Boston University’s School of Public Health has selected Carol Karutu, IntraHealth International project director for Southern Sudan, to receive one of its three 2010 Distinguished Alumni Awards. The awards honor alumni recognized by the School of Public Health for their outstanding achievements and for continuing to make contributions to the field of public health. This honor recognizes Karutu’s work implementing HIV/AIDS projects under an IntraHealth-led project to reduce the impact of HIV in Southern Sudan.

The project builds the capacity of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army HIV/AIDS Secretariat through training and mentoring, and includes subgrants to three nongovernmental organizations that run health care facilities. The project has established 14 counseling and testing centers in six Southern Sudan states, an HIV/AIDS treatment center in Juba, and four centers for prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. As of June 2010, the project had counseled and tested 61,676 people for HIV and enrolled 454 HIV-positive individuals for antiretroviral treatment and care.

Karutu graduated from Boston University in 2005 with a master’s in public health. Originally from Kenya, she has worked in Southern Sudan for IntraHealth since 2006.

The other recipients are Sarah Degnan Kambou (PhD, MPH '84), president of the International Center for Research on Women; and Ali Noorani (MPH '99), executive director of the National Immigration Forum.

The award ceremony will be Monday, November 8 at 6 pm at Jazz@Jacks located at Denver Pavilions, 500 15th Street, Denver, Colorado during the 2010 American Public Health Association annual conference.