Tony Blair Faith Foundation Malaria Relief Concert Organized by Yale Grad Student

A concert to raise money for malaria relief will be held at Woolsey Hall on Saturday, December 13 from 8 to 10 pm. Performers include St Luke’s Chorus and members of the Yale Alumni Chorus.

Called the “Tony Blair Faith Foundation Malaria Relief Concert,” the event is coordinated by Anna Stirgwolt Brady-Estevez, a Yale graduate student in the School of Engineering & Applied Science, along with a high school student musician from New Canaan, Amanda Ackerman. Brady-Estevez, former president of Yale’s Graduate and Professional Student Senate, had previously organized a major fundraiser to help victims of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

“This holiday concert seeks to bring together our diverse interfaith community to help eliminate this deadly illness which has killed so many of Africa’s children,” said Brady-Estevez. “We welcome participation of leaders, groups and schools throughout the region and Yale community. The commitment of these groups and individuals uniting together to fight malaria will bring increased awareness and aid.”

Sponsors include the Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science and the Yale Graduate and Professional Student Senate (GPSS). Each $10 ticket will pay for a protective bed net, through the non-profit organization Malaria No More.

Although Brady-Estevez’s research in the lab of Menachem Elimelech does not directly involve malaria, it focuses on reducing illness in developing regions through improved water treatment technology. Approximately one billion people in the world do not have access to safe water. To address this issue, Brady-Estevez has developed a low-cost, efficient, transportable, carbon nanotube-hybrid filter that efficiently removes viral and bacterial pathogens from water. The filter is designed for use in poor and rurally displaced areas that have no centralized water treatment.

Standing water is the breeding place for mosquitoes that transfer the malarial parasites to people. A goal of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation is elimination of malaria, which is contracted by more than 350 million people per year; of these one million die, while many suffer permanent brain damage. The majority of those who die are children under the age of 5 in Africa.

“Active research and community service projects that increase health and decrease environmental health hazards in Africa and other developing regions is an emerging strength of Engineering at Yale,” said Brady-Estevez. “This fundraising concert ties in nicely with engineering’s current contributions in this area.”

Concert tickets are available through the Yale School of Music Box office or by phone at 432-4158.