Omega C. Logan Silva, MD, MACP, FAMWA
Medical School: Howard University College of Medicine
Specialty: Internal Medicine, Endocrinology
Career Highlights:
Service with AMWA: President 2000-2002 Vice President of Program, Regional Governor III, State Director for DC, Chair of Governmental Affairs, Chair of the Anti-Smoking Task Force, Co-Chair of the Leadership Development Committee, President and Vice President AMWA Branch 1
Quote: Never take responsibility without power and authority as well.
Biography:
Dr. Silva is an advocate for health care and a committed supporter of the advancement of women in medicine. In 2008, she received the Bertha Van Hoosen Award for exceptional leadership and service to AMWA. She has served on six separate advisory groups for the National Institutes of Health and was a consultant to the Food and Drug Administration’s Immunology Section. Dr. Silva has also served on the board of directors for the National Association of Veterans Affairs Physicians, the Foundation for the History of Women in Medicine, the National Research Center for Women and Families, and the National Capitol Health Care Council.
Dr. Silva, the first African American woman to be awarded a Research Associateship in the Department of Veteran Affairs, was the lead author of the first description of calcitonin production from human small cell cancer of the lung. She received a Letter of Commendation from President Reagan in 1984 and in 1995 a Letter of Thanks from President Clinton for participation in health care reform. She is also listed in American Men and Women of Science, Who’s Who in Black America, Who’s Who in Professional and Executive Women, Who’s Who of American Women, Who’s Who in the World, Who’s Who in Medicine and Healthcare, Who’s Who in the East, and Who’s Who in America
Dr. Silva has made numerous media appearances to raise awareness of women’s health issues including smoking, cervical cancer, and thyroid disease and has been an editorial referee for Chest, Archives of Internal Medicine and The Medical Letter on Drugs and Therapeutics.
Dr. Silva graduated cum laude with honors in chemistry from Howard University in 1958 and then worked as a chemist at the National Institutes of Health. After earning her MD in 1967, Dr. Silva completed a residency in internal medicine at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Washington, D.C. and a fellowship in endocrinology at George Washington University. Dr. Silva was assistant chief of the Metabolic Section and chief of the Diabetic Clinic at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington, D.C. and is a member of the AOA Honor Medical Society. She was given the Foremother Award of the National Research Center for Women and Families in May 2010.
