Infectious Disease Specialist, Dr Farley Cleghorn donates US $250,000 

Infectious Disease Specialist, Dr Farley R. Cleghorn has responded to the announcement of an endowment established by The University of the West Indies Medical Alumni Association (UWIMAA), with a generous donation of US $250,000. It is the endowment’s largest donation to date as the UWIMAA seeks to raise US $1.5 million toward medical sciences programmes in honour of The UWI’s 75th and the Association’s 33rd anniversary in 2023.

The success of The UWI’s Faculties of Medical Sciences has resulted in better health care for the Caribbean, providing well-trained doctors, public health leaders, academic leaders – teachers and researchers throughout the region and beyond. The UWI’s medical alumni, many of whom have been beneficiaries of government support, bursaries and scholarships are now in a position to ‘give back’ to their alma mater. This ‘Global Giving’ thrust, driven by the UWIMAA endowment provides an opportunity for alumni, friends of The UWI, and corporations to support the University’s founding Faculty through student scholarships and resource aid.

Trinidad born, world-famous infectious disease specialist and philanthropist Dr Farley Cleghorn graduated from The UWI Faculty of Medical Sciences with honours and a Surgery Gold Medal in 1982. Early in his career he worked in haematology at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital in Trinidad studying lymphoma/leukaemia. This led to a Fellowship with The UWI and CAREC, working on retroviruses with Professor Courtenay Bartholomew, from 1986 to 1990 a period he describes as the ‘golden age’ of retrovirus work.

Crediting his alma mater, Dr Cleghorn said “UWI made me the Caribbean person that I proudly am today; it equipped me to work all over the world and to help make a difference”.

Today, having worked in over 70 countries, Dr Cleghorn is well respected as a leading international expert on HIV/AIDS and the development of related research and programs in developing countries. He had a distinguished career at the US National Institutes of Health and also served as a senior scientist and faculty member at the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland Medical Center. He is currently the Global Head of Health Practice at Palladium, an international development and consulting group which works with governments, businesses, and investors to solve the world's most pressing challenges.

Still, he continues to contribute pro bono to Trinidad and Tobago consulting on relevant issues in health, HIV/AIDS and partnering with higher education institutions including The UWI and the National Institute of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (NIHERST).

Dr Cleghorn is a role model for every bright young West Indian with a passion for medicine and its role in making the world a better place. His career demonstrates the opportunities for exciting and impactful work in research, international development and diplomacy.

His contribution to the UWIMAA endowment will be memorialised through four Dr Farley Cleghorn scholarships given annually to medical students at the Faculty’s four teaching sites.

Distinguished Chair of the UWIMAA Endowment, Chancellor Emeritus of The UWI, Sir George Alleyne commenting on the donation said this; I am touched and enormously gratified by Dr Cleghorn’s magnificent donation. I believe that it is a concrete manifestation of his continued belief in the value and values of his university and a commitment to seeing it continue to serve the Caribbean people, especially in health.”

For further information on the Endowment, interested persons may contact Mrs. Elizabeth Buchanan-Hind, Institutional Advancement Division in the Office of the Vice-Chancellor at 876-977-0052 or email giving@alumni.uwi.edu.