December 5, 2007
Contact: Caroline Jenkins Hanna
Director of Media Relations
413/542-8417
AMHERST, Mass.—In an effort to inform students about the treatment, care and prevention of the AIDS pandemic in Africa and to inspire and empower them to get involved in relief efforts, Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), will show portions of the new film Give Us Hope: Making a Difference in the Fight Against AIDS and deliver a lecture of the same title at 4:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 7 in Pruyne Lecture Hall (Fayerweather 115) at Amherst College. The talk and viewing—both of which feature Amherst first-year student Jaime Cohen—are free and open to the public.
Fauci will discuss the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), his own non-partisan efforts to persuade administrations to back such programs, his partnership with AIDS activists and his belief in standing behind his convictions. Throughout the lecture, he will show segments of Give Us Hope, which is still being filmed in Durban, South Africa.
Cohen volunteered for the past two summers at the AIDS clinic of Durban’s McCord Hospital, called Sinikithemba (in Zulu, the phrase means “give us hope”), and will discuss her own experiences working in the facility. McCord is located in KwaZulu Natal, the region of South Africa with the highest prevalence of HIV in the world.
In his position as director of NIAID, Fauci oversees an extensive research portfolio of basic and applied research to prevent, diagnose and treat infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections, influenza, tuberculosis, malaria and illnesses from potential agents of bioterrorism. He has held various visiting professorships at major medical centers throughout the country and received a number of prestigious awards for his scientific accomplishments, including the National Medal of Science, the George M. Kober Medal of the Association of American Physicians, the Mary Woodard Lasker Award for Public Service, the Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research and 32 honorary doctorate degrees from universities in the United States and abroad. He currently serves as one of the key advisors to the White House and the Department of Health and Human Services on global AIDS issues and on initiatives to bolster medical and public-health preparedness against emerging infectious disease threats such as pandemic influenza.
The event is sponsored by the Amherst College President’s Office.
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