On Monday, May 12, National Jewish Health, one of the leading respiratory care and research hospitals in the country, based in Denver, Colorado, joined with local leaders in Atlanta and hosted its second Legends of Atlanta Gala. At this year’s event, Civil Rights icon Ambassador Andrew J. Young was the honoree. The event was held at the Woodruff Arts Center Galleria and was co-chaired by Billye Aaron, Paul Hagedorn, and Billy Payne. The fund-raising black tie tribute was named “Forever Young – A tribute to Andrew Young,” with benefits from the event going to the National Jewish Hospital.
The black-tie celebration will honor Ambassador Young’s extraordinary contributions to civil and human rights while supporting the compassionate care and groundbreaking research of National Jewish Health, the leading respiratory hospital in the nation.
Dr. Gregory Downey highlighted some of the therapies that are being developed that would allow immune cells under the skin to be extracted and tested to be able to analyze the effectiveness of one’s immune response. Placing a small tape patch which, when removed from the skin after ten minutes, can be used to analyze the body’s immune status. This provides the ability to analyze skin cells as well as the immune cells under the skin. This approach will introduce a non-invasive approach to monitoring the immune cells. In the area of cystic fibrosis, an approach using viruses to kill bacteria is being developed. The aggravating nature of lung infection in cystic fibrosis makes it’s challenging to fight the numerous bacteria resulting from the infection. An approach using bacteria thought the nose or intravenously is being developed as a cure for this disease. We’ve had great success with people who have spent many years on antibiotic treatment. This is just the beginning of this revolution.
The mission of the hospital includes educating emerging doctors and scientists through our scholarship.
In his acceptance, Ambassador Young remarked on his role while working as the US ambassador in trying to bring peace between the Arabs and the Jewish community. He also explained that after the Olympics, things did not stop there. We were able to assist countries to help prevent, and stop wars. We teamed up with Johann Koss from Norway and decided to have an Olympics truce to stop the wars that were going on. Wars in thirty-seven places were stopped for twenty days, and we were able to get people on both sides of the conflict immunized. I accepted this honor because it gave me the time to say thank you to so many around the world who shared the dreams that we shared and lived the problems that we lived; and that knows that the solution is in the hands of God. We’ve come a long way, but still have a way to go; thank you very much.
National Jewish Health is one of the leading respiratory hospitals in the country that was founded 125 years ago as a charitable hospital. Today, the hospital is a global health care leader, being the only facility in the world that is dedicated exclusively to groundbreaking medical discoveries, cutting-edge treatments, and care for patients with lung, heart, immune, and respiratory-related issues. Patients are provided the same level of care regardless of their ability to pay. We fulfill our life-changing mission for thousands by working in partnership with generous philanthropic communities across the country, including presenting prestigious events, such as our tribute to Andrew J. Young. To learn more, visit njhealth.org.
Last updated on May 30, 2025
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