Dr. King Holmes, former Fogarty board member, dies at 87
March/April 2025 | Volume 24 Number 2
Photo courtesy of University of WashingtonDr. King Kennard Holmes
Dr. King Kennard Holmes, an infectious disease specialist, died in Seattle after a long illness on March 9, 2025. He was 87 years old. Holmes, who was Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Global Health and Professor Emeritus of Medicine at the University of Washington (UW), served as a Fogarty Advisory Board member from 2013 through 2019.
“King was an exceptional scientist, an inspiring mentor and a truly wonderful person. His willingness to share his time and wisdom with us and so many others has left an enduring impact on Fogarty and the world. We will miss him,” said Fogarty Director Dr. Kathy Neuzil.
Father of STI research
Holmes’ research career began in the late 1960s, while he was serving in the U.S. Navy at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. An epidemic of penicillin-resistant gonorrhea was then spreading among sailors stationed in the western Pacific. Holmes devised and tested a preventive measure against gonorrhea in the form of prescribing a single dose of antibiotic following a sexual encounter. This use of doxycycline as post-exposure prophylaxis (doxy-PEP) is endorsed today by both the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization.
In the early 1970’s, Holmes joined UW, where he began to study various STIs, which had risen steeply during the sexual revolution of that era. In addition to gonorrhea and syphilis, Holmes and his students investigated, prevented and developed treatments for a growing list of infections and conditions, including chlamydia, human papillomaviruses (linked to several cancers), genital herpes, Mycoplasma genitalium, hepatitis B, bacterial vaginosis, and trichomoniasis.
Holmes also helped expand clinical and prevention services of Seattle-King County Department of Public Health by founding the Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) Clinic at Harborview Medical Center. With colleagues, he established the
UW Center for AIDS and STDs and the
UW Center for AIDS Research, both of which received funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Over time, Holmes became internationally recognized as the “father of STI research.”
“It seems like nearly everything we know about treating and especially preventing sexually transmitted diseases and HIV was discovered by King or by someone who was trained by him,” said Fogarty Deputy Director Dr. Peter Kilmarx.
NIH grantee
Holmes received a BA degree from Harvard College in 1959 and an MD degree from Cornell University in 1963. After an internship at Vanderbilt University, he joined the Medical Corps of the U.S. Navy as an epidemiologist. During this period, he acquired a PhD in microbiology from the University of Hawaii. Following active duty in the Navy, Holmes completed his residency in medicine at UW, next served as chief resident, and then joined the UW School of Medicine faculty. He soon held an appointment in epidemiology at the UW School of Public Health and the position of chief of medicine at Harborview Medical Center. He developed and co-led the
UW International Training and Education Center on Health, a global network designed to build long-term capacity in more than 25 countries.
Throughout his career, Holmes received many NIH grants, his projects garnering funds from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and National Cancer Institute (NCI) among other institutes. Notably, Holmes received support from Fogarty, the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, and NCI through the
AIDS International Training and Research Program (AITRP). As an AITRP principal investigator, Holmes provided training for scientists at institutions in low- and middle-income countries with the aim of building research capacity for the prevention, care, and treatment of HIV/AIDS and HIV-related conditions.
Holmes was born in Ramsey County, Minnesota, in 1937. He is survived by his wife, Dr. Virginia Gonzales, his daughter Heather and son-in-law Keith Jellerson, his granddaughter Sage, his son King Jr, and his daughter-in-law Helen Holmes, his grandchildren Reilly and Connor Holmes, and his brothers Robert and Eugene Holmes.
“King Holmes was truly a giant in the fields of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV research,” said Kilmarx.
More information
Updated April 21, 2025
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