Mayor Menino Proclaims Boston's First-Ever 'Elizabeth Glaser Day'; Funding in Boston by Glaser Foundation Tops $10 Million

2/12/2003

From: Adam Coyne of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, 310-314-1459 or 310-497-4997 (cell)

BOSTON, Feb. 12 -- Mayor Thomas Menino proclaimed February 12, as the city's first-ever "Elizabeth Glaser Day," in memory of a founder of the foundation that bears her name and honoring the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation for its longstanding commitment to improving children's health. At a ceremony being held at the Four Seasons Hotel tonight, Elizabeth Glaser's mother Edith Meyer and her brother Peter Meyer, both Boston-area residents, will join the Foundation as it presents two of the most promising HIV/AIDS scientists -- Dr. Paul Bieniasz and Dr. Grace John-Stewart -- with its highest award, the Elizabeth Glaser Scientist Award, recognizing their commitment to innovative and collaborative work in pediatric HIV/AIDS research. In addition, the Foundation will bestow its Commitment to Children Award to Dr. Bruce Walker, Director, Partners AIDS Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital and Director, Division of AIDS, Harvard Medical School, for his contributions to children's health and the field of HIV research, and to Dr. Robin Weiss, Chairman of the Windeyer Institute of Medical Sciences, London, for his groundbreaking work in helping develop tools to screen blood for HIV and his identification of the major cellular receptor for the virus.

"Mayor Menino's proclamation of "Elizabeth Glaser Day" makes this an even more auspicious occasion to honor four leading scientists who are doing so much to fight pediatric HIV/AIDS," said Kate Carr, president and CEO of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. "Elizabeth Glaser would have been deeply grateful for their tenacious pursuit of scientific advances and their tireless dedication to improving children's health. We must all maintain a sense of urgency in the fight against this epidemic. Each day, more than 2,000 children around the world are newly infected with HIV. The Foundation's innovative research programs, collaborative training initiatives, advocacy efforts, and rapidly expanding international programs are improving the health and lives of children worldwide. We are confident that today's honorees will continue to advance the course of a healthier and more hopeful future for children living with HIV/AIDS."

Boston and the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation

While the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation is a national organization, it has been supporting programs in the Boston area from the very beginning. In fact, studies conducted at Massachusetts General Hospital and the University of Massachusetts Medical Center were a primary part of the success of its first major targeted research project, the Ariel Project for the Prevention of HIV Transmission from Mother to Infant, the results of which helped play a critical role in reducing the rate of mother-to-child HIV transmission to as little as 2 percent in the United States. Boston area researchers have been significant contributors to other targeted research efforts such as the Long-Term Survivor Study, which helped create pathways to new treatment approaches for children. Seven of 30 Elizabeth Glaser Scientists, the Foundation's highest research award, have been based in the Boston area, as have numerous recipients of the Foundation's basic research grant programs. To date the Foundation has funded more than 153 HIV/AIDS grants in Massachusetts for a total of approximately $10 million.

The Foundation's presence in Boston extends beyond HIV/AIDS through its support of Children's Hospital, Boston/Harvard Medical School, one of five academic medical centers that comprise the Glaser Pediatric Research Network. The Network is a unique collaboration of five leading academic medical institutions that is addressing the critical health needs of children with other serious and life-threatening diseases by conducting cutting edge clinical research, and training the scientific leaders of tomorrow. The Foundation has committed approximately $1 million to Children's Hospital, Boston/Harvard Medical School since the Network was launched in 2000.

Elizabeth Glaser Scientist Awards

This year's honorees, Dr. Paul Bienasz and Dr. Grace John-Stewart, join the 30 Elizabeth Glaser Scientists who are working together to help ensure that the world's next generation of children is born free of HIV/AIDS, and that children living with HIV/AIDS will grow to enjoy a healthy adulthood. Each Elizabeth Glaser Scientist will receive approximately $700,000 for five years of research dedicated to the treatment and prevention of pediatric HIV/AIDS.

Dr. Paul Bieniasz is a staff investigator at the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, and an associate professor at The Rockefeller University in New York. He is addressing the ongoing need for new antiretroviral compounds and vaccine candidates that can be used to curtail the pediatric AIDS epidemic. Dr. Bieniasz's study will examine the role of cellular inhibitors in protecting cells from infection by HIV and related viruses.

Dr. Grace John-Stewart is an associate professor at the University of Washington in Seattle. Her Elizabeth Glaser Scientist Award will evaluate viral and immune responses to antiretroviral regimens in breastfeeding HIV positive mothers and their infants to increase our understanding of how these regimens may decrease breastmilk transmission of HIV.

Scientists currently funded by the Elizabeth Glaser Scientist Award have achieved significant advances in pediatric HIV/AIDS research. These advances include demonstrating the benefits of administering aggressive triple combination anti-HIV drug therapies to infants, developing additional interventions to prevent mother-to-child transmission that are easier to implement in developing countries, and studies that could lead to immune system regeneration and the development of a vaccine.

Commitment to Children Award

The Foundation created the Commitment to Children Award to honor outstanding individuals who have taken significant steps toward ensuring the health of our nation's children and who embody Elizabeth Glaser's dedication and compassion in working tirelessly to improve the lives of children. Though this award the Foundation commends extraordinary people who join in its mission of improving the lives of children. Dr. Bruce Walker and Dr. Robin Weiss join an esteemed group of Commitment to Children Award recipients including Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Senator Orrin Hatch, talk show host Rosie O'Donnell, and Morton Bahr, president of the Communications Workers of America.

About the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation

The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation is the leading worldwide non-governmental organization dedicated to identifying, funding, and conducting pediatric HIV/AIDS research as well as promoting global education, awareness, and compassion about HIV/AIDS in children. Through its international Call to Action Project, the foundation is leading the way in successfully preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV in the developing world and laying a Foundation for additional care and support for families with HIV. Building upon the successful model it created with HIV/AIDS, the Foundation has created the Glaser Pediatric Research Network to address other serious and life-threatening diseases facing children. The Network brings together five of the nation's pre-eminent academic medical centers in an unprecedented collaboration that will accelerate better treatments for seriously ill children, help train the next generation of pediatric clinical investigators, and serve as a united voice to advocate policies that improve children's health worldwide.