An immunologist whose discoveries led to a game-changing COVID-19 antibody treatment. A trauma surgeon who established a groundbreaking hospital-based violence intervention program. A health equity pioneer. These are among the recipients of the 2023 AAMC Awards, which recognize individuals and institutions that have made outstanding contributions in medical education, research, clinical care, and community engagement. The awardees were recognized during a virtual awards ceremony on October 25.
James Earl Crowe Jr., MD: 2023 Award for Distinguished Research in the Biomedical Sciences
As the novel coronavirus that emerged in 2019 made all too clear, there are numerous pathogens circulating and mutating in the environment that can threaten human health. But one researcher has leveraged a deep understanding of the actions and responses of pathogens and the human immune system – along with a lifelong commitment to ending deaths from infectious diseases – to make major contributions to the fields of immunology, microbiology, pathology, and public health. James Earl Crowe Jr., MD, a professor of pathology, microbiology, and immunology at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, has developed antibody treatments for a broad range of pathogens including avian and swine influenza strains, Ebola, smallpox, mpox, dengue, and, most recently, the SARS-CoV-2 virus that led to the global COVID-19 pandemic. In a triumph of translational medicine, Crowe and his colleagues used their theoretical work to develop drugs that have already saved lives, including the long-acting antibody prevention regimen, Evusheld, which was granted FDA Emergency Use Authorization from December 2021 to January 2023 to protect immunocompromised people from COVID-19 infection.
Jaclyn D. Nunziato, MD, MS: 2023 Arnold P. Gold Foundation Humanism in Medicine Award
When Jaclyn D. Nunziato, MD, MS, associate professor in OB-GYN at Virginia Tech-Carilion (VTC) School of Medicine, began practicing at the Carilion Clinic in 2017, she recognized a need to consolidate the siloed resources for mothers in the southwestern Virginia region. From her standpoint as both an OB-GYN and a mother herself, she understood the challenges parents in the area faced and set about creating a central hub where those tasked with rearing children could come for support, resources, and advice. By 2020, that work had become Huddle Up Moms, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization Dr. Nunziato founded and for which she serves as executive director. Dedicated to empowering women through education, connection, and support, the organization has served the needs of more than 3,500 women in the area. In addition, Dr. Nunziato works with the Virginia Neonatal Perinatal Collaborative at Virginia Commonwealth University to promote equitable care for all, but especially for women of color who face disproportionate rates of maternal morbidity and mortality.
Selwyn O. Rogers, Jr., MD, MPH, FACS: 2023 Louis W. Sullivan, MD, Award
Selwyn O. Rogers, Jr., MD, MPH, FACS, trauma surgeon and founding director of the University of Chicago Medicine Trauma Center, has long recognized that intentional trauma disproportionately affects historically marginalized communities. Realizing that the right approaches and interventions could break the cycle of violence and intentional trauma, he developed a hospital-based violence intervention program, as well as a population-based perspective of social determinants of health to better treat vulnerable individuals. In alignment with this vision, the University of Chicago Medicine Violence Recovery Program provides critical services to victims of trauma via more than 60 community-based social and behavioral health agencies to reduce violence, build resiliency, and save lives. He also established the first trauma center operation on the city’s underserved South Side and remains committed to ensuring the workforce reflects the community. To that end, he mentors “a rainbow coalition of residents who go on to become leaders in academic surgery. This new representation in the leadership ranks will continue to transform the field.”
University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine (UMKC): 2023 AAMC Spencer Foreman Award for Community Engagement
Nestled in the heart of Kansas City, the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine (UMKC) is dedicated to improving the health and well-being of individuals and populations across all aspects of its mission. UMKC’s approach to community engagement goes beyond outreach and focuses on creating sustained efforts through community collaboration and shared leadership. The impact of UMKC’s efforts is evident in its outcomes. For example, in 2021-22, Our Healthy KC Eastside, a UMKC-partnered initiative, provided more than 12,000 COVID-19 vaccines and helped more than 4,000 individuals access health services in historically marginalized zip codes within the Kansas City metro area. Due to the program’s ongoing success, the Jackson County legislature awarded $5 million to expand offerings to include additional health services to address community-identified health concerns, including cancer and infant mortality. In another initiative, the KC Faith Community Action Board, co-led by UMKC and Calvary Community Outreach Network, has played a crucial role in implementing a number of NIH-funded projects, providing thousands of residents with health screenings and prevention services.
Neil Richard Powe, MD, MPH, MBA: 2023 Herbert W. Nickens Leadership Award
Real heroes don’t wear capes, but some wear white coats. One of American medicine’s most distinguished white-coated champions of health care equity and justice is Neil Richard Powe, MD, MPH, MBA, chief of medicine at the Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (ZSFG), and vice chair of medicine and Constance B. Wofsy Distinguished Professor at the University of California, San Francisco, (UCSF) School of Medicine. Dr. Powe began his medical-faculty career at Johns Hopkins University in 1986, and by 1998, he had become the first African American full professor in Hopkins’ department of medicine’s more than 100-year history. An advocate for women in science and medicine, Dr. Powe was the founding director and principal investigator at Hopkins’ NIH Roadmap Institution K12 and T32 grants, which support women and underrepresented students and faculty. In addition, through a relationship he forged with Howard University, Dr. Powe helped build a pathway for underrepresented students to pursue research training at Hopkins. Dr. Powe has received numerous awards, among them election to the National Academy of Medicine in 2003.
Denise Jamieson, MD, MPH: 2023 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation David E. Rogers Award
Denise Jamieson, MD, MPH, vice president for medical affairs and dean at the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, is an internationally recognized public health leader dedicated to advancing women’s health. Dr. Jamieson joined the U.S. Public Health Service as an epidemic intelligence service officer in 1997 and served a continuous assignment to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) through 2017. In that role, Dr. Jamieson aimed to improve public health in the face of infectious diseases that threaten the health of pregnant people and newborns. Dr. Jamieson is a former James Robert McCord Professor and Chair in the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics at Emory University School of Medicine. Her background in infectious diseases and women’s health was especially helpful during several disease outbreaks including those caused by the H1N1 influenza and the Zika, Ebola, mpox, and SARS-CoV-2 viruses. During the recent COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Jamieson leveraged her knowledge and experience of how both infections and vaccines impact the health of pregnant people to assuage fears among that population regarding accepting COVID-19 vaccines along with advising how to prevent transmission of the virus.
Lisa M. Bellini, MD: 2023 Alpha Omega Alpha Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher Award for Clinical Sciences
Lisa M. Bellini, MD, senior vice dean for academic affairs and professor of medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine (PSOM) at the University of Pennsylvania, has served the PSOM community for nearly 30 years as an exceptional educator and mentor. A practicing pulmonologist, Dr. Bellini is a sought-after mentor for medical students and residents interested in pulmonary medicine, and she is widely revered for her ability to engage with students and nurture their passion for patient care. But Dr. Bellini’s contributions to the field of medical education are not limited to the PSOM community: her national contributions include nearly 80 peer-reviewed papers in high-impact journals. Among her most notable research work was the iCOMPARE study, the largest randomized trial in graduate medical education history. Funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, that trial examined patient safety, educational, and sleep and alertness outcomes of interns exposed to standard duty hours versus more flexible duty hours; the findings led to national policy changes from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.
Neil Osheroff, PhD: 2023 Alpha Omega Alpha Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher Award for Biomedical Sciences
As professor of biochemistry and medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine (VUSM), Neil Osheroff, PhD, has devoted himself to unraveling the complexities of the tiniest elements of DNA. Through his teaching, he has helped medical students at VUSM and across the globe acquire the basic science skills and knowledge they need to thrive in clinical practice. Dr. Osheroff leads the Master Science Teachers (MST) cohort, a role established in 2007 to recognize VUSM’s outstanding basic science educators. When the school adopted Curriculum 2.0 in 2013, the MST took on new responsibilities, including reviewing all integrated science courses for third- and fourth-year students. Dr. Osheroff has extended his reach well beyond the VUSM, consulting with many schools nationally and internationally, including the University of Michigan Medical School and Ben Gurion University of the Negev Medical School for International Health. In 2018, Dr. Osheroff was elected as a fellow to the American Association for the Advancement of Science for distinguished contributions to the fields of DNA topology and enzymology, anti-cancer and antibacterial drug mechanisms and teaching, leadership, and curricular innovation in medical education.
Dimitrios Papanagnou, MD, MPH: 2023 Alpha Omega Alpha Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher Award
As an emergency medicine physician, Dimitrios Papanagnou, MD, MPH, EdD(c), sees up close the influence of the social determinants of health on those seeking urgent and emergent medical care. This insight has deeply informed Dr. Papanagnou’s work, both as a clinician and as an educator determined to help students better serve their diverse patients. Because of his interest in improving equity in health care and his extensive background in public health, patient safety, and medical education, Dr. Papanagnou was selected to become the director of Health Systems Science (HSS) at the Sidney Kimmel Medical College (SKMC) at Thomas Jefferson University, in 2019. At SKMC, HSS has provided curricular space to address such important conversations as systemic racism, gender identity, disability, reproductive health, and other social and political determinants of health. As associate dean for faculty development at SKMC since 2014, he and his team also designed a conceptual framework that provides a long-range view of how faculty can continually grow to improve student outcomes.
Learn more about Dr. Papanagnou
Karen Szauter, MD, MACP: 2023 Alpha Omega Alpha Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher Award
Ensuring that her students are well equipped to provide the best care possible has been a guiding principle for Karen Szauter, MD, MACP, professor at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) John Sealy School of Medicine in Galveston. A gastroenterologist by training, Dr. Szauter emphasizes creative teaching and assessment approaches to clinical training, mentoring up to 20 students per year on abstract writing and poster preparation. For the past 15 years, Dr. Szauter has also been co-director of the three-year internal medicine clerkship, introducing new opportunities to support student learning and skills building to help ease students’ transition into residency. Beyond UTMB, Dr. Szauter has served as chair of the AAMC Group on Educational Affairs and the Grants and Research Committee of the Association of Standardized Patient Educators. She led the Clerkship Directors in Internal Medicine Survey and Scholarship Committee and has co-chaired the Education Committee of the Kenneth I. Shine, M.D., Academy of Health Science Education at the University of Texas. In 2022, she was elected a Master to the American College of Physicians.
Adina L. Kalet, MD, MPH, FACP, FAACH: 2023 Excellence in Medical Education Award
Throughout her 30-year career as a leader, mentor, and educator in academic medicine, Adina L. Kalet, MD, has been an advocate for helping clinicians develop their communication skills. Now the Stephen and Shelagh Roell Endowed Chair and director of the Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Institute for the Transformation of Medical Education at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW), she has authored more than 200 papers and three books and contributed 14 chapters to larger works. All those words underscore Dr. Kalet’s underlying mission to help medical students improve their communication skills to better connect with and empower their patients. An internal medicine physician, Dr. Kalet has been principal investigator on several important grants, including one from the National Science Foundation and another from the National Institutes of Health to conduct a seven-institution randomized controlled trial of NYU’s Web Institute for Surgical Education (WISE-MD).
Elisa A. Hurley, PhD: 2023 Special Recognition Award
On August 18, 2023, Elisa A. Hurley, PhD, stepped down as executive director of PRIM&R (Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research), a position she held for nine years at the nonprofit organization she had been part of since 2010. Founded in 1974, PRIM&R works to ensure the highest ethical standards in research by providing education, membership, and other professional resources to the research and research-oversight community. When faced with the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic – which crystallized the importance of ethical research to advance science while spotlighting the potential shortcomings of research infrastructure pertaining to human subjects – Dr. Hurley skillfully guided the organization and an engaged research community of over 25,000 individuals. An ethicist and moral philosopher by training, Dr. Hurley writes, lectures, and teaches on issues in human-subject protection and research ethics. Prior to leading PRIM&R, she served as an assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Western Ontario, now Western University. There, her research and teaching focused on biomedical ethics and moral psychology.
Geneviève Moineau, BSc, MD, FRCPC, ICD.D: 2023 Special Recognition Award
On June 30, 2023, Geneviève Moineau, BSc, MD, FRCPC, concluded her term as president and CEO of the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada (AFMC), a position she held for over 10 years. Representing Canada’s 17 faculties of medicine (i.e., medical schools), the AFMC’s mission is to achieve excellence in education, research, and care for the health of all Canadians through collective leadership, expertise, and advocacy. Dr. Moineau is an internationally recognized expert on accreditation in medical education and has played a crucial role in AFMC’s advocacy for strategic physician-resource planning to meet Canada’s physician workforce needs. In August 2023, Dr. Moineau was appointed as the chief medical workforce advisor for the government of Canada, where she will support the federal response to current health-workforce challenges so that all Canadians can access the quality care they need and deserve.
Do you know someone who exemplifies the best of academic medicine? Nominations for the 2024 AAMC Awards are now open! Visit aamc.org/awards to learn more about the criteria and submit a nomination.