“I believe that when you identify the strongest scientists, you back them all the way. Given the inflexibility of federal funding for science research, what is needed is more support for innovation. From the beginning, HSPH’s Max Essex recognized that HIV/AIDS would become a global pandemic of unimaginable proportions. He saw that the only solution would be rigorous and imaginative basic research. He and his colleagues at the HSPH AIDS Initiative not only do groundbreaking work, but also train the next generation of scientists to take on research challenges such as the virulent subtypes of HIV currently decimating so much of Africa.”
Mrs. William McCormick Blair, Jr. is director emeritus and former vice president of the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation. She has been actively involved with the Harvard AIDS Initiative and Harvard School of Public Health since 1982, and in 2011 received the Volunteer Leadership Award from the School’s Leadership Council.
“Harvard School of Public Health does outstanding work training people who go on to work in communities around the world, including the United States, where improved health care is desperately needed. Yet despite their important contributions, public health graduates often earn much less than graduates of other schools at Harvard. Even though I graduated from the College, my wife Sarah and I give more to HSPH to help deserving students graduate without a huge burden of debt.”
“My training as a pediatric dentist was very clinically oriented. But when I came to the School for my MPH, I had the opportunity to step outside the box and think about the preventative side of dentistry that helps populations of children. After I graduated from HSPH, this perspective came into play as I joined the Indian Health Service and for three years worked with rural communities to fluoridate water supplies and educate families about preventative dentistry.
“Over the past decade, there has been a growing global awareness that health systems need to be reformed so that we can best use our resources to improve people’s health. HSPH established the first disciplined-based doctoral program in the world to focus on health systems. I chose to support fellowships for students in the program because we were losing too many top applicants because of insufficient financial aid. Our graduates will go on to reform health systems around the world as researchers and policymakers, potentially improving the lives of billions of people.”
