Yale Honors Community HIV/AIDS Activist for Partnership with University

The Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at Yale School of Medicine (EPH) presented its annual Community Recognition Award to Dominick Maldonado, the HIV/AIDS Coordinator for the New Haven Health Department, in recognition of his efforts to bring the community into a partnership with EPH on training and research.

Theodore Holford, professor in EPH and Acting Dean of Public Health, presented the award to Maldonado at an October 4 ceremony held at the New Health Department. “There are not many opportunities to make tangible how important the community is to the University,” said Holford. “This award symbolically demonstrates the importance of interdependence.”

The annual award recognizes an individual from the community who has been instrumental in furthering EPH’s partnerships with programs and agencies in the region. EPH faculty members select the recipient. Holford said, “The Community Recognition Award acknowledges in a very tangible way that the community plays a vital role in many of the ongoing projects and research proposals conducted by EPH.” He noted the award’s special significance in being presented during the final events of the University’s Tercentennial celebration.

Maldonado co-developed Connecticut’s first AIDS outreach team to coordinate educational efforts throughout the community. He was also co-founder of Hispanos Unidos Contra El Sida, the first HIV/AIDS Latino community-based organization in Connecticut, and a co-founder of the New Haven Needle Exchange program, the first such program in the United States. He currently serves as Chairperson of the Community Advisory Committee for the Yale Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS. In conjunction with EPH, Maldonado has served as a preceptor to student research projects and student interns and has represented the community on numerous Yale-sponsored research projects.