amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, is an international nonprofit organization

Non-profit organization

Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

 dedicated to the support of AIDS research, HIV prevention, treatment education, and the advocacy of sound AIDS-related public policy.

History

In the early 1980s, a group of researchers and scientists including Mathilde Krim

Mathilde Krim

Mathilde Krim, Ph.D. is the founding chairman of amfAR, an association for AIDS research.-Biography:Krim received her Ph.D. from the University of Geneva, Switzerland, in 1953...

, Ph.D., then a researcher at New York's Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Memorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center is a cancer treatment and research institution founded in 1884 as the New York Cancer Hospital...

, formed an informal study group to investigate the condition that came to be known as AIDS. In 1983, Dr. Krim, Dr. Joseph Sonnabend

Joseph Sonnabend

Joseph Adolph Sonnabend, M.D. is a distinguished retired physician, scientist and AIDS researcher, notable for pioneering community-based research, the propagation of safe sex to prevent infection, and an early and unconventional multifactorial model of AIDS...

, Michael Callen

Michael Callen

Michael Callen was a singer, songwriter, composer, author, and AIDS activist. He was a significant architect of the response to the AIDS crisis in the United States....

, and several others launched the New York-based AIDS Medical Foundation. In Los Angeles, Dr. Michael S. Gottlieb

Michael S. Gottlieb

Michael Stuart Gottlieb is an American physician and immunologist known predominantly for his research in the identification of acquired immune deficiency syndrome and for clinical and philanthropic work associated with AIDS treatment....

 and Dame Elizabeth Taylor

Elizabeth Taylor

Dame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age...

 spearheaded the creation of the National AIDS Research Foundation. The two organizations merged in September 1985 to become amfAR.

When amfAR was founded, Dr. Krim and Dr. Gottlieb were named Founding Chairmen and Dame Elizabeth Taylor became Founding National Chairman. Twenty-five years later, amfAR remains one of the world's leading organizations dedicated to fighting the AIDS epidemic, and has invested more than $340 million in support of its mission.

Research

Since its inception, amfAR has supported innovative research into HIV prevention and treatment, providing funding to researchers for early-stage projects and enabling young researchers to establish their careers studying HIV/AIDS. amfAR grantees have produced some of the most groundbreaking discoveries in AIDS research, including studies that led to the development of three classes of antiretroviral drug

Antiretroviral drug

Antiretroviral drugs are medications for the treatment of infection by retroviruses, primarily HIV. When several such drugs, typically three or four, are taken in combination, the approach is known as Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy, or HAART...

s, the use of antiretroviral therapy to prevent mother-to-child transmission

Vertical transmission

Vertical transmission, also known as mother-to-child transmission, is the transmission of an infection or other disease from mother to child immediately before and after birth during the perinatal period. A pathogen's transmissibility refers to its capacity for vertical transmission...

, and the legalization of syringe exchange programs that have drastically reduced the spread HIV among injection

Drug injection

In substance dependence and recreational drug use, drug injection is a method of introducing a drug into the body with a hollow needle and a syringe which is pierced through the skin into the body...

 drug users. amfAR has supported more than 2,000 research teams worldwide.

International

amfAR’s TREAT Asia program (Therapeutics Research, Education, and AIDS Training in Asia) is a network of clinics, hospitals, and research institutions working with civil society

Civil society

Civil society is composed of the totality of many voluntary social relationships, civic and social organizations, and institutions that form the basis of a functioning society, as distinct from the force-backed structures of a state , the commercial institutions of the market, and private criminal...

 to ensure the safe and effective delivery of HIV/AIDS treatments across Asia and the Pacific. The TREAT Asia Network encompasses 20 adult and 22 pediatric sites across Asia and the Pacific. TREAT Asia has made significant contributions in numerous areas, including research reports on the natural history of HIV/AIDS in Asia

HIV/AIDS in Asia

In 2008, 4.7 million people in Asia were living with HIV according to the United Nations. The UN believes that Asia’s epidemic peaked in the mid-1990s, and annual HIV incidence has subsequently declined by more than half...

 and responses to antiretroviral therapy; the creation of the first HIV/AIDS observational databases in the region; the foundation of a pediatrics network to improve treatment and care and extend the lives of HIV

HIV

Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...

-positive children; treatment education for healthcare workers and people living with HIV/AIDS; and the publication of special reports on issues such as the rise in HIV among men who have sex with men

Men who have sex with men

Men who have sex with men are male persons who engage in sexual activity with members of the same sex, regardless of how they identify themselves; many men choose not to accept sexual identities of homosexual or bisexual...

 in Asia.

The MSM Initiative was launched in 2007 to reduce rates of HIV infection among men who have sex with men (MSM) in resource-limited countries. This initiative provides small targeted grants to grassroots organizations in Africa, Asia, Latin America

Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages  – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...

, the Caribbean, and Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...

 to support HIV/AIDS services for MSM. Through the Initiative, amfAR is a staunch advocate of increased funding for prevention and treatment programs for MSM, and speaks out against stigma, discrimination, and violence.

Advocacy

As an advocate of evidence-based AIDS-related public policy

Public policy

Public policy as government action is generally the principled guide to action taken by the administrative or executive branches of the state with regard to a class of issues in a manner consistent with law and institutional customs. In general, the foundation is the pertinent national and...

, amfAR works to secure necessary increases in funding for HIV/AIDS research, implement the new national HIV/AIDS strategy, expand access to care and treatment, and protect the civil rights

Civil rights

Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...

 of all people affected by HIV.

Public Information

amfAR distributes information on important AIDS-related research, treatment, prevention, and policy issues to a range of audiences. In addition to its website, www.amfar.org, it publishes the biannual newsletter Innovations and the TREAT Asia Report, which appears three times a year.

Leadership

amfAR’s board of trustees

Trustee

Trustee is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, can refer to any person who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the benefit of another...

 is led by Chairman of the Board

Board of directors

A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...

 Kenneth Cole

Kenneth Cole (designer)

Kenneth Cole is an American clothing designer. Born in Brooklyn, New York, his father, Charles Cole, owned the El Greco shoe manufacturing company. Before learning the family business and starting his own company in 1982, Cole studied law at Emory University.- Birth of a shoe company :Kenneth Cole...

. Dr. Mathilde Krim is Founding Chairman. The late Dame Elizabeth Taylor was Founding International Chairman. Longtime supporter Sharon Stone

Sharon Stone

Sharon Vonne Stone is an American actress, film producer, and former fashion model. She achieved international recognition for her role in the erotic thriller Basic Instinct...

 is Global Fundraising Chairman. Acclaimed actress Natasha Richardson

Natasha Richardson

Natasha Jane Richardson was an English actress of stage and screen. A member of the Redgrave family, she was the daughter of actress Vanessa Redgrave and director/producer Tony Richardson and the granddaughter of Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson...

 was involved with amfAR for more than 15 years and served on the board from 2006 until her death in March 2009. Kevin Robert Frost became amfAR’s CEO in 2007.

Fundraising

As one of the world’s leading organizations dedicated to fighting HIV/AIDS, amfAR has invested nearly $325 million for research, prevention, treatment education, and advocacy. It regularly holds benefit events, including Cinema Against AIDS galas in Cannes

Cannes

Cannes is one of the best-known cities of the French Riviera, a busy tourist destination and host of the annual Cannes Film Festival. It is a Commune of France in the Alpes-Maritimes department....

, Dubai

Dubai

Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...

, and Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

; annual gala events in New York and San Francisco; and TWO x TWO for AIDS and Art, held in Dallas.

Numerous public figures have lent their support to raising funds for amfAR’s programs. At its gala events, amfAR honors individuals who have made significant contributions of time, talent, and resources to the fight against AIDS with its Award of Courage. Recipients include Zackie Achmat

Zackie Achmat

Zackie Achmat is a South African activist, most widely known as founder and chairman of the Treatment Action Campaign and for his work on the behalf of people living with HIV and AIDS in South Africa.-Early life:...

, Richard Gere

Richard Gere

Richard Tiffany Gere is an American actor. He began acting in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in Looking for Mr. Goodbar, and a starring role in Days of Heaven. He came to prominence in 1980 for his role in the film American Gigolo, which established him as a leading man and a sex symbol...

, Whoopi Goldberg

Whoopi Goldberg

Whoopi Goldberg is an American comedian, actress, singer-songwriter, political activist, author and talk show host.Goldberg made her film debut in The Color Purple playing Celie, a mistreated black woman in the Deep South. She received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won...

, Larry Kramer

Larry Kramer

Larry Kramer is an American playwright, author, public health advocate, and LGBT rights activist. He began his career rewriting scripts while working for Columbia Pictures, which led him to London where he worked with United Artists. There he wrote the screenplay for Women in Love in 1969, earning...

, Tony Kushner

Tony Kushner

Anthony Robert "Tony" Kushner is an American playwright and screenwriter. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1993 for his play, Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes, and co-authored with Eric Roth the screenplay for the 2005 film, Munich.-Life and career:Kushner was born...

, Patti LaBelle

Patti LaBelle

Patricia Louise Holte-Edwards , better known under the stage name, Patti LaBelle, is a Grammy Award winning American singer, author and actress who has spent over 50 years in the music industry...

, Sumner Redstone

Sumner Redstone

Sumner Murray Redstone is an American media magnate. He is the majority owner and Chairman of the Board of the National Amusements theater chain...

, and Anna Wintour

Anna Wintour

Anna Wintour, OBE is the British-born editor-in-chief of American Vogue, a position she has held since 1988. With her trademark pageboy bob haircut and sunglasses, Wintour has become an institution throughout the fashion world, widely praised for her eye for fashion trends and her support for...

.