David ‘Polly’ Polson knows first-hand the life-changing impact that Professor David Cooper had on his patients.
When Polly was diagnosed with HIV in 1984, he saw friends and colleagues with the same diagnosis passing away around him. He had no idea what was going to happen to him.
A friend referred him to researcher and clinician Professor David Cooper, and he quickly encouraged Polly to join a number of drug trials.
Little did Polly know, David would become the physician who kept him alive, and a very dear friend. Of David, Polly says, “He was probably one of the world’s great humanitarians. He accepted people and wanted to care for them.”
In fact, David contributed to the development of virtually every drug used in HIV treatment today. His patients remember him as a leader, and a friend.
He achieved more in his lifetime than most, but his work was nowhere near complete when he tragically passed away last year.
We need your help to continue David's important work.
Please make a tax-deductible gift to the David Cooper Memorial Fund at the Kirby Institute today, and help expand access to effective infectious disease prevention and treatment.
Infectious diseases like HIV continue to disproportionately affect the world’s most disadvantaged communities, and we can only reduce this burden by investing in research.
Your gift to the David Cooper Memorial Fund will support life-changing research at the Kirby Institute, where researchers like Dr Angie Pinto are investigating the long-term health impacts of HIV.
Angie has been working with a cohort of very early HIV infected patients identified by David thirty years ago, to identify and monitor co-morbidities they may have encountered.
Angie’s work will provide a better understanding of how a diagnosis of HIV affects an individual’s long-term quality of life.
Your support today will fund vital research projects and ultimately improve outcomes for patients.
Please give generously and continue David's work in expanding the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases.
Consider making a monthly donation
Regular giving is one of the most effective ways to ensure David’s vision is carried forward into the future. Your chosen amount is automatically debited from your credit card monthly. Each July, we will send you an annual receipt for all your donations received in the previous financial year.
Donations to the Kirby Institute are processed through the UNSW Foundation. For queries about your donation, contact Abel Orellana on +61 422 488 480 or a.orellana@unsw.edu.au.
All donations of $2 or more are tax deductible in Australia.