Cure Violence Global is proud to share that its’s founder and CEO, Dr. Gary Slutkin, was awarded in April the University of Chicago Medical & Biological Sciences Alumni Association (MBSAA)’s distinguished Alumni Award for his outstanding leadership and remarkable contribution in the field of public health.
For over forty years, Gary Slutkin has made remarkable transformations in the medical field by thinking about how public health can be done differently. As a physician and epidemiologist, Dr. Slutkin has led efforts to combat epidemics of tuberculosis, cholera, and AIDS. He has worked in over 25 countries in east and central Africa, Latin America, and Asia, consulted on SARS and Ebola, was the Director of Intervention for the World Health Organization, and is currently tracking and advising on COVID-19.
Dr. Slutkin is credited with having fully revealed the scientific and practical links for viewing – and treating – violence as a health epidemic. In 2000, Dr. Slutkin founded Cure Violence Global, which has been partnering with local organizations and communities to interrupt and stop the spread of violence in some of the most violent neighborhoods in the US, achieving well-documented reductions in violence by 40%-70% – and sometimes as much as 100%. Over the past 20 years, CVG has built an infrastructure of close to 400 “first-line” workers – credible and trusted individuals working in these highly vulnerable communities – that use their influence to prevent violence and keep their neighborhoods safer. Since March, CVG has been working hard to ensure that this infrastructure of health workers in over 50 communities across the US are equipped with the necessary information and guidance to combat two epidemics simultaneously: COVID-19 and violence.
Dr. Slutkin has shown his dedication to epidemic control and prevention by utilizing innovative means to stop any disease. Through this work, he has and will continue to revolutionize the public health field.