(Posted March 16, 2009)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- Robert Dintruff has worked in the medical diagnostics and pharmaceutical industry for the past 29 years and will give a talk at Juniata College on "AIDS in Africa: It May Not be What You Think," at 7 p.m., Wednesday, March 25, in Neff Lecture Hall in the von Liebig Center for Science on the Juniata campus.

The lecture is free and open to the public.

"As billions of dollars in aid directed at fighting HIV flow into the continent of Africa, there is increasing interest, particularly among students, to learn about what is being done and how individuals can contribute to the effort. My talk will provide some insight into how corporations can take a proactive role in health care, and describe some challenges encountered over the past three decades."

Robert Dintruff

In the course of his career, Dintruff has overseen the development of programs that offer assistance to children orphaned by HIV and AIDS in developing nations. He has also managed programs that supply HIV diagnostics and therapeutics at no profit in 69 countries including all nations of Africa and those defined by the U.N. as Least Developed Countries.

"As billions of dollars in aid directed at fighting HIV flow into the continent of Africa, there is increasing interest, particularly among students, to learn about what is being done and how individuals can contribute to the effort," Dintruff says. "My talk will provide some insight into how corporations can take a proactive role in health care, and describe some challenges encountered over the past three decades."

In addition, Dintruff developed a program to provide free HIV antibody tests to programs aimed at the prevention of mother-to-child transmission. The Determine HIV Testing Donation program has provided more than 10 million tests in Africa over the past six years and operates in the same 69 countries where antiretroviral drugs are provided at no profit.

Dintruff is a 1977 graduate of Juniata College and went on to earn a master's degree in business administration in 1979 from the University of Michigan.

He started his business career in 1979 as a production planning specialist. His career spans a series of management positions, including marketing manager for the Far East Area, located in Hong Kong and his current role as commercial development director at a major healthcare firm.

The lecture will discuss Africa, HIV and the epidemic in the context of an intense political environment that involves major inter-governmental organizations, the pharmaceutical and diagnostics industries, academic institutions, philanthropic organizations and activists.





Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.