The emergence of AIDS in the early 1980s confronted neurologists with new infectious and inflammatory syndromes that blurred the boundaries between clinical medicine, public health, and ethics. Dr. Britton was among the first neurologists to define these complications, develop diagnostic and management frameworks, and later link them to broader issues of access and equity in care.

Historical review of Dr. Britton’s publications (1982–2008), including early case reports, clinical and diagnostic investigations, and later leadership writings in peer-reviewed journals.

Dr. Carolyn Barley Britton’s work traced neurology’s expanding role through the AIDS era. In 1982, she co-authored one of the first reports of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy in patients with immuno-deficiency, identifying a neurologic signature of the emerging syndrome. Her mid-1980s publications delineated central, spinal, and peripheral manifestations of AIDS, establishing early diagnostic frameworks that placed neurology at the forefront of HIV research.

By the early 1990s, Dr. Britton’s focus integrated clinical care with ethics and social responsibility. She described HIV-associated neuropathies, promoted harm-reduction and safer-injection education, and urged compassionate, evidence-based care for stigmatized populations. Her 1995 studies advanced both molecular diagnosis of JC virus by PCR and universal voluntary HIV testing for women, linking neurologic science to prevention and equity.

These efforts culminated in her 2008 National Medical Association address, transforming decades of neuro-HIV experience into a broader call for cultural competence, diversity, and universal access in medicine.