Actor-turned-activist Glaser to speak at commencement
The actor best known as Starsky is now a leader in the fight against AIDS
Paul Michael Glaser, shown here testifying before Congress, has played an instrumental role in raising more than $120 million through the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. The foundation seeks to improve public policy and benefit children who have AIDS or other deadly diseases.
BY MITZI BAKER AND ROSANNE SPECTOR
TV and movie star Paul Michael Glaser will deliver the School of Medicine commencement address on Saturday. That’s right – he’s the original Starsky from the 1970s hit series, “Starsky and Hutch.” While Glaser might be best known as an actor and filmmaker, he also plays a high-profile role as an advocate for people with HIV and AIDS.
Glaser chaired the board of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation for six years following his wife’s death from the disease, stepping down to become honorary chair a year and a half ago. Three members of his family have been infected with HIV, two of whom – wife Elizabeth and daughter Ariel – died from the disease. Son Jake, who is HIV-positive, is 19.
Launched in 1988 by GlaserÂ’s late wife, the foundation fights for public policy that benefits childrenÂ’s health and funds research to help children with HIV/AIDS and other serious illnesses. Since its inception, the foundation has raised more than $120 million.
“What Elizabeth and her co-founders were able to create was the realization that an effective, grass-roots organization can make a difference,” Glaser said. “In this world, in this country, we are experiencing more and more disenfranchisement, less hope, more apathy as people feel that they have no ability to impact the lives and futures of their children. The foundation has become a beacon of hope – a reminder that we can make that difference.”
Philip Pizzo, MD, dean of the medical school, has been involved with the foundation since its inception, serving now as vice chair of its board of directors. Pizzo said he invited Glaser to speak to the graduating class to share his perspective about the importance of research as well as humanism and care for those afflicted with serious disease, especially children with AIDS.
The foundationÂ’s inception was spurred by tragedy. In 1981, Elizabeth began bleeding during her ninth month of pregnancy and received a blood transfusion before delivery of her daughter. Blood wasnÂ’t screened for HIV at this time.
The GlasersÂ’ life changed as Ariel became sick four years later and the family learned she had AIDS. It became apparent that Elizabeth had contracted HIV from her transfusion and passed it not only to her daughter but also son Jake. Paul alone remained uninfected.
Ariel died a few years later at age 7. After their daughter’s death, the Glasers vowed to protect other children from HIV and to educate the public about the illness. At the time, it was not yet widely known that HIV and AIDS affected children. Elizabeth co-founded the Pediatric AIDS Foundation with two of her friends. Their mission quickly became apparent – to educate the public and to get money into the hands of researchers to find answers for children infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
Through her work, the U.S. Congress increased the budget for AIDS research from $3.3 million to $8.8 million. She continued, with great success, to fight for increased funding for AIDS research until she died in 1994 at the age of 47. Following her death, the foundation changed its name to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation and established the Elizabeth Glaser Scientists Award to fund research into the AIDS virus.
Glaser took over for his wife as chair to ensure the legacy of the foundation. He said he also aims to continue the effort to identify the relevancy of HIV research in the still-growing world pandemic as well as to research on other life-threatening pediatric diseases.
What began 16 years ago as a grief-stricken motherÂ’s idea is now the leading national nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting pediatric AIDS research. For more than a decade, the foundation focused on pediatric HIV and AIDS in the United States. More recently it has expanded its scope, funding programs in 12 developing nations and at 70 sites to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV through simple, affordable preventive measures.
In addition to its work in AIDS, the foundation also supports the Glaser Pediatric Research Network, which has linked five major U.S. pediatric research centers – of which Stanford is one – to collaborate in the fight against life-threatening illness in children.
One of the network’s goals is to ensure that, as new therapies emerge for adults, physicians learn quickly about their pediatric applications. Another is to try to expand the parameters of targeted research. “We want to realize the potential for learning more about the relationship of diseases – for learning more about one disease by studying another, and vice versa,” said Glaser.
“It’s important that we try to understand the constant collaborative aspect of life on this planet,” he added.
“The foundation, along with its progress in advocacy, training and research in pediatric AIDS, has come to represent the ability of people to work together, to collaborate in order to speed up research and to increase the ability to impact children’s health scientifically, politically and economically,” he said.
“It has become a model which needs to be imitated in its spirit as well as its function throughout medicine and research.”
