Awards and Recognition

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photo: (left to right) Teresa Roscoe, Melissa Reznar, Loretta Davis, (awards luncheon host) Fox 2's Charles Pugh, Andrea Roberson (accepted award on behalf of Dr. McCoy), Barbara Murray, and Paula Sirls

Michigan Women and AIDS Committee 2008 Awards

This year's award recipients included the current director for HIV/AIDS Programs at the Detroit Department of Health & Wellness Promotion Renee McCoy, PhD, whom is responsible for revitalizing the Department and restarting MWAC in Fall 2007. Other phenomenal women recognized by the MWAC 2008 Awards are Loretta Davis, former director of the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH), Division of Health, Wellness, and Disease Control and currently director/health officer for Wayne County Health Department; Barbara Murray, executive director, AIDS Partnership Michigan (APM), a founding AIDS service organization in Michigan, which is celebrating its 25th Anniversary this June; Paula Sirls, who is currently serving her second term as a Michigan HIV/AIDS Council community co-chair as well as community activist assistant program manager for Gospel Against AIDS; Teresa Roscoe, current executive director for Health Emergency Lifeline Programs, whom in the early years helped develop an in-service for medical professionals to address the stigma of HIV/AIDS. HIV Epidemiology Specialist Melissa Reznar, the youngest award recipient, acknowledged the entire top-notch MDCH Surveillance Data and Analysis & Management Team in accepting her award; and Barbara Murray accepted the award for Isabel Cuevas, rapid testing coordinator for APM.

National & International Awards

Anthony Fauci, director of NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, will receive an award for his work with the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief from the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation. Fauci also will be recognized for his work to address biological hazards, according to the Times (Altman, New York Times, 9/16). Fauci is credited with urging President Bush to create PEPFAR, Long Island Newsday reports (Ricks, Long Island Newsday, 9/16). , the New York Times reports. According to the Times, the Lasker awards are "widely considered the nation's most prestigious medical prizes." (Kaiser summary)


Ralph Steinman of Rockefeller University will also receive a Lasker award for his work related to HIV/AIDS. He will be recognized for discovering dendritic cells, which can adjust the body's immune system by stimulating different CD4+ T cells. Steinman and colleagues found that dendritic cells allow HIV to transmit to the lymph nodes, helping to spread the virus rather than kill it, the Times reports (New York Times, 9/16). According to the AP/Google.com, dendritic cells are being studied to determine whether they can prompt the immune system to attack HIV and other diseases (Ritter, AP/Google.com, 9/16)(Kaiser summary)
 

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