Biographies
Carl Siciliano
Carl Siciliano is a nationally recognized advocate and provider for homeless LGBTQ youth, and his programs have been widely lauded for their quality and innovation. In 2002, Siciliano founded the Ali Forney Center (AFC), which has grown to become the nation’s largest and most comprehensive housing program for homeless LGBT youth. AFC offers emergency housing, transitional housing, a drop-in center, a vocational/educational center, and a full continuum of supportive services that help LGBT youths become successful, independent adults
In March 2020, Siciliano stepped down as AFC’s Executive Director, but continues to work with AFC on behalf of homeless LGBTQ youth, directing their National Technical Assistance Program and creating a podcast, A Long Way From Home, seeking to promote awareness of the root causes of LGBTQ youth homelessness.
From 1983 through 1988, Siciliano worked with the Catholic Worker Movement, where he assisted in the management of shelters, soup kitchens, and residential programs for the homeless in New York City, Washington D.C., and Norwalk, Connecticut. From 1988 through 1994, he worked at the Neighborhood Coalition for Shelter, helping to operate a residential program for homeless adults in New York City. From 1994 to 2001, Siciliano worked as the Director of Homeless Youth Services for Safe Space NYC, Inc. During that time, he created an innovative continuum of services for homeless teens, including a 24-hour drop-in center, a citywide street outreach program, a scattered-site emergency housing program, and the nation’s first residential program for HIV-positive teens. The Federal Government designated Siciliano’s program a “Special Project of National Significance.”
In 2002 Siciliano was featured in OUT Magazine as one of the 100 Outstanding Gay Achievers. In 2007 he was awarded the Brooke Astor Service Award, which is given to someone who is relentless in their dedication to the city of New York and who has contributed substantially to its enrichment. In 2012, the Obama White House named Siciliano as Champion of Change in recognition of his groundbreaking and innovative work on behalf of LGBTQ youths.
Dr. Joanna Kubicka
Dr. Joanna Kubicka MD, PhD has been working with patients with various infectious diseases since 1994. In 2002, she began working with HIV positive patients on a daily basis and continues to do so today. In her practice, she applies pre-exposure (PREP) and post-exposure (PEP) prophylaxis for HIV as well as preventative care for other hematogenous diseases. She treats patients with a wide range of infectious, sexually transmitted, and internal diseases.
In her role as a member of the Polish AIDS Society (Polskie Towarzystwo Naukowe AIDS), Dr. Kubicka focuses on researching the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases in HIV infected patients. Her dissertation on infectious diseases and hematology, dealt with the replication of HCV and HGV in the bone marrow of patients with hematological disorders.
She believes that it is necessary to look at a patient’s body comprehensively to diagnose and treat them properly.
AWARDS
Award of the Minister of Health for a series of publications on HCV infection
Polish AIDS Society (Polskie Towarzystwo Naukowe AIDS) Awards for publications
Awards of international liver disease associations
PUBLICATIONS
Kubicka J, Ignatowska A, Kowalska JD, Cielniak I, Pulik P, Bąkowska E, Chylak A, Firląg-Burkacka E, Horban A: Saquinavir/r containing initial antiretroviral therapy (ART)-long term evaluation in Polish Observational Cohort of HIV/AIDS Patients (POLCA) Study Group; HIV & AIDS Review Volume 12, 2014
Siwak E, Kubicka J, Kowalska JD, Bąkowska E, Święcki P, Pulik P, Pietraszkiewicz E, Firląg-Burkacka E, Horban A: Safety and effectiveness of lopinavir/ritonavir twice-daily in cART naïve patients with HIV-1 infection: Data from POLCA Study Group; HIV & AIDS Review Volume 13, Issue 4, Pages 120-124, 2014
Ankiersztejn-Bartczak M, Firląg-Burkacka E, Czeszko-Paprocka H, Kubicka J, Cybula A, Horban A, Kowalska J: Factors responsible for incomplete linkage to care after HIV diagnosis: preliminary results from the Test and Keep in Care (TAK) project; HIV Med, 2014 Aug 15
Kubicka J, Siwak E, Horban A: (Care for HIV infected patient during antiretroviral treatment in complex ambulatory care program; PTN AIDS recommendations related to care rules for HIV infected patients (Opieka nad pacjentem zakażonym HIV leczonym antyretrowirusowo w programie kompleksowej ambulatoryjnej opieki specjalistycznej; Zalecenia PTN AIDS dotyczące zasad opieki nad osobami zakażonymi HIV); Cop. Polskie Towarzystwo Naukowe AIDS
Firląg-Burkacka E, Kalinowska M, Siwak E, Gizińska J, Kubicka J, Święcki P, Horban A: Comparison of effectivness of different methods of prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission; HIV & AIDS Review Volume 8, Issue 4, 2009
Firląg-Burkacka E, Cielniak I, Święcki P, Siwak E, Gizińska J, Bąkowska E, Kubicka J, Kowalski J, Podlasin R, Horban A: The increasing prevalence of neurosyphilis and high serum VDRL titers in HIV positive patients — Data from outpatient clinic in Warsaw, Poland (POLCA Cohort); HIV & AIDS Review Volume 12, Issue 2, 2013
Radkowski M, Gallegos-Orozco JF, Jabłońska J, Colby TV, Walewska-Zielecka B, Kubicka J, Wilkinson J, Adair D, Rakela J, Laskus T: Persistence of hepatitis C virus in patients successfully treated for chronic hepatitis C; Hepatology, 2005 Jan, 41(1)
Syczewska-Wawrzynowicz M, Kubicka J, Boroń-Kaczmarska A, Radkowski M: Natural history of acute symptomatic hepatitis type C infection; 2004 Jun, 32 (3): 138-43
Kamińska A, Kmera-Muszyńska M, Kubicka J, Radkowski M: Eye complications related to treatment with interferon alpha (Powikłania oczne leczenia interferonem alfa); Okulistyka Polska, 2003.09
Aniszewska M, Cianciara J, Kubicka J, Radkowski M: HCV vertical trasmission – predisposing factors and infection frequency (Transmisja wertykalna HCV – czynniki predysponujące i częstość zakażenia); Pediatria Polska 2004, 5: 351–361
Radkowski M, Kubicka J, Kisiel E, Cianciara J, Nowicki M, Rakela J, Laskus T: Detection of active hepatitis C virus and hepatitis G virus/GB virus C replication in bone marrow in human subjects; Blood, 2000 Jun 15, 95 (12)
Brojer E, Kryczka W, Medyńska J, Grabarczyk P, Kubicka J, Głoskowska-Moraczewska Z, Loch T, Cianciara J, Juszczyk J, Bolewska B, Żupańska B: Anti-HCV RIBA/LiaTek reactivity and HCV genotype in EIA-negative patients with viremia; J Med Virol, 1999 Dec, 59 (4)
Dutkiewicz E, Kryczka W, Urbaniak A, Pabjan P, Kubicka J: Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) as diagnostic problem; Journal of Hepatology, 1998, 28, Supplement
Radkowski M, Laskus T, Horban A, Kubicka J, Ślusarczyk J: Specific antibody response and activation of the immune system in the early stages of infection with human immunodeficiency virus type 1; Central-European Journal of Immunology, 1997, 22
Magda Jaworska
Magda Jaworska was born in Tarnobrzeg, Poland. She studied chemical technology at the Faculty of Fuels and Energy at the AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow, as well as Film and Television Production in Katowice, and Human Capital Management at the Warsaw School of Economics. Magda Jaworska is an experienced film producer, founder and owner of a boutique production house and has worked alongside many renowned filmmakers. Magda has organized large, international film and TV productions with casts from all around the world. She is passionate about traveling to distant places.
Zuza Głowacka
Foundation President. Born in Warsaw and raised in New York City, she’s a graduate of the Nightingale Bamford School and Bard College. She wrote a book of essays about her life between Warsaw and New York City that touched upon issues of homophobia, anti Semitism, racism and xenophobia. Social activism has always been at the forefront of her life. She’s worked with non-profits such as Portraits of Hope, Rehabilitation through the Arts (RTA) and The After School Corporation (TASC). She worked at the New York Times and as the Florida grassroots fundraising coordinator for the John Kerry presidential campaign.
Grzegorz Greg Okrent
Entrepreneur. In 1989, Greg formed the first Polish LGBTQ association, Lambda in Warsaw. As its president he served in the commission of the Minister of Health’s AIDS research and outreach department. In this role, he created the first program promoting safe sex education and condom distribution in Central- Eastern Europe, financed by the WHO. Greg founded and ran several gay bars and clubs in Poland, most notably the iconic gay nightclub, Utopia, which attracted artists, celebrities, politicians, and many others from all around the world.