The ninth annual Kiehl’s LifeRide for amfAR kicked off in Los Angeles on August 6, 2018, beginning a week-long initiative that raised funds for HIV/AIDS research.
The five-day motorcycle charity ride made eight stops at Kiehl’s stores across Southern California, ending in San Diego on Friday, August 10. At each stop, the public was encouraged to meet the riders, learn more about amfAR, and contribute to the Foundation. Kiehl’s donated a total of $150,000 over the course of the ride.
Kiehl’s LifeRide for amfAR has covered a total of more than 12,000 miles and raised more than $1.9 million since 2010, funding 10 cure-related research projects.
Chris Salgardo, Kiehl’s Brand Ambassador, and Kevin Robert Frost, CEO, amfAR, rode from Los Angeles to San Diego with Gilles Marini, actor, Days of our Lives, tattoo artist Luke Wessman, top men’s style influencer Blake Scott, and music photographer Travis Shinn.
The proceeds from the 2018 Kiehl’s LifeRide for amfAR will fund a specific grant to aid the research of Dr. Gabriel Ozorowski, a scientist at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, CA.
Dr. Ozorowski received a grant under the Mathilde Krim Fellowships in Basic Biomedical Research, an annual research initiative created to support bright young scientists seeking innovative solutions to HIV/AIDS. Dr. Ozorowski plans to use an innovative technique called cryo-EM in the search for new antiretroviral drugs in a class called fusion inhibitors. Only one fusion inhibitor – initially characterized by amfAR-funded researcher Dr. Carl Wild – has ever been approved for use. Cryo-EM is a technique that freezes molecules in action and can reveal exquisite detail about their structure. The technique earned its inventors the 2017 Nobel Prize in chemistry.
