became the subject of her book The Invisible Cure: Why We Are Losing The Fight Against AIDS in Africa (2007).
This autobiographical account discusses 15 years of observing both the epidemic and the reactions to it of Western scientists, humanitarian agencies, and the communities most affected by AIDS deaths.
[2] After the publication of her 2007 book, Epstein continued to research political and humanitarian issues in Uganda and elsewhere in East Africa.