Dr. Pape Receives Clinton Global Citizen Award
September 24, 2010
Jean W. Pape, MD, Professor of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, and Founding Director of the AIDS research and treatment organization GHESKIO, has received a Clinton Global Citizen Award. Established by President William J. Clinton and the Clinton Global Initiative in 2007, the award recognizes individuals who have championed innovative solutions to pressing global problems. The award ceremony, held September 23 in New York City, will be broadcast by CNBC Sunday at 9 p.m. EDT.
Following his MD from Weill Cornell Medical College in 1975 and postdoctoral studies in infectious diseases, Dr. Pape joined the faculty of Weill Cornell and later returned to his native Haiti. His groundbreaking research and treatment innovations for infant diarrhea led to a 50 percent decrease in the national infant mortality rate. As an international leader in the study of AIDS in the developing world, he designs and implements programs for the prevention and control of AIDS and tuberculosis — a common comorbid infection for AIDS patients — in Haiti and other resource-poor countries. In 1982, Dr. Pape founded the Haitian Group for the Study of Kaposi's Sarcoma and Opportunistic Infections (GHESKIO), and he continues as its Director today.
Nearly three decades later, despite ongoing political turmoil and deteriorating economic conditions, GHESKIO continues to conduct research, train new clinicians and researchers, and provide uninterrupted care and treatment to more than half a million patients annually with HIV, sexually transmitted infections and tuberculosis. The center has trained 11,000 health workers, including 3,000 physicians and 3,000 laboratory workers. GHESKIO has slowed the spread of AIDS in Haiti and played a central role in improving the treatment standards prescribed by the World Health Organization and the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The center has never closed its doors, even in the aftermath of the January 12 earthquake, following which Dr. Pape and his team initiated extensive emergency aid efforts, including establishing a field hospital and refugee facilities for thousands of Haitians made homeless by the disaster.
Dr. Pape has received numerous other national and international honors, including the French Legion of Honor award and the Gates Award for Global Health.