“I Was Doing It for My Patients”: Dr. Charlie van der Horst on His Life Fighting for Justice

Posted Jun 23, 2019
The Triangle’s health advocacy community lost one of its most outspoken voices with the death of Dr. Charlie van der Horst during a swimming race in the Hudson River. The world-renowned AIDS researcher and professor emeritus of medicine and infectious diseases at UNC was not content to fight for his patients in the exam room or from the lab bench. (Indy Week)

Related: Campus Connections

Franklin Street: Where Stories Are Made
Serving as the front door to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill since its very beginnings, Franklin Street is legendary for game days...
Mon Aug 3, 2026

Tar Heel football players get passports for Ireland
Tar Heel football players took advantage of a campus program to acquire passports ahead of the team’s season-opening game in Dublin, Ireland. Carolina’s Phillips Passport...
Sun Aug 2, 2026

Andy Griffith’s daughter reflects on her father’s legacy, North Carolina roots
For generations of tv viewers, Andy Griffith was Sheriff Andy Taylor, who was the wise and kindhearted lawman of the fictional town of Mayberry. To...
Sat Aug 1, 2026

Best-selling novelist, UNC alum Sarah Dessen reflects on her ‘Change of Plans’
At UNC, Sarah Dessen initially chose psychology as her major. But after she took a creative writing class with the late Doris Betts, she was...
Wed Jul 29, 2026