First Lady of Panama, Mrs. Marta Linares de Martinelli, Honored by ICare4Autism

NEW YORK, April 29, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mrs. Marta Linares de Martinelli, the First Lady of the Republic of Panama, was honored yesterday by ICare4Autism for her incredible initiatives in the global Autism community. The ceremony took place in conjunction with The Permanent Mission of Panama to the United Nations and H.E. Ambassador Pablo Antonio Thalassinós, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Panama to the United Nations. 



The First Lady was presented the First Annual Global Autism Awareness Award at the United Nations this morning. This award is named after Mrs. Marta Linares de Martinelli, in honor of all of her groundbreaking work and outstanding leadership in Autism.

At the ceremony, Dr. Joshua Weinstein, Founder and CEO of ICare4Autism, in his opening remarks, highlighted the work that the First Lady has done to help individuals with autism in Panama, especially her founding the country's first care center, the Ann Sullivan Center for children and young people with Autism in May 2012. Mrs. Marta Linares de Martinelli proudly accepted her award, and gave a moving speech regarding her motives to bring further aid to autistics, not just in Panama, but globally.



VIP Attendees included John N. Tognino, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Pepper Financial Group, and Chair of the Board of Trustees, Fordham University. Also among the VIP guests was Jason Maier, Director of the NY Office of Stan Johnson Company, and Board of Directors Member for ICare4Autism and Shema Kolainu - Hear Our Voices, as well as Hakon Hakonarson, M.D., Ph.D., Center for Autism Research, The Joseph Stokes Jr Research Institute, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and Member of the ICare4Autism Advisory Council.

Following the award ceremony, Mrs. Marta Linares de Martinelli visited Shema Kolainu-Hear Our Voices, school and center for children with Autism, where she was able to visit classrooms and meet several children. She was presented a bouquet by one of the students as a showing of appreciation for all of her work in bringing awareness to Autism.

ICare4Autism was honored to have Mrs. Marta Linares de Martinelli accept this award at the ceremony, as well as visit the school, and participate in highlighting the importance of Autism Awareness Month.

Mrs. Marta Linares de Martinelli has previously taken part in ICare4Autism's annual conference, by speaking at the 2012 conference in Jerusalem. This year's ICare4Autism International Conference will take place on June 30th to July 2nd in NYC. The conference will feature a roster of notable speakers and will be discussing many global initiatives to aid Autistic individuals. Early bird ticket pricing for the conference is ongoing until May 15th. Continental breakfast and lunch are included in the ticket price.

About ICare4Autism


The International Center for Autism Research and Education, Inc., ICare4Autism, is a global, non-profit 501c3 organization based in New York City. This groundbreaking non-profit was founded by Joshua Weinstein, PhD, M.B.A., in 2004. Through awareness and funding, ICare4Autism works in partnership with similar institutions worldwide to discover the etiology of Autism. ICare4Autism searches for the biologic and environmental causes of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and promotes various medical and environmental practices to best serve people with Autism and their families.