Keynote: Stephen Lewis
UAEM Announces Stephen Lewis, Co-Director Of AIDS-Free World and Former Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa as Keynote for 2008 Conference
Berkeley, CA — Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM) is pleased to announce that Stephen Lewis, former UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa and Co-Director of AIDS-Free World will be the keynote speaker for this year’s UAEM National Conference to be held in Berkeley, CA on October 17-19, 2008.
Lewis’s longstanding commitment to humanitarian work and, in particular, his efforts in combating the AIDS epidemic, was recognized by TIME Magazine in 2005 when he was named among the World’s 100 Most Influential People. In addition to his work with AIDS-Free World, Mr. Lewis is a Professor in Global Health at McMaster University and he serves as chair of the board of the Stephen Lewis Foundation in Canada.
Among several senior UN roles that spanned over two decades, Mr. Lewis was the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF, and Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations.
The UAEM National Conference trains new members and provides a forum for a diverse array of students to discuss access to medicines issues and strategize for the upcoming school year. The UAEM National Conference draws student leaders not only from undergraduate colleges, but also from the schools of law, medicine, business, government, public health and graduate studies at the top research institutions across the country. Last year’s conference at Harvard brought together 320 students from 50 campuses across the United States, Canada, and the UK.
Berkeley is a key center for this progress, and therefore a strategic venue for this year’s conference. Berkeley was the first major research university to announce a specific “socially responsible licensing” program, and continues to be an advocate for improved university licensing practices. The 2008 Conference will provide an opportunity to support and reinforce the work of UAEM’s allies on campus.
The Conference will also provide a critical rallying point for UAEM’s larger developing campaign statewide. UAEM students at UC campuses have attended and spoken at three recent Board of Regents meetings for the University of California system, and are planning further coordinated interventions for the coming year.
