The National Aids Memorial Quilt Comes To Downstate
By Office of Communications and Marketing | Aug 1, 2025
From August 5 to 29, 2025, a commemorative panel created by the 13 sites of the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS) and WIHS Combined Cohort Study (MWCCS) and the Women’s Interagency HIV Study (MACS/WIHS) will be on display. This panel honors 30 years of the Women’s Interagency HIV Study (WIHS), 40 years of the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS), and five years of the unified MWCCS.
- 450 Clarkson Avenue: August 5–18 from 10:00 AM
- 445 Lenox Road: August 19–29 from 10:00 AM
We invite you to join us for a special photo opp on August 5 at 10:00 AM at 450 Clarkson Avenue to welcome the AIDS Memorial Quilt to our campus to honor the past, uplift the present, and help create a future free of stigma, fear, and inequity.
This display is a rare opportunity to witness how science, advocacy, and community courage have come together to shape a national legacy, and to reflect on Downstate’s decades-long leadership in HIV research and care. According to the National AIDS Memorial Quilt website, there are roughly 50,000 panels dedicated to more than 110,000 individuals in the 54-ton tapestry. The Memorial Quilt represents participants, investigators, and staff who we lost to HIV/AIDS in the past four decades. Read more about the study in the Downstate Update.
We also encourage all staff to visit the Memorial Quilt and participate in one or more activities below.
- Leave a note or message in the Reflections Journal: honor someone impacted by HIV/AIDS or share a message of hope.
- Post a photo or memory on social media using #QuiltedTogetheratDownstate, #QuiltedBK, and #KeepCareClose.
- Incorporate the Quilt visit into your team huddles or breaks as a moment worth sharing with colleagues and learners.
Brooklyn continues to shoulder a significant share of New York City’s HIV burden, where one in four new HIV diagnoses in New York City occur in Brooklyn. Nearly 75 percent of new diagnoses are among Black and Latino New Yorkers. New York City remains an epicenter, with almost 125,000 people living with HIV, a rate nearly double that of the national average.
Hosting the National AIDS Memorial Quilt at Downstate is a reaffirmation of our commitment to health equity, research, and the promise to always #KeepCareClose.
Tags: Keep Care Close, Events