The National AIDS Memorial has honored Dan Bernal, UC San Francisco vice chancellor for community and government relations, for his lifelong contributions to health equity and community service through HIV activism and advocacy.
Bernal was recognized Nov. 30 at the Light in the Grove celebration in Golden Gate Park’s National AIDS Memorial Grove for his work to improve the lives of those with the disease.
Over the past three decades, Bernal has supported HIV/AIDS advocacy at both the national and local levels. Among his many contributions, he served for 22 years on the staff of U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), most recently as her chief of staff, where he helped to pass and protect the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The law transformed access to medical care for people with HIV, eliminating insurance denials based on pre-existing conditions and enabling patients to get the life-saving treatments they needed.
Dan has long stood as a beacon of light to so many through his selfless service to numerous organizations, and a courageous example as an out and proud HIV+ man.”
In San Francisco, Bernal is the HIV patient advocate for the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) and served on the boards of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and AIDS and Breast Cancer Emergency Funds. Working on behalf of the Speaker’s office, he also partnered with the National AIDS Memorial and the Library of Congress to bring the AIDS Memorial Quilt to San Francisco as its permanent home.
“The National AIDS Memorial is deeply honored to recognize Dan Bernal with this year’s Lifetime of Commitment award,” said John Cunningham, chief executive officer of the National AIDS Memorial. “Dan has long stood as a beacon of light to so many through his selfless service to numerous organizations, and a courageous example as an out and proud HIV+ man. Thank you, Dan, for all you do!”
For Bernal, being honored with previous warriors of the HIV community is deeply humbling.
“It is a great honor to be recognized with this award,” he said, “in the company of previous recipients like Jim Hormel, Cleve Jones and Pat Christian, who made an extraordinary difference in the fight against HIV/AIDS.”
“I felt very alone”
Bernal’s commitment to improving education, resources and treatment for HIV/AIDS stemmed from his own HIV diagnosis in 1990. At the time, information about the disease was scarce and those living with HIV were stigmatized.
“I tested positive when I was 19 years old, at a time when an HIV diagnosis was considered a death sentence,” Bernal said. “I didn’t think I’d survive past my 20s. I felt very frightened and alone.”
A closeted teenager with a passion for political science, Bernal was elected student body president at Northeastern University, in Boston. There, he hosted the university’s first Red Ribbon Fair to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS prevention. He also caught the attention of his professor and former Democratic presidential nominee, Michael Dukakis.
Dukakis urged him to apply for a White House internship, which led to a role as intern for then-White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta. He went on to join the staff for the White House Political Director and U.S. Secretary of Education, where he worked through the end of the Clinton Administration.
A move from Washington, D.C., to San Francisco changed his life.
“I was introduced to an active HIV/AIDS advocacy community and the supportive leadership that exists here – particularly at UCSF,” Bernal said. “As a person living with HIV for more than 30 years, I know I wouldn’t be alive today without the leadership of Speaker Emerita Pelosi, the courage and hard work of the researchers and clinicians at UCSF and the community activism in San Francisco during the earliest and darkest days of the AIDS crisis.”
Lasting UCSF connection
Bernal has partnered with UCSF for most of his career in San Francisco, collaborating with UCSF experts to raise awareness of the scale and impact of the AIDS epidemic.
The connection grew during COVID-19, when he worked with UCSF leadership to brief Congress on the challenges hospitals were facing, such as supply chain blockages and shortages of protective equipment.
Bernal was a member of the San Francisco Health Commission from 2017 to 2023. There, he said, UCSF became their “go-to” source for what was happening on the ground. That included the pandemic’s impact on communities like San Francisco’s Mission District. He was able to relay that perspective for policy makers.
“Dan has made enormous contributions to the San Francisco community in both HIV/AIDS advocacy and throughout the COVID-19 pandemic,” said UCSF Chancellor Sam Hawgood, MBBS. “In both areas, he has brought his experience and expertise to advocate for the most vulnerable members of our community and has made a difference on a national level.”
Bernal joined UCSF in 2023 as a senior leader with a commitment to underserved communities, especially those in crisis. UCSF’s long history of leadership in HIV/AIDS research, advocacy and care also mirrored his own.
“My friends comment that I found the perfect job,” he said. “It aligns fully with my experience and values.”
Bernal continued his commitment to AIDS advocacy during the pandemic, helping secure funding for the 2020 International AIDS Conference in San Francisco and Oakland.
“I worked with Dan Bernal when co-chairing the International AIDS Conference and he was amazing,” said Monica Gandhi, MD, chief of infectious disease at UCSF, noting that he was Speaker Pelosi’s chief of staff at the time.
“He knew everything about advocating for HIV in every way possible – for funding, for compassion, for treating patients with dignity – and was one of the most important members of our team,” she said. “I can think of no one more deserving of this award than Dan.”
