An emeritus professor of medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC who was an expert in the epidemiology of blood-borne infections, James Wilson Mosley, MD, died after a long illness in November in Los Angeles. He is survived by his wife, Eva Operskalski, his former wife Ann Mosley and their three children, Carolyn Hansen, Bruce Mosley and Laura Mosley, and two grandchildren.

James Wilson Mosley, MD

Born in Temple, Texas, on Aug. 8, 1929, Mosley received his medical degree from Cornell University Medical College and went on to investigate hepatitis outbreaks first at the Kentucky State Health Department, then at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Mosley participated in worldwide epidemic projects, such as the World Health Organization’s Polio Elimination Program in Pakistan and the USAID Relief Mission for Smallpox and Cholera in East Pakistan, eventually leaving public health service in 1970 to teach and direct the Keck School’s Epidemiologic Research Laboratory. From there he went on to investigate the newly identified AIDS virus with a $33 million gift from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, which at the time was the largest research contract ever funded. He designed and directed two seminal multi-center studies in the U.S., creating the resource of donor-patient repositories for evaluating laboratory tests and assessing the effectiveness of screening of our blood supply.

Mosley authored and co-authored more than 150 research papers, 20 books or book chapters, and more than 100 other publications.

In addition to his academic work, Jim loved gardening, great food and wine, and the companionship of his dogs. Donations in his memory can be made to the Glendale Humane Society.