Gary Slutkin’s initiative, established in 1995, uses disease-control and behavior-change models to reduce violence in communities internationally. | File photo
Gary Slutkin’s initiative, established in 1995, uses disease-control and behavior-change models to reduce violence in communities internationally. | File photo
University of Illinoic at Chicago epidemiology professor Gary Slutkin, the founder and CEO of Cure Violence, has earned the prestigious Chicago Humanitarian of the Year designation from the U.S. Fund for UNICEF for his positive impact on children’s lives.
Slutkin will accept the honor at the sixth annual awards event, a luncheon slated for the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Chicago on Sept. 23, along with three other 2016 recipients. The University of Illinois at Chicago faculty member expressed gratitude for the recognition, saying he was “deeply honored” to receive it and challenging the public to view violence as an epidemic equally important to traditional biological threats.
“It’s … a privilege for Cure Violence to be working with the organization on the new Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children,” Slutkin said. “Violence is one of the most pressing public health crises of our time — it behaves like a contagious disease, and there’s an epidemic problem in the U.S. and around the world. Most epidemics are managed by the public health sector. We need to galvanize the public health sector to change the course of the violence epidemic.”
Slutkin’s initiative, established in 1995, uses disease-control and behavior-change models to reduce violence in communities internationally. Cure Violence relies on partners in four continents and was rated 14th best non-governmental organization worldwide by NGO Advisor for 2016.
Alerts Sign-up