Paul G. Rogers Distinguished Organization Advocacy Award
WASHINGTON—March 13, 2008—amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, has been named Research!America's 2008 Paul G. Rogers Distinguished Organization Advocacy Award recipient. amfAR was selected because of its work to accelerate HIV/AIDS research and to achieve breakthroughs in HIV/AIDS prevention, treatments and a search for a cure.
Mathilde Krim, PhD, amfAR founding chairman, will accept the award at Research!America's 12th Annual Advocacy Awards gala. The event will take place March 18, 2008, at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, DC.
Founded in 1985, amfAR is dedicated to ending the global AIDS epidemic through innovative research. With the freedom and flexibility to respond quickly to emerging areas of scientific promise, amfAR plays a catalytic role in accelerating the pace of HIV/AIDS research and achieving real breakthroughs. amfAR-funded research has increased understanding of HIV and has helped lay the groundwork for major advances in the study and treatment of HIV/AIDS. The organization has invested $260 million in its programs and has awarded grants to more than 2,000 research teams worldwide.
Dr. Krim has enjoyed a distinguished career as a researcher and served as the chairman of amfAR's Board of Directors until 2005. She is an adjunct professor of public health and management at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. In 2000, Dr. Krim was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.
Kenneth Cole currently serves as amfAR's chairman. Internationally renowned for his line of clothing and fashion accessories, he donates a generous portion of his company's retail sales to amfAR each World AIDS Day. He also designs and donates amfAR's annual AIDS awareness campaigns.
Recipients of Research!America's Advocacy Awards are individuals and organizations that have helped create policies and public understanding to support research to improve health. Organizations previously recognized with Research!America distinguished organization award include The American Society for Cell Biology, the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research, the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International and the Society for Women's Health Research.
Hogan & Hartson LLP is the benefactor of Research!America's award to exemplary organizations. The award was named in 2007 for the former Congressman and renowned
advocate for health, The Honorable Paul G. Rogers. Rogers is Research!America's chair emeritus and a Hogan & Hartson partner.
The other recipients of Research!America's 2008 Advocacy Awards are The Honorable Edward M. Kennedy; The Honorable Arnold Schwarzenegger; William H. Foege, MD, MPH, former director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; senior fellow, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, emeritus presidential distinguished professor, the Emory University
Rollins School of Public Health; Pat Furlong, founding president and chief executive officer, Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy; and Richard A. Lerner, MD, president, The Scripps Research Institute.
Research!America is the nation's largest not-for-profit public education and advocacy alliance working to make research to improve health a higher national priority. The 2008 Advocacy Awards represent Research!America's 12th year of recognizing the accomplishments of leading advocates for medical, health and scientific research. For more information, visit www.researchamerica.org/outreach/awards.html.
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