EcoHealth Alliance’s Annual Spring Benefit Is Going Virtual
NEW YORK – March 17, 2020 – As a global nonprofit working to prevent pandemics, EcoHealth Alliance has been on the frontlines as COVID-19 spreads around world, infecting–as of March 17–more than 180,000 people worldwide. Out of an overabundance of caution, and so as to encourage healthy preventative measures such as social distancing and limiting nonessential travel, EcoHealth Alliance is announcing its spring benefit, initially planned for April 30, 2020 in New York City, is going virtual.
“As a disease ecologist myself, I understand that pandemics are not business as usual,” Dr. Peter Daszak, President of EcoHealth Alliance said. “EcoHealth Alliance has spent nearly five decades developing innovative, science-based solutions to address the threat of new and emerging viruses, and so we’ve decided to think out of the box for our spring benefit as well: we’re going virtual.”
Rather than hosting a large event on the night of April 30, EcoHealth Alliance will livestream the event, so everyone can participate. It will feature topical discussions about the spread of new and emerging viruses, like the coronavirus responsible for COVID-19. Expert guest speakers and global leaders in the fight against pandemics will also join. The livestream will be accompanied by an online auction to raise funds for EcoHealth Alliance’s work, tracking and studying new viruses before they can balloon into global pandemics.
“While a traditional benefit may be untenable at this moment in time, the critical work of our scientists has never been more obviously essential. We depend on the generosity of our many supporters who generate the unrestricted funds that support the work we are doing to identify the sources of outbreaks and our on-the-ground work for the behavioral change needed to forestall future outbreaks,” Chair of the EcoHealth Alliance Board of Directors Nancye Green said. “EcoHealth Alliance’s vision is a world without pandemics. We’re clearly not there yet, but it’s our promise that we’ll continue to fight every day until we are.”
EcoHealth Alliance works in nearly 30 countries around the world where the threat of emerging disease is greatest and the capacity to fight this threat lowest. The organization has been studying coronaviruses in China for the past 15 years. EcoHealth Alliance’s annual spring benefit is co-chaired by Dr. Amy Attas, Lisa Silvershein, and Steven Wils, members of the Board of Directors.
More information about the virtual benefit will be available here shortly.
About EcoHealth Alliance:
Building on 45 years of groundbreaking science, EcoHealth Alliance is the premier nonprofit organization committed to a One Health approach to track the migration of deadly viruses from animals into humans. EcoHealth Alliance research has led to major breakthroughs on the origins and spread of new and emerging diseases like Ebola, SARS, MERS, and Nipah virus. EcoHealth Alliance works globally in hotspot regions where the threat of outbreaks is highest. Through innovations in research, training, capacity building, and policy initiatives, we develop tools and interventions to prevent pandemics and promote conservation.
Press contact: Robert Kessler, (646) 868-4711 or kessler@ecohealthalliance.org.