CDC Foundation Endowment

Some of the first gifts to the CDC Foundation were from CDC employees in support of an unrestricted endowment at the Foundation. Thats because they understood the value the Foundation adds to CDC and wanted to make sure it would have the operating resources necessary to function for years to come. Thanks to our donors and matching funds from the Marcus Million Match, the Foundations unrestricted endowment now totals more than $ 450,000 and generates a small amount of operating revenue to support all of the Foundations efforts on behalf of CDC.

Educational Endowments and Funds

Educational endowments at the CDC Foundation open up possibilities for individuals around the world. They provide opportunities for professional exchange and help generate an international pool of experts who are prepared to fight diseases that can quickly become worldwide threats.

 

In 1984, Drs. Bob Chen and Katy Irwin learned that an international member of their Epidemic Intelligence Service class was going to have to quit the two-year program because her funding had fallen through at the last moment. Because CDC had no way of providing financial assistance to international participants in its varied public health training courses, the two young physicians decided to remedy this situation by establishing the Atlanta International Health Fellowship (AIHF) program. With help from other CDC employees and retirees, they set about raising funds and then formed a partnership with Emory University, which provided free tuition to one individual each year to attend Emorys International Course in Applied Epidemiology. They also formed a partnership with Villa International, which provided free housing to the AIHF recipient. In 1997, a grant from The Tull Charitable Foundation was added to existing funds, and the Atlanta International Health Fellowship became the first endowed fund at the CDC Foundation. Since the first fellowships were awarded in 1991, 25 individuals from over 22 countries have received stipends to cover costs of travel, tuition and lodging as they enrich their public health expertise at CDC.

 

With the world rapidly becoming a global village, CDC scientists are addressing public health issues in a global context. Only by working closely with other nations and international organizations can CDC be truly effective in achieving its mission of promoting health and quality of life and preventing disease, injury and disability.

The O.C. Hubert International Fellowship Endowment, established in 1998 and endowed by the O.C. Hubert Charitable Trust, provides third-year and fourth-year medical and veterinary students with an opportunity to gain public health experience in an international setting. Selected students spend 4-6 weeks in a developing country working in partnership with CDC staff on a variety of global health issues. To date, 34 fellows have completed assignments in more than 14 countries.

Related Information:

• O.C. Hubert Student Fellowship in International Health
• Fellowship Provides International Opportunities - The FrontLine Summer 2005

 

When a terrorist bomb exploded at the American Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya on August 7, 1998, Mary Louise Martin was among the 12 Americans and more than 200 Kenyans killed. In her memory, friends and colleagues established the Louise Martin, D.V.M., M.S. EIS '85 Memorial Scholarship Endowment to provide scholarships for disadvantaged young women in Kenya to attend a national school.

The school was originally called the Limuru Girls' Centre but recently re-opened as the Starehe Girls' Centre in February 2005 after being renovated and reorganized. The Starehe Girls' Centre received 1,500 applicants and admitted 72 girls its first year. The average cost for one girl's scholarship is about $1,000 annually.

At the Starehe Girls' Centre, students learn traditional academic subjects as well as professional skills. Beyond just a diploma, educated women in Kenya are more likely to have higher paying jobs, an improved standard of living, reduced infant and maternal mortality, increased life expectancy, improved status in the family and the community, higher self-esteem, and an increased knowledge of individual rights.

In 2006, the CDC Foundation endowment provided one-year scholarships for five disadvantaged girls ranging in age from 14 to 17.

Related Information:

• Read letters from Starehe Girls' Centre students
• The Life and Legace of Louise Martin - The FrontLine Winter 2001

Programmatic Endowments and Funds

Tackling today's public health challenges requires fast action and the ability to refocus resources in response to new threats - the kind of flexibility that is not always present in government agencies. Programmatic endowments at the CDC Foundation provide flexible dollars that fill gaps and make it possible for CDC staff to access resources quickly and do what it takes to get the job done.

 

Following the events of September 11, 2001, and the anthrax attacks, the CDC Foundation established the Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund to give CDC what it needs most in an emergency: flexibility and access to immediate resources. The Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund helps CDC prepare for future public health emergencies and, when needed, allows CDC experts on the frontlines of an emergency to immediately purchase the specialized equipment or services needed to get the job done. The Fund was activated for the first time to support the public health response to Hurricane Katrina.

Related Information:

• Preparing for the Unimaginable
• CDC Foundation Response to Hurricane Katrina
• Video: Hurricane Katrina: A Celebration of Progress and Promise (QuickTime)

 

In the Fall of 1999, a group of CDC employees and retirees who understood the challenges of doing public health work in developing countries decided to create an endowment fund to address global health issues. The fund would provide a source of flexible funding to meet critical or emergency needs in the field that could not easily be met through usual government channels. Thanks to the vision and generosity of those CDC employees and matching support from the Marcus Foundation, the fund has grown to over $250,000 and more than $24,000 has been disbursed to fund program initiatives. Through 2005, endowment earnings have been earmarked to support CDCs polio eradication efforts.

In the words of Bob Keegan, deputy director, Global Immunization Division at CDC, This endowment allows us to focus on the real issues in the field while rapidly resolving critical, frequently inexpensive operational problems that so often interrupt our work.When civil unrest in Somalia intensified during 2002, our staff requested that we provide bulletproof vests for several national health workers most at risk. The CDC Foundation approved funding immediately, allowing work to continue without interruption, and further enhancing CDCs reputation as an agency that does what it takes to get the job done.

Related Information:

• Sewing Machines Used to Fight Polio in India
• CDC Foundation 10th Anniversary Hero: Bob Keegan

 

The Polio Eradication Heroes Fund recognizes health workers and volunteers who have incurred serious injury or lost their lives as a direct consequence of their participation in polio eradication activities. The families of the workers, who have been the victims of automobile crashes, military conflicts and other life-threatening events, receive a certificate recognizing the victim’s heroic commitment to polio eradication and a cash tribute.

Related Information:

• CDC Foundation 10th Anniversary Hero: Bob Keegan

 

Over 1 billion people worldwide do not have access to safe water, and every year, more than 2 million people around the world die of diseases they contract from contaminated water. Giving everyone in the world safe drinking water would cost hundreds of billions of dollars in treatment plants, pipes and taps. Thanks to a simple technology developed by retired CDC scientist and researcher Dr. Eugene Gangarosa and his colleagues, safe water is becoming a reality for even the poorest families in the most remote parts of the globe. Called the Safe Water System, it combines water treatment using inexpensive diluted bleach solution and safe water storage using narrow-mouthed containers and lids.

Reflecting a lifelong commitment to provide safe water around the world, Dr. Gangarosa and his wife, Rose, established the Gangarosa Endowment for Safe Water in May 2000 to provide an ongoing source of support for CDC's safe water initiatives. In his words, "CDC's Safe Water Program provides us such a unique opportunity to help by addressing in a meaningful way one of the most pressing public health needs of our time - safe water for all. Rose and I know of no better investment in our children's future than this to save lives, improve quality of life and contribute to global stability." In 2004, Dr. Gangarosa and his wife Rose provided a five-year, matching grant toward gifts made by EIS alumni to the Gangarosa Endowment for Safe Water.

Related Information:

• Doing a Lot with a Little in Dhaka, Bangladesh - The FrontLine Fall 2004
• Safe Water System

 

Following the December 2004 tsunami disaster, CDC teams were called to the region to provide critical assistance to the survivors and to monitor for deadly disease outbreaks. CDC Foundation president and CEO Charlie Stokes quickly met with CDC officials to find out what the Foundation could do to help.

He learned that while CDC responders are well-trained and well-equipped for disaster situations, some specialized equipment – such as additional satellite phones, pocket PCs and a camera with global satellite positioning capabilities – would help them do their work more quickly and efficiently. The CDC Foundation established a new Global Disaster Response Fund to make it possible for people to contribute to CDC’s tsunami response efforts and to enable CDC to instantly purchase the equipment needed.

The Global Disaster Response Fund provides immediate, flexible resources to CDC experts addressing public health emergencies around the world - whether natural disasters like the tsunami, emerging diseases like SARS or avian influenza, or manmade biological threats.

Related Information:

• Fund Helps CDC Respond to Tsunami and Future Disasters / Bringing Safe Water to Sri Lanka - The FrontLine Summer 2005

 

The late George Potter was just channel surfing on April 20, 1997 when he heard Bill Cosby on a Turner Broadcasting System documentary The Coming Plague talking about the war against microbes, from malaria, smallpox and polio to Ebola and bacterial infections resistant to antibiotics. In Mr. Potters words, The Coming Plague shattered my complacency and made me grateful to the scientists who work so hard to protect the human race from these horrors. He was especially interested in the growing problem of antimicrobial resistance-bacteria that have developed a resistance to the antibiotics created to fight them and prevent infections. Motivated to help address the issue, George Potter established an endowment named after his first wife the Sally S. Potter Endowment to help support initiatives in CDCs Campaign to Prevent Antimicrobial Resistance in Healthcare Settings. Funds from the Endowment have been used for production and printing of brochures and other materials for the Get Smart: Know When Antibiotics Work education campaign.

Related Information:

• Combatting Drug Failure - The FrontLine 2001
• Preventing Antimicrobial Resistance - Annual Report 2000-2001

 

Award Endowments and Funds

Every day, the lives of millions of people across our country and around the world are touched by the
work of CDC staff. They are among the world's brightest, most dedicated scientists, researchers and
health professionals. To recognize the talent and commitment of CDC staff today and for years to come, several award endowments have been established at the CDC Foundation. It’s a small way of saying "thank you" for a job well done and for helping to protect the health and safety of us all.

 

When Joanna Buffington, M.D., EIS '90 accepted a position working on hepatitis surveillance and prevention programs at CDC in 1998, she decided to sell the shares of Merck stock she had received as Christmas gifts from her grandparents when she was growing up. Because Merck makes hepatitis vaccines, Dr. Buffington wanted to remove any chance of perceived conflictof interest, so she sold the stock and donated $20,000 to the CDC Foundation to permanently endow the annual Alexander D. Langmuir Prize.

The Alexander D. Langmuir Prize, established in 1966, is awarded each year during the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Annual Conference to a current officer or first year alumnus of the EIS for the best scientific publication. The award consists of a $100 cash prize, an engraved paperweight, a case of ale or beer redolent of the John Snow Pub in London, and an inscription on the permanent plaque at CDC. Creating the endowment gave Dr. Buffington a way to honor her grandparents while ensuring that future EIS officers would be rewarded for their hard work.

The 2005 Alexander D. Langmuir Prize was presented to Brendan L. Flannery EIS 02 for the manuscript Transmission of West Nile Virus from an Organ Donor to Four Transplant Recipients Georgia and Florida, 2002.

 

Iain Hardy came to CDC in 1992 as an EIS Officer after completing training in pediatric infectious diseases and receiving a Masters in Public Health. While at CDC he was assigned to the National Immunization Program and was known for his important work evaluating the U.S. surveillance system for pertussis and the efficacy of pertussis vaccine during a resurgence of the disease in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1993. Later, findings from a study Dr. Hardy conducted on adult vaccination for diphtheria during an epidemic of the disease in Russia and other independent states of the former Soviet Union in the early 1990s were instrumental in developing WHOs strategy for prevention and control of diphtheria.

In October 1995, Iain Hardy drowned in a mountain lake in Veyrier-du-Lac, France where he was attending a meeting of immunization program managers. In his memory family and friends made donations to establish the Iain Hardy Memorial Award which is presented each year at the annual EIS Conference to honor an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) officer or recent graduate (within five years) for contributions to the control of vaccine-preventable diseases.

The 2005 winner of the Iain R. B. Hardy EIS 92 Memorial Award was Julie Jacobson-Bell, EIS 98.

 

To honor CDC's 50th anniversary and th 25th anniversary of the first combination vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella, the Merck Company Foundation established the Jeryl Lynn Hilleman Endowed Lectureship. The lectureship was named for the daughter of Maurice Hilleman, widely regarded as the world's foremost vaccine developer. Endowment earnings fund an annual lecture at CDC's National Immunization Conference by an individual who, through his or her work or leadership, has made significant contributions to the prevention of disease through immunization. Dr. Hilleman died in April 2005 at the age of 85. He is often credited with saving more lives than any other scientist in the past century.

The 2006 Jeryl Lynn Hilleman Endowed Lecturer was Paul A. Offit, M.D., chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases and director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Offit's lecture was entitled "Maurice Hilleman: His Extraordinary Life and Work."

 

On April 19, 1994, six members of the EIS Class of 1969 gathered for their 25th reunion. While together, they decided to establish the Paul C. Schnitker Award named in memory of their classmate who died in the line of duty in 1969. Paul Schnitker was killed in a plane crash near Lagos, Nigeria where he was going to serve as a medical advisor to refugee relief efforts related to the Biafra civil war. The first Schnitker Award was given in 1995 and was funded by gifts in memory of Dr. Schnitker from friends and colleagues. In 1999, the Schnitker family permanently endowed the fund. The award includes a cash prize, an individual plaque and inscription of the winners name on the permanent plaque at CDC. Each year the Schnitker Award is presented at the annual EIS conference to recognize outstanding contributions to global public health by current EIS officers or first-year alumni.

The 2005 Paul C. Schnitker Memorial Award for Global Public health was presented to Oleg Bilukha, EIS 02.

 

The CDC Medal of Excellence was established in 1977 as the premiere service award for CDC employees and was renamed for Bill Watson in 1985 on the occasion of his retirement from CDC. In 1999, Marge and Bill Watson established the Watson Endowment, which provides permanent funding for a cash award to be given by the Foundation to recipients of the Watson Medal of Excellence each year.