Tom and I are thrilled to have advance praise in the form of a starred review from Publisher's Weekly. When I was described as "balanc[ing] her role as a loving caregiver with a “pit bull scientist’s” determination to save her husband," I had to chuckle. Back in the 1990s when I was a junior researcher studying HIV, I earned the nickname 'pitbull' for never giving up on an issue I felt strongly about, whether it was needle exchange programs to prevent the spread of HIV among people who inject drugs, or supporting the rights of the LGBTQ community.

Tom and I have both come to realize that our experience fighting the HIV epidemic prepared us well for fighting his superbug infection. Both HIV and superbugs caused stigmatized diseases that most the general public lacks awareness of. Tom felt like a pariah when everyone who approached him had to be gloved and gowned. I learned how to become an advocate after watching many friends and colleagues die agonizing deaths before resources were dedicated to find life saving antiviral treatments that extended the lives of people with HIV.

That same community of AIDS researchers and people living with HIV reached out to support us in our time of need. Based on our experience, we're now using our voices as scientists, and as a survivor and caregiver to raise awareness of the global superbug crisis and ways that we can stop it.