Desert Regional Medical Center sponsors award at 2010 Steve Chase gala

(PALM SPRINGS, CA – February 5, 2010)

The Medicine and Advocacy Award, sponsored by Desert Regional Medical Center, will be presented to the CAEAR Coalition at the 2010 Steve Chase Humanitarian Awards gala on Saturday, February 27 at the Palm Springs Convention Center.

Although this year’s award title has been modified to recognize the special advocacy work done by the CAEAR Coalition, D.A.P. has presented a Science and Medicine Award since 1996. Some of the awardees since then have included Dr. David Ho, AIDS researcher famous for pioneering the use of protease inhibitors in treating HIV; Dr. Mathilde Krim, founding member of the American Foundation for AIDS Research; and Dr. Anthony Fauci, early AIDS research pioneer and Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

The CAEAR (Communities Advocating Emergency AIDS Relief) Coalition is a national grassroots organization that advocates federal funding for community-based agencies providing life-saving and life-affirming services for people living with HIV/AIDS. Competing budgetary pressures, including the “war against terrorism” and ballooning federal budget deficits make the work of the CAEAR Coalition even more important. To learn more, visit www.caear.org/coalition.

Ernest Hopkins, Board Chair of the CAEAR Coalition’s Board and Federal Affairs Director for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, will accept the award. Mr. Hopkins is also a founding member of the National Black Gay Men’s Advocacy Coalition and serves on the board of the National AIDS Housing Coalition, as well as the Convening Group of the Federal AIDS Policy Partnership.

As part of its major corporate sponsorship of Desert AIDS Project and its annual Steve Chase Humanitarian Awards, Desert Regional Medical Center made a $25,000 donation to sponsor the Medicine and Advocacy Award, in recognition of D.A.P.’s work as a community healthcare partner.

For more information or to buy tickets to the 2010 Steve Chase Humanitarian Awards, call 760-323-2118, ext. 266.