Pernessa C. Seele
American immunologist
Pernessa C. Seele (born October 15, 1954) is an American immunologist and interfaith public health activist. Seele is the CEO and founder of Balm in Gilead, Inc., a religious-based organization that provides support to people with AIDS and their families, as well as working for prevention of HIV and AIDS. In 1989, she initiated the Harlem Week of Prayer, with 50 churches, synagogues and mosques participating. This became an annual event and organizing force for the religious community to respond to the AIDS crisis.
Seele incorporated a growing organization as "The Balm in Gilead, Inc." This national movement to address public-health issues through communities of faith" has grown to include more than ten thousand churches, and numerous branches in the United States, Africa and the Caribbean. After 30 years in New York, Seele and the organization are now based in Richmond, Virginia.
Early life and education
Pernessa Seele was born to Luella and Charles Seele in Lincolnville, South Carolina, about 20 miles from Charleston. It was an all-black rural town, where religious revivals were part of the community fabric and a way to mobilize civic action.
Seele studied biology as an undergraduate at Clark College (now Clark Atlanta University) where she earned a B.S. In 1979 she earned a master's degree in immunology at Atlanta University. She went to New York to start a career in science research.
Career
Seele went to New York to work at Rockefeller University in the immunology of malaria.
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