Philanthropist Ann Lurie was honored at Children’s Memorial Hospital on Feb. 16, for her $1.3 million donation to fund the Adolescent Medicine Trials Network (ATN) for HIV/AIDS research. Her donation marks the first public/private partnership between the National Institutes of Health and Children’s Memorial Research Center.
Lurie’s donation will help 200 of at-risk and HIV-positive youth in Chicago though treatment and prevention outreach.
Howard Brown is part of the ATN network.
The partnership is a crucial step during a time of competing demand for government dollars. The hospital hopes that Lurie’s leadership will ignite other philanthropists to step forward.
Sen. John Cullerton, D-Chicago, during the event that recognized Lurie for her generosity, said, ‘There is nothing more important than working to save the lives of young children.’
Lurie said that she knows the devastation of HIV/AIDS from work she has done in Africa, and feels privileged to provide Chicago youth some ‘financial leverage.’