OUTBREAKS AND PANDEMICS

Daniels recounts an eventful career and analyzes various pandemics in this debut memoir.

The author decided early in life that he wanted to be a “disease detective.” As a Black child, born in the 1970s in Buffalo, New York, and raised in one of the “poorest and toughest” neighborhoods in the United States, he knew this goal seemed unrealistic. Yet, supported and inspired by a “wonderful and nurturing” mother, Lillian, who worked as a teacher’s aide and in food services, Daniels excelled academically and was ultimately accepted by Cornell University. After earning a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry, he pursued a master’s degree in public health and infectious disease epidemiology at Yale before completing his doctoral degree at the University of Washington. The author describes various assignments, such as working as a consultant for the World Health Organization investigating the cause of diarrheal diseases in Southeast Asia. Daniels also discusses his experiences as a doctor working through the HIV/AIDS and Covid pandemics, providing commentary on subjects such as prevention and preparedness. His story is both inspirational and illuminating, particularly regarding his struggle to overcome systemic barriers to education: “My high school guidance counselor suggested I consider going to a community college or an obscure historically Black college. I told him I wanted to go to an Ivy League school, and he laughed at me…” Some of the author’s language may confound those who do not have a medical background, as when he holds forth on “the most potent known bacterial toxins, which block the release of an important transmitter at the neuromuscular junction.” However, the sections detailing his work history remain accessible to the layperson and include unexpected and fascinating digressions, such as Daniels shadowing oyster harvesters on Galveston Bay to investigate Vibrio infections. Ultimately, the narrative tries to do too much: There are enough ideas here for three or more books—a powerful memoir, a survey of historical pandemics, and a medical and political commentary on HIV/AIDS and Covid. The result is a fragmented text that leaves the reader asking for further details in all areas.

A stirring success story, though jumbled in its approach.