Robert F. Kennedy Center Receives Grant for International Work

OGUNQUIT, Maine, Dec. 12, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights will receive a total of $200,000 in grants over the next three-to-five years from the Tramuto Foundation, a Maine-based charitable organization founded by entrepreneur and philanthropist Donato Tramuto.  Tramuto is the CEO and Chairman of Physicians Interactive in Reading, MA, the leading global provider of online and mobile clinical resources for healthcare professionals. 

The announcement was made at the RFK Center's annual Ripple of Hope Awards dinner held December 11^th in New York City, NY.    The funding will be used to supplement the RFK Center's work in advancing international human rights.

In acknowledging the grant, RFK Center President Kerry Kennedy, daughter of the late Robert F. Kennedy, said, "My father believed with all his heart that 'one person can make a difference and every one should try' and Donato has taken his words to heart.  We are all enormously grateful for his commitment to human rights."

In 2012 Tramuto was recognized as one of the Top 12 Innovators in Massachusetts for his work with Health eVillages, a program he founded and is now part of Physicians Interactive and the RFK Center. Health eVillages provides state-of-the-art mobile health technology including medical reference and clinical decision support resources to medical professionals in the most challenging environments around the world.

In 2005, 2009 and 2012, Tramuto was selected by PharmaVoice as one of the Top 100 Most Inspirational Healthcare Leaders in the Life Sciences Industry.   In 2013, he received the Healthcare IT News H.I.T. Men & Woman Award in the Innovators category.

Beginning in 2014, more than $400,000 will be dispersed to a total of four recipients, including the RFK Center, over the next three to five years from the charitable foundation Tramuto established in 2002 to improve educational opportunities for the disadvantaged and expand access to high quality healthcare services.

The other Tramuto Foundation grant recipients include:

• $5000 for the next three years to the Ogunquit, ME Museum of American Art.  The grant will fund the creation of an experimental program for children in grades 3-5 who are hearing impaired.
• $75,000 over the next three years to the Frannie Peabody Center. The funding will endow the development and implementation of an enhanced model of care for immigrants living with HIV/AIDS in Maine.
• $100,000 to endow a scholarship fund for outstanding international students at the Boston University School of Public Health.

The initial installment of grants is set to begin March 2014 and will culminate with the Tramuto Foundation's 15^th Anniversary Gala on October 1, 2016, a celebration of the organization Tramuto created in memory of two friends and their son who were aboard Flight 175 on September 11, 2001. By 2016, the Tramuto Foundation will have awarded $1 million in grants to organizations that bring educational opportunities and state-of-the-art healthcare to the disadvantaged and those in underserved areas.

Tramuto serves on several executive leadership boards: The Boston University School of Public Health Dean's Advisory Board, the Physicians Interactive Board of Directors, the Robert F. Kennedy US Leadership Council, the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice & Human Rights Europe Board, and the Maine Economic Growth Council.  He is also a member of the Board of Directors for HealthWays, the largest independent global provider of well-being improvement solutions, providing services to more than 45 million people over four continents.

For more information about the Donato Tramuto Foundation, please visit www.tramutofoundation.com

About Physicians Interactive

Headquartered in Reading, MA, PI aspires to use the power of worldwide networks of healthcare professionals and life sciences companies together in ways that will change the practice and business of medicine for the better. PI's value proposition is to offer the life science industry a low-cost, virtual, multi-channel marketing approach that can be used to supplement currently promoted products, as well as non-promoted and orphaned products, that deliver benefits to physicians and patients. A key focus is providing services that fit into physicians' and healthcare professionals' daily workflow at the point-of-care when they make diagnosis, treatment and prescribing decisions. More information can be found at www.PhysiciansInteractive.com.

SOURCE Tramuto Foundation