[1] While finishing her doctoral degree at Washington State University, Hillier studied the bubonic plague and began to specialize in sexually transmitted diseases.
[1] She co-published a study in 1991 titled Reliability of diagnosing bacterial vaginosis is improved by a standardized method of gram stain interpretation[3] and attended the first White House Conference on HIV and AIDS in 1995 but was met with resistance.
[6] In 2009, it was announced that Hillier would lead a National Institutes of Health funded project to identify novel bacteria that might play a role in the development of pelvic inflammatory diseases.
"[8] The following year, Hillier led a study in five countries of sub-Saharan Africa regarding the effectiveness of topical microbicides and prophylactic use of antiretroviral drugs in preventing the sexual transmission of HIV.
[6] In 2015, Hillier and Lisa Rohan conducted and concluded the first human clinical trials for antiretroviral containing vaginal film products intended to prevent HIV infection.