Laura W. Cheever, M.D.

During a public service career spanning a quarter century, Dr. Laura Cheever played a central role in providing lifesaving treatment for more than a half million people a year served by the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program.

“Laura Cheever’s essential work has moved HIV from a death sentence to something more akin to a manageable chronic disease,” said Diana Espinosa, the principal deputy administrator of the Health Resources and Service Administration. “As a result of her leadership, those served by the Ryan White program are virally suppressed, meaning the virus is not transmittable and individuals can live longer, healthier lives.”

Cheever, who recently retired, worked with policymakers, states, counties, cities and community-based groups as head of the Ryan White program to ensure that low-income patients in need, many without health insurance, had access to comprehensive HIV primary medical care, essential support services and lifesaving medications.

“Laura built the foundation for a comprehensive care system for HIV/AIDS patients,” said Heather Hauck, an associate administrator of the HIV/AIDS Bureau at the Department of Health and Human Services. “The fact that the Ryan White program serves as many people as it does to successful outcomes is really a testament to Laura’s building the program and leading it through all sorts of changes both internally and externally.”

The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, begun in 1990, focuses on HIV/AIDS care and treatment for low-income, uninsured and underinsured individuals, and has reduced HIV health disparities for racial and ethnic minorities. In 2023, the program led to over 90% HIV viral suppression among its more than 500,000 participants, up from 69% in 2010.

While leading this effort on the domestic front, Cheever worked between 2004 and 2011 helping scale the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief Program, also known as PEPFAR, by facilitating the availability of medicines to 1.4 million people overseas.

PEPFAR is credited with having saved 26 million lives and enabling 7.8 million babies to be born without HIV infection since its inception in 2003, but the Trump administration has greatly scaled back program support worldwide and also has proposed reductions in domestic HIV/AIDS funding.

Cheever helped scale up the Ryan White Program by making extensive use of data to improve the initiative’s performance. She also promoted innovative, evidence-based practices to help reach key populations with significant health disparities, such as people with substance abuse issues, LGBTQ+ youth, those who are or have been incarcerated, and people aging with HIV.

Hauck said Cheever was not just leading the organization, but “making sure that critical information was out in the community so that our program leaders knew what was needed in terms of addressing the disease.”

Cheever said the commitment of those involved in running the nationwide program and serving those in need has been “inspirational,” adding that she has been “driven by a passion for improving health as a cornerstone of improving lives.”