Sociomedical Sciences

Robert E. Fullilove, EdD, associate dean of Community and Minority Affairs and professor of clinical Sociomedical Sciences at the Mailman School of Public Health, received the Commissioner's Distinguished Service Award of the New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute for his outstanding contributions in the field of HIV/AIDS. Announcement of the award coincided with a ceremony held on December 2 at the Empire State Plaza Convention in Albany to mark World AIDS Day.

Dr. Fullilove was selected for the award by the Ryan White CARE Network and by the State Health Department for his extraordinary efforts in reaching out to those with HIV/AIDS. In particular, the AIDS Institute recognized Dr. Fullilove for his work through the Faith Communities Project, where he has increased awareness of HIV/AIDS, especially among communities of African and Latino descent.

The AIDS Institute provides leadership to alleviate the human toll of the HIV/AIDS epidemic through its programs, policies, and partnerships and strives to: eliminate new HIV infections; ensure early diagnosis and ongoing access to quality care, support, and treatment for all infected; and eradicate stigma, discrimination, and disparities in health outcomes. The Ryan White CARE Network was created to honor Ryan White, an Indiana teenager with hemophilia who contracted AIDS through a blood transfusion and courageously fought AIDS-related discrimination and helped educate the nation about his disease.

Today, approximately 116,000 New Yorkers are reported living with either HIV or AIDS. New York remains the epicenter of the U.S. AIDS epidemic, with 16 percent of all people living with AIDS nationally.