3 SILHOUETTES

 by Lauren Jones


 For a man with a resum6
spanning 13 pages, Dr.
Jose Montero doesn't seem
to think of his title as a big
deal. What he does consider
a big deal is the help he
provides to patients and his
students.


 Montero is the
Associate Pro-
fessor of Infec-
tious Diseases
at the University
of South Florida
and practices at
Tampa General
Hospital.
 During his lec-
tures, he has a
fervent tone of
voice. He is ex-
cited to engage
in discussions
with his students.
He gets a little
ahead of himself
at times, jumping
words whenever
he talks about his
profession.
 "I wanted to go
into a field that
wouldn't be boring
and where there
would always be
something I would
have to keep up
with. In certain
career paths, you
get to know your
stuff and become
the expert. For
me there's always
something new
that you learn
about,"-he said.


 Montero also helps out the
Hillsborough County Health
Department by providing
HIV care and studies.
 HIV is one of the ar-
eas Montero fo-cuses' on
throughout his career. He
annually serves on the Pres-
ident's Advisory Council on
HIV/AIDS, for which two
dozen medical profession-
als from around the US
gather in Washington D.C.
for discussions about HIV
and AIDS domestically and
internationally. The council
advises the Department of
Health and Human Services
and the president on what
should be looked at in the'
future. It is made up of
a diverse group of people
from different backgrounds,
and this has helped shape
Montero and -the research
methods he uses today.
 "I never saw myself as
an activist. But you have
to be, to a certain degree,
with something that you are
knowledgeable in. I was -a
very reserved kid and adult
still," he said.
 In the last 25 years, HIV
has gone from a guaranteed
death sentence to being
something manageable.
Those infected can now live
a nearly normal life. Some
people still die as a result
of AIDS, but not as young
as before.
 Montero's love for
education took him to Pune,
India in 2002 to provide
education for healthcare
providers, where they
have their own HIV issues.
Montero said their providers
need to learn about
medication and treatment.
He has also been to Mexico
City for international HIV
meetings, networking with
and learning from the
professionals he met there.
 "In infectious disease,
 it's always a learning field
 as well as an education
 field. You always have to


collaborate and realize that
your opinion may not be
the only one and there are
other ways of doing things,"
he said.
 Both of his parents came
from Spain and both are


Jose Montere


 "I wanted to go into a field that wo
boring and where there would always
thing I would have to keep up with."


products of the Spanish
Civil War, meaning that
neither went to high school.
They were from a small town
outside Madrid.
 "My mom and dad in-
stilled education in me be-,
cause they wanted me to
have something they didn't
have," he said.
 He is the only boy of four
kids.
 "They didn't have the
opportunitie-s I had. They
both worked hard. I held the
medicaflfield to a pretty high
esteem when I was young. I
was really good in math and
science when I was in high
school. When I would go to
normal routine physical, I
thought to myself, 'I want to
be that person.'"
 He has four children of
his own now, ages 14, 13,
10 and 6.
 "Having a family is sort
of why you live your life to
some extent," he said.
 He also said having chil-
dren can wear him down and
make him feel older than he
is. On the other hand, be-
ing in a field that is always
exciting also makes him feel
younger at the same time.
 He grew up in the Bran-
don area and went to Nativ-
ity Catholic School.
 He said he did well in
medical school but that it is
still a different world.
 "You lose your early 20's.
The" four years of medical
school are pretty intense.
Your first two years you are
inundated with lectures and
then the last two years you
get thrown into the work.
It's a shock and you are
brought out there and you
just see how things go,"
Montero said.
 He attended University of
 South Florida for his B.S.
 and M.D.., and Duke Univer-
 sity for his residency.
 He met his wife through
 a friend who used to always


borrow money from him in
college. Montero stopped
lending money to that friend
and recommended a woman
who was friends with his
now wife. They met one
night at the Oakfield Lanes
 bowling alley.
 "She's been
 my savior and
 the best person I
 could wish for. I
 couldn't survive
 without her," he
 said affection-
 ately.
 In his publi-
 cations, most of
 the time, there
 is one name be-
 hind an article,
B but there's al-
 ways a collabo-
 ration. There's
 someone looking
 at the literature,
 someone taking
 care of the pa-
 tient and there's
 a mentor helping
 the group.
 "A lot of my
 literature is ob-
 servations on in-
 teresting cases
 and clinically
 looking at how
 you manage and
 diagnose a dis-
 ease," Montero
 said.
 He said the
wouldn't be way the FDA
be some- studies a drug
 is not exactly
 the best, but
 he gives them
 credit.
 "The FDA has made its
 mistakes, but I'll give them a
 bit of a break here, because
 very unusual adverse effects
 may hurt a lot of people be-
 fore you notice that there's a
 side effect. You can only get
 so much out of studies with
 a smaller group, of people,"
 he said.
 In meeting with him, it's
 evident he is a great teacher.
 One of his fellows calls his
 cell phone and he excuses
 himself.
 "Hey, I'm busy. I'll call
 you back. Yes, I know. I'll
 call you back.
 "It's one of my fellows.
 It's always something," he
 explains.
 He knows he could make
 more money going into,pri-
 vate practice but he enjoys
 continually learning and
 sharing his experiences with
 students and fellows.
 "I feel like I'm in a ca-
 reer that actually keeps me
 learning. It's a variety of
 work. I work at the Health
 Department and research
 and work at Tampa Gen-
 eral. I get to see a variety
 of patients as well, whether
 it is with OBGYN or neurol-
 ogy. I would be bored in
 an occupation that doesn't
 change. On the downside,
 sometimes you have to work
 on the seat of your pants,
 not knowing what's going
 on. Sometimes you say 'I'm
 not exactly sure, but this
 is what I know now,' and to
 me, that's the exciting part.
 There are certain things that
 are new and things you can
 cure if you can diagnose it
 well," he said.
 One person he is influ-
 enced by is Dr. John Sin-
 nott.
 "My current boss has
 influenced me a lot. He's a
 very colorful person. He is
 very knowledgeable about
 his profession and about


the world. Some people
have the medicine part but
don't understand people.
He understands how people
think. He's become a leader
because of that," he said.
 "I think I have devel-
oped my own style with pa-
tients. You have to put them
at ease. If Super Bowl's
around, you talk about foot-
ball. Sometimes it's hard
because people are scared.
Once, I took my white lab
coat to be dry-cleaned and
the lady wouldn't take it
because it said infectious
disease on it," Montero said.
 He loves to talk about his
interest in the immune sys-
tem and talks about it with
enthusiasm.
 "The immune system in
the body is an amazing
thing. You get exposed to
something and then you de-
velop memory immune cells
so when you get that bug
again, they attack it earlier,"
he said.
 He has learned how to
 treat some transplant pa-
 tients through the same
 infections the HIV popula-
 tion has. He said it can be a
 bad disease but researchers
 have learned a lot about our


immune system and how it
works and how to treat other
infections.
 "With HIV/AIDS vaccines,
the Merck trials in 2007 [an
experimental HIV vaccine
trial that was cancelled be-
cause of its ineffectiveness]
were not a success and they
are relooking at strategies.
So we are back to where we
were 15 years ago with find-
ing a cure. We are looking at
another two decades before
a cure is a possibility," he
said.
 "The only way we are
going to get through this
epidemic is through pre-
vention. You can treat pa-
tients all you want. But it's
still going to spread. So we
try to educate as much as
possible. But how well are
people going to take it if re-
searchers come up with an
HIV vaccine?
 With vaccines in general,
 it's a hard sell because you
 get in trouble when you
 see something go wrong,
 but you don't get the credit
 when you do something
 right. I can understand the
 publics' issues. It's a lot of
 shots. I don't like them but
 I get my flu shot every year."


Page 14/LA GACETA/Friday, February 20, 2009