05/19/2015

Ulysses Burley invited to serve on Presidential Advisory Council on HIV and AIDS

Dr. Ulysses Burley, program associate for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) strategy on HIV and AIDS, has been invited to serve as a member of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV and AIDS. Council members are appointed by the secretary of health in consultation with the White House Office on National AIDS Policy. Burley was nominated by ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton. The two-year term begins May 21.
“It is an honor to be appointed to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV and AIDS as the second youngest member in the history of the council,” said Burley.
From the ELCA News Blog

The council is comprised of prominent community leaders with expertise in a broad range of areas, including HIV and AIDS, global health, philanthropy and business. The council provides advice and recommendations to the U.S. secretary of health about policies and programs that promote effective prevention methods and that continue to advance HIV and AIDS research.

“A component of the ELCA strategy on HIV and AIDS is to treat HIV by treating humans and treating hearts through the development of relationships, the sharing of stories, and the restoration of dignity,” Burley said. “By focusing on the people infected and affected by HIV versus HIV itself, we begin to see the healing of stigmatization and changed behaviors through changed hearts. This type of healing cannot be wholly achieved in laboratories or hospitals, but in community with one another.”

Burley is a graduate of Morehouse College and the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Although his primary training is in scientific research and clinical medicine, Burley has dedicated much of his time to social justice advocacy through the church and community. His primary work with faith groups has been in the area of HIV and AIDS awareness, but it also includes mass incarceration, gender and racial justice, food security, and peace in the Middle East.

“It will be my role as a member of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV and AIDS to assure that human care and heart care are as much a part of the goals as health and HIV care. I'm excited about the possibilities this opportunity creates for the ELCA, this country and the world,” he said