AMWA Awardees Honored at the Annual Meeting Luncheon
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Presidential Recognition Award — Mona Hanna-Attisha, MD, MPH
Mona Hanna-Attisha, MD, MPH, is assistant professor of pediatrics at Michigan State University College of Hu- man Medicine and director of the pediatric residency program at Hurley Children’s Hospital in Flint, Michigan. Dr. Hanna-Attisha received her bachelor’s and Master of Public Health degrees from the University of Michigan and her medical degree from Michigan State University College of Human Medicine. She completed her residency at Children’s Hospital of Michigan in Detroit, where she was chief of pediatric residency. Dr. Hanna-Attisha was recently heralded internationally for her study that exposed elevated lead blood levels in children living in Flint, Michigan. Dr. Hanna-Attisha now directs the Michigan State University and Hurley Children’s Hospital Pediatric Public Health Initiative, an innovative and model public health program to research, monitor and mitigate the impact of lead in Flint’s drinking water. In addition to advocating for children’s health, Dr. Hanna-Attisha was recognized as Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in 2016.
Presidential Recognition Award — Londa Schiebinger, PhD
Londa Schiebinger is the John L. Hinds Professor of History of Science at Stanford University. She currently directs the Gendered Innovations in Science, Health & Medicine, Engineering, and Environment project. She is a leading international expert on gender in science, and has addressed the United Nations on the topic of “Gender, Science, and Technology.” She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the recipient of numerous prizes and awards, including the prestigious Alexander von Humboldt Research Prize and Guggenheim Fel- lowship. Her work on Gendered Innovations (genderedinnovations.stanford.edu) harnesses the creative power of sex and gender analysis to enhance excellence and reproducibility in science and medicine. Her prize-winning books include: The Mind Has No Sex? Women in the Origins of Modern Science; Nature’s Body: Gender in the Making of Modern Science; Has Feminism Changed Science?; Plants and Empire: Colonial Bioprospecting in the Atlantic World; with Robert N. Proctor, Agnotology: The Making and Unmaking of Ignorance; and with Andrea Davies Henderson and Shannon Gilmartin, Dual Career Couples: What Universities Need to Know.
Presidential Recognition Award – Laura L. Helfman, MD
Laura L. Helfman, MD is an Emergency Physician who treats both adults and children. She is a clinical instructor in Pediatrics at Children’s Hospital at Erlanger in Chattanooga TN. She is an active part-time clinician with PEMA (Pediatric Emergency Medicine Associates) as well as a teaching attending for residents in Emergency Medicine, Pediatrics and Family Practice. She is a member of the hospital’s Outreach Committee which involves participating in site visits regionally to help improve Pediatric Emergency Care in the Chattanooga area. Dr. Helfman is a graduate of Barnard College (Columbia University) and the Medical College of Pennsylvania. She completed her residency in Emergency Medicine in 1993 at Long Island Jewish Medical Center and became Board Certified in 1994. She also completed training in Wilderness Medicine as a Wilderness First Responder and Wilderness Advanced Life Support Provider and is a Lead Instructor for Wilderness Medical Associates. Dr. Helfman became active during medical school with AMWA (American Medical Women’s Association) and with the AWHS (American Women’s Hospitals Service). Laura’s interest in international health, and specifically women’s health, led to an elective in Bolivia supported by AWHS. Currently, Laura is co-chair of the AWHS committee and is working to help expand its role.
Elizabeth Blackwell Award — Marjorie R. Jenkins, MD, MEdHP, FACP
Spurred by recognition of the unique health needs of women and the one-sex approach to medical education and clinical care, Dr. Jenkins is dedicated to advancing sex and gender health (SGH) research, education, and awareness. She was the Founding Executive Director for the multi-disciplinary Laura W. Bush Institute for Women’s Health (LWBIWH) whose mission is to improve the lives of women and families through research, education, and outreach. Dr. Jenkins is a Professor of Medicine and LWBIWH Chief Scientific Officer at Texas Tech University HSC. In 2015, she was invited to join the U.S. FDA Office of Women’s Health (OWH) as the Director of Scientific Engagement and Medical Initiatives. In this role, she leads educational and scientific programs to advance sex and gender-specific women’s health within the regulatory environment. She is a recognized thought leader in sex and gender-specific health and has provided expertise for initiatives at Brown University, Mayo Clinic, NASA, HRSA, NIH, and NBME. In 2015 she chaired the first U.S. Sex and Gender Medical Education (SGME) Summit and serves as co-Chair for the 2018 SGME Summit. She has delivered over 100 national and international presentations and co-authored many works in both the scientific and public arena.
Bertha Van Hoosen Award — Farzanna Haffizulla, MD, FACP, FAMWA
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla is the 2014-15 President of the American Medical Women’s Association. She founded and co-chairs AMWA’s Preventive Medicine Task Force and the Fellowship Program. She has been involved in AMWA since medical school and participated on many AMWA committees including Governance, Membership and Finance. Dr. Haffizulla is the Chief Scientific Officer for Haven Home Health, Pre-med Faculty at American Heritage School where she teaches Honors Organic Chemistry and a Voluntary Assistant Professor of Medicine at the UM. She is also an Affiliate Clinical Assistant Professor at the Charles Schmidt College of Biomedical Sciences at FAU. She is an author of 2 books, Lead With Your Heart and Harmony of the Spheres, and is a nationally recognized speaker and expert on work-life balance. She is the on-camera Host for Mission Critical Health and has also hosted over 125 Oncology expert interviews with Elsevier’s Practice Update. Dr. Haffizulla has received awards and recognition for her work from the ACP, AMWA and International Societies. Dr. Haffizulla continues to passionately promote disease prevention, global and national health and is a proud wife and mother of four children. For more information, please visit www.BusyMomMD.com
Bertha Van Hoosen Award — Gayatri Devi, MD, MS, FAAN
Gayatri Devi, MD, MS, FAAN, is board-certified in Neurology, Pain Medicine, Psychiatry, Brain Injury Medicine and Behavioral Neurology. Dr. Devi became Director of the Long Island Alzheimer’s Disease Assistance Center at 28, after seven years of post-graduate residency training in Neurology, Psychiatry, and Behavioral Neurology at Downstate and Columbia Universities. With over 50 peer-reviewed publications, Dr. Devi is an Attending Physician at Lenox Hill Hospital and Clinical Professor of Neurology at Downstate Medical Center and the 2017 Lila Wallis Distinguished Visiting Professor in Women’s Health at Weill Cornell Medical College. She founded the New York Memory Services in 1999, serving until 2015 as Clinical Associate Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry at NYU School of Medicine. Prior roles include Assistant Professor of Neurology at Columbia University; Clinical Core Co-director of the Taub Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at Columbia University; and President of AMWA. She has been featured on BBC, NPR, CBS, Reuters, WSJ and TIME and authored four books. She is a consultant to the NYS Committee for Physician Health and the NFL Players Association.
Woman in Science Award — Tamara A. Scerpella, MD
Tamara A. Scerpella, MD, is a tenured professor of Orthopedic Surgery and the Ballantine Endowed Professor of Orthopedic Research at the University of Wisconsin. She is chief of the division of sports medicine, vice chair of the department and team physician for the University of Wisconsin Badgers. She is president of the Forum, the Society for Women Orthopedic Sports Medicine Specialists. Dr. Scerpella’s research goal is to improve lifelong bone health in women through childhood and adolescent physical activity programming. Her observational and interventional trials have resulted in more than two-dozen peer-reviewed publications and nearly 50 national and international presentations. Through this work, Dr. Scerpella has provided research mentorship to more than 40 orthopedic surgery residents, medical and undergraduate students. She is married to Patrick Scerpella, MD, an orthopedic foot and ankle specialist. They have four children, John who will graduate from the University of Wisconsin with a masters of public health degree this spring; Will who is a freshman at Washington University; Colleen, a sophomore in high school; and Patrick, a seventh-grade student.
Lila A. Wallis Women’s Health Award — Patricia J. Numann, MD, FACS
Patricia J. Numann, MD, FACS, FRCSEdin[Hon],FRCSGlas[Hon], FRSC Thailand[Hon] graduated from Upstate Medical University in 1965 and pursued a surgical residency. She became the first woman surgeon in Syracuse, New York. She has served on the board of numerous organizations that advocate for women’s care. Her interest in medical education resulted in her serving as associate Dean of Upstate Medical University on two occasions, chair of the American Board of Surgery and President of the American College of Surgeons. She attended the first Women in Academia Leadership program sponsored by AMWA and AAMC in 1978. This experience further convinced her of the need for advocacy for women. She founded the Association of Women Surgeons to support the personal and professional needs of women surgeons. In recent years she has become involved in supporting women surgeons and women’s health internationally. She met Dr. Lila Wallis when she was involved with the NY chapter of AMWA. This led to her introducing the pelvic patient teach- ing model described by Dr. Wallis to the Upstate curriculum in 1978.
Anne C. Carter Leadership Award — Lexi Shepherd
Lexi Shepherd is a member of Oakland University William Beaumont (OUWB) School of Medicine Class of 2017 in Rochester, MI. She grew up in Rochester less than a mile from the farm of Bertha Van Hoosen, AMWA founder. Lexi graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.S. in Microbiology and a minor in Medical Anthropology. She has served as AMWA National Student Treasurer and Student Fundraising Co-Chair for two terms. Collaborating with physicians and students, Lexi focused on a strong start to the next 100 years of AMWA’s excellence. Before becoming involved at the national level, she served as Branch President and Symposium Chair for her local AMWA branch. As President, she concentrated on expanding AMWA’s involvement in the local community. In addition to her involvement with AMWA, she served as Treasurer and Vice President for OUWB’s Obstetrician/Gynecologist Interest Group and is a planning committee member for the Michigan Ovarian Cancer Alliance’s annual car show and 5K awareness event. Lexi plans to continue with a career in women’s healthcare as an obstetrician-gynecologist.
Dr. Larry Zaroff Man of Good Conscience Award — Bernard Lo, MD
Bernard Lo, MD, is President of the Greenwall Foundation, whose mission is supporting bioethics research and young researchers in bioethics. He is also Professor Emeritus of Medicine and Director Emeritus of the Program in Medical Ethics at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). As a teacher, mentor, colleague, and funder, he is proud to have worked with many women who have made distinguished contributions in medicine, biomedical ethics, and health policy. A member of the National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine, IOM), Dr. Lo chaired IOM committees on conflicts of interest in medicine and on responsible sharing of clinical trial data. Dr. Lo serves on the Board of Directors of Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs (AAHRPP) and on the Medical Advisory Panel of Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Formerly he was a member of the National Bioethics Advisory Commission. Dr. Lo and his colleagues have published around 200 peer-reviewed articles on ethical issues concerning decision-making near the end-of-life, oversight of research, the doctor-patient relationship, and conflicts of interest.
Dr. Larry Zaroff Man of Good Conscience Award — David M. Gaba, MD
David M. Gaba, M.D. is Associate Dean for Immersive and Simulation-based Learning as well as Professor (with tenure) of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine. He is also the Founder and Co-Director of the Simulation Center at Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System where he is also a Staff Physician. Dr. Gaba’s laboratory has worked for more than 30 years on human performance and patient safety issues, applying organizational safety theory to health care. The laboratory invented the modern full-body patient simulator and also first adapted Crew Resource Management training from aviation to healthcare as Crisis Resource Management. He is a key pioneer in the development of cognitive aids and Emergency Manuals in healthcare. Dr. Gaba has authored over 135 original articles, commentaries, and editorials in various peer-reviewed journals. He has written more than 25 book chapters and is the lead author of a well-known book Crisis Management in Anesthesiology (1st and 2nd editions). He was the Founding Editor-in-Chief of the indexed peer-reviewed journal Simulation in Healthcare.
Camille Mermod Award — Dyani Loo, MD
Dyani Loo is a first-year child and adolescent psychiatry fellow at the University of New Mexico and a graduate of the University of Miami. Prior to medical school, she worked as a crisis/social services call operator and as a patient advocate for adults with schizophrenia. The barriers that she saw people struggle with during this time led her to medical school to learn how to expand access to services and improve care to high-risk populations. A former Anne C. Carter Fellow, her interest in better understanding the factors involved in addressing care delivery on a global level has led her to do projects/research in rural areas of Peru, Uganda, and Colombia. As co-chair for the American Women’s Hospitals Service Committee she is continually inspired by what others are doing around the world to improve their communities despite significant resource deficits. In her free time, she enjoys exploring beautiful New Mexico—snowboarding, hiking with her dog Finnegan, and whitewater kayaking down the Rio Grande.
Camille Mermod Award — Laura Roebuck, MD
Laura Roebuck is a retired psychiatrist from San Francisco, CA. She trained at UCSF Psychiatry Residency Program and worked in Community Psychiatry at Westside Crisis Clinic, Marin County Mental Health and San Francisco State University Health Services. She also had a private practice in San Francisco specializing in shared care medication management for adult patients, working closely with their psychotherapists and primary care physicians. Dr. Roebuck has been involved in AMWA since medical school at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH. Her interests and experience in international health care, advocacy and women’s health care contributed to her ongoing involvement in the organization and allowed for continued participation even after ending her formal practice as a physician. She has been a longstanding member of the AWHS Committee and has provided funding to multiple AMWA projects, including AWHS and the Anti-Trafficking Initiative through private foundations. Since retiring she has developed her painting avocation.
Esther Pohl Lovejoy Award — Stephanie Van Dyke, MD, MPH (posthumous)
Stephanie Van Dyke, MD, was passionate about improving the health of populations, from rural Uganda to Klamath Falls. She advocated that prevention and wellness must be a part of medical treatment and believed their influence could dramatically improve our health care system. Dr. Van Dyke earned her medical degree from Albany Medical College and completed her residency in rural family medicine at Oregon Health Sciences University. During her residency program, Dr. Van Dyke was a co-founder and served as Vice President of Health for Engeye Health Clinic, a non-profit organization whose mission revolves around ensuring health and education in rural Uganda. Following residency, Dr. Van Dyke received a Masters of Public Health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, focusing on global health and environmental sustainability. While there, she met Dr. Katherine Jochim Pope. Together they moved to Klamath Falls and evolved the Klamath Falls’ Better Health Partnership into the Healthy Klamath Coalition, which later morphed into the Blue Zones Project. In the words of colleague Tom Hottman, “Stephanie helped bring a healthier attitude and lifestyle philosophy that is now the Blue Zones Project. We started with planting the seeds and worried about it and she brought the water and the fertilizer and nurtured it and it started growing and will continue to grow and bear fruit.”
Exceptional Mentorship Award — Carolyn L. Abitbol, MD
Carolyn L. Abitbol, MD, is a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and the Medical Director of the Holtz Children’s Hospital Pediatric Dialysis Unit. She graduated cum laude from James Madison University with a B.S. in Physical Chemistry (67) and attended medical school at the University of Virginia (71). Her residency was in Medicine-Pediatrics at Emory University/ Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, GA. Thereafter, she did a fellowship in Pediatric Nephrology at the University of California, San Francisco followed by a year of research with a Fulbright-Hays Scholarship at Necker-Hộpital des Enfants-Malades in Paris, France. In 1983, she and her husband Andre, a Radiation Oncologist, moved their family to Miami and she joined the faculty of UMSOM. Dr. Abitbol has co-authored over 300 original manuscripts, book chapters and scientific abstracts and is the 2015 recipient of the Micah Batchelor Award for Research. Carolyn and Andre have been married for 43 years and have 5 grown children and 4 young grandchildren. When time allows, they enjoy spending time together with family and friends
Exceptional Mentorship Award — Kara M. Cavuoto, MD
Kara Cavuoto, MD, is an assistant professor of clinical ophthalmology and clinical pediatrics at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. She evaluates and treats patients with pediatric eye disorders, including amblyopia and strabismus, as well as adults with strabismus. In addition, Kara serves as the director of medical student education in ophthalmology at the University of Miami. In this role, she oversees all ophthalmology clerkships and pre-clinical graduate coursework and advises the University of Miami medical students applying for ophthalmology residency. Kara attended both college and medical school at the University of Miami as part of the Honors Program in Medicine combined BS-MD degree program. She completed an internship in Internal Medicine at Jackson Memorial Hospital followed by an ophthalmology residency and a pediatric ophthalmology and strabismus fellowship at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute. She is board certified in ophthalmology and currently practices at both the Miami and Palm Beach Gardens offices of Bascom Palmer Eye Institute.
Exceptional Mentorship Award — Deborah Davenport, MD
One of Deborah Davenport’s fond memories of medical school at the University of Pennsylvania was the annual Women in Medicine Dinner. It was inspirational and fun. She is an AOA graduate of the Class of 1975, and women classmates and faculty were few in number. When she joined the faculty at Stony Brook Medicine, providing mentorship and support for the women students was very important to her. With another faculty member, she formed the first Suffolk County NY branch of AMWA. She has hosted an annual student/faculty dinner at her home for over thirty years. She is the long-standing advisor to the student AWMA group and has happily provided shadowing and mentoring to many students over the years. In her professional life, she is an ObGyn physician with an interest in menopause and international women’s health. She is a charter member of the North American Menopause Society, and a Nationally Certified Menopause Practitioner. She has participated in missions to underserved African and South American countries, always bringing an ob-gyn resident along. Personally, she has four outstanding adult sons, who are married to amazingly strong and powerful women, and is married nearly fifty years to a very supportive physicist.
Exceptional Mentorship Award — Carol M. Davis, DPT, EdD, MS, FAPTA
Carol M. Davis, DPT, EdD, MS, FAPTA is Professor Emerita and immediate past Vice Chair of the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in Miami Florida. She is also a clinician in active clinical practice, primarily treating patients with cervical and lumbar spine pain utilizing energy-based manual therapy, myofascial release, along with exercise. Dr. Davis is an international lecturer and consultant and a respected author in the rehabilitation literature. She is the author of Integrative Therapies in Rehabilitation, and Patient-Practitioner Interaction, both published by Slack Books, Inc., and several textbook chapters, many focusing on the science of energy medicine and integrative therapies. She has published over 30 articles in peer-reviewed journals, including articles on mentoring. Her areas of scholarly interest include educating students in the affective domain, particularly in professional interactions in health care, ethics, empathy, and using the self as a therapeutic presence with patients.
Exceptional Mentorship Award — Raghav Govindarajan, MD, FISQua, FACSc, FCPP
Raghav Govindarajan, MD, is an Assistant Professor of Neurology at the University of Missouri , Columbia, Missouri. He is also the clerkship director and has a passion for mentoring, guiding and teaching medical students, residents and fellows. Dr. Govindarajan wrote, “I am honored by this award and want to dedicate it to my students who have been a source of motivation for me.”
Exceptional Mentorship Award — John Graham, MD
In the words of his nominator, Cathy Carr, MD, “When I signed up to be an ER extern for Dr. Graham, I experienced for the first time joy and intellectual freedom! He treated each extern as a colleague, teaching in every conversation. I was given the privilege of being the first to interview and examine noncritical patients and present my findings to him. He was respectful in listening and included me in his interview and exam. This was reassuring to the patient and validating for me. To this day, I copy his bedside manner and contracted his infectious genuine joy of caring for patients. He taught me more as an extern than I had learned in most of my other clinical rotations. Later in my life, when I had the privilege of training students/ residents/nurses/paramedics, I could channel his persona and vivaciously “pay it forward”. Thank you Dr. Graham.”
Exceptional Mentorship Award — Laurie G. Hudson, PhD
Laurie G. Hudson, PhD is a University of New Mexico Regents’ Professor and a productive researcher, who is highly engaged in mentorship at the UNM Health Sciences Center. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington and her Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Toxicology from Harvard University. Dr. Hudson is active in the UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center with an emphasis in ovarian cancer tumor biology and therapeutics. She also conducts research on mechanisms underlying environmental metal toxicity and disease in tribal populations. Dr. Hudson is dedicated to supporting the development and success of the next generation of scientists throughout the education and professional continuum. Dr. Hudson is actively involved in institutional research training programs and research education leadership. She strives to enhance diversity in science, support and promote women scientists, and foster the success of junior faculty. Dr. Hudson provides career development presentations and workshops in addition to individual coaching to
Exceptional Mentorship Award — Elizabeth Pepper Lahti, MD
Elizabeth Pepper Lahti, MD, is a clinician-educator and hospitalist in the Division of Hospital Medicine at Oregon Health & Science University. She is the Director of Narrative Medicine in the YourMD School of Medicine curriculum transformation and teaches narrative medicine and reflective practice to interprofessional students, residents and faculty with a particular interest in identity formation and resilience through telling a story. Dr. Lahti co-founded the Northwest Narrative Medicine Collaborative which hosts an annual conference and monthly series where students, patients, caregivers, and health professionals explore the experience of illness through personal narrative. She is grateful for the many mentors in her personal and professional life, and is passionate about listening to the stories of students and residents to guide them in finding their own purposes in and out of medicine. Dr. Lahti considers herself lucky to be a faculty advisor for the OHSU AMWA Chapter, and to have the opportunity to be around the next generation of strong, female physicians and scientists.
Exceptional Mentorship Award — Marisa B. Marques, MD
Marisa Marques, MD, received her medical degree from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, where she also trained in Internal Medicine, in Porto Alegre, Brazil. She and her husband moved to the United States in 1986 to be Research Fellows at NIH for 2 years, followed by another fellowship at Harvard Medical School for 5 years. Dr. Marques came to the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 1994 and trained in Pathology, Hematopathology and Transfusion Medicine. She is passionate about teaching about the appropriate use of blood transfusions and ordering and interpretation of laboratory tests to decrease diagnostic errors and loves to interact with medical students, residents, fellows, colleagues from other specialties, nurses, medical technologists, and anyone willing to listen. Dr. Marques sees patients undergoing apheresis procedures, both hospitalized and in the outpatient clinic, and has administrative duties as medical director of the transfusion service at UAB. She is active in multiple national societies and enjoys writing. Dr. Marques wrote, “it’s a privilege to be a mentor and receive a mentor award; a humbling experience.”
Exceptional Mentorship Award — Lyree N. Mikhail, MD
Lyree N. Mikhail, MD, graduated Summa Cum Laude from Purdue University with a B.S in Biology in 1986. She attended Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO as a Spencer T. Olin Scholar and graduated in 1990. After a year of internal medicine internship at Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, she completed her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at University of Chicago in 1995. For sixteen years she was an Assistant and then Associate Professor at Indiana University School of Medicine in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. She held multiple positions during that time period including Associate Residency Program Director and Statewide Clerkship Director. She won multiple teaching awards during that time. After 4 years as the Residency Program Director at Bridgeport Hospital Yale-New Haven Health, she returned to Indianapolis where she is now an Associate Professor at Marian University College of Osteopathic Medicine. She is the faculty advisor to many students and student organizations as well as a Course Director for both Reproduction and Introduction to Clinical Medicine.
Exceptional Mentorship Award — Nancy Rappaport, MD
Nancy Rappaport, MD, is a part-time Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and a consultant in the Psychiatry department at Cambridge Health Alliance. She is the author of In Her Wake: A Child Psychiatrist Explores the Mystery of Her Mother’s Suicide(Basic Books, September 2009) and The Behavior Code: A Practical Guide to Understanding and Teaching the Most Challenging Students (Harvard Education Press, April 2012), written with behavioral analyst Jessica Minahan.
Exceptional Mentorship Award — Rachel N. Remen, MD
Rachel Naomi Remen, MD, is Clinical Professor of Family and Community Medicine at UCSF School of Medicine and Founder and Director of the Institute for the Study of Health and Illness at Commonweal. She is one of the best-known of the early pioneers of Wholistic and Integrative Medicine. As a medical educator, therapist and teacher, she has enabled many thousands of physicians to practice medicine from the heart and thousands of patients to remember their power to heal. Her groundbreaking curriculum for medical students, The Healer’s Art, is taught in 90 of America’s medical schools and medical schools in 7 countries abroad. A master storyteller and observer of life, her bestselling books, Kitchen Table Wisdom and My Grandfather’s Blessings, have sold more than a million copies and are translated into 23 languages. Dr. Remen has had Crohn’s disease for more than 60 years and her work is a unique blend of the wisdom, strength and viewpoints of both doctor and patient.
Exceptional Mentorship Award — Sandra M. Sanguino, MD, MPH
Sandra M. Sanguino, MD, MPH, currently serves as the Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Medical Education at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. She is also an attending physician in academic general pediatrics and primary care at Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. Dr. Sanguino received her BA from Northwestern University and went on to earn her MD from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. She completed her residency training in pediatrics at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago (now Lurie Children’s) Dr. Sanguino has been active in medical education throughout her career. At Feinberg, she served as the pediatrics clerkship director for ten years prior to taking her current role as associate dean for student affairs. She was a member the Executive Committee for the Council on Medical Student Education in Pediatrics and is a mentor for junior faculty through the Academic Pediatrics Association Educational Scholars Program. Dr. Sanguino is passionate about helping students achieve their full potential. She is also the proud mother of two daughters, ages 10 and 12.
Exceptional Mentorship Award — Uma Sankar, PhD
Uma Sankar PhD. is an Associate Professor at the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis and her laboratory studies bone anabolic therapeutic approaches in enhancing musculoskeletal health. Dr. Sankar directs a well-funded dynamic bio-medical research program and is active in training undergraduate, medical, graduate and postdoctoral students in translational research. She immensely enjoys mentoring and influencing the next generation of biomedical scientists. Her mentoring philosophy is to lead by example. She tries to identify and develop skills as well as encourage independence, communication and camaraderie among mentees.
Exceptional Mentorship Award — Tina Simpson, MD, MPH
Dr. Simpson received her medical degree from the University of Alabama School of Medicine and then completed her pediatric residency, adolescent medicine fellowship, and MPH at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). The primary focus of her research is the reduction of high-risk behaviors among adolescents. She has been involved in projects such as behavioral risk reduction programs, vaccine trials, and HIV clinical trials. Dr. Simpson serves as Director of the Adolescent Medicine Fellowship and the Leadership Education in Adolescent Health Training Program. She is also the Director of the Faculty Development for Pediatrics. In this role, she is responsible for developing and implementing programs to foster individual career development and support the department’s strategic initiatives particularly around diversity, inclusion, and equity in leadership development opportunities. Dr. Simpson is actively involved with the Birmingham Mayor’s Office Division of Youth Services and has been recognized by the city as a “Hidden Hero.” She has also received the Golden Physician Award from the Metro Birmingham Branch of the NAACP.
Exceptional Mentorship Award — Hillary Snapp, AuD, FAAA
Hillary Snapp, AuD is an assistant professor in the Department of Otolaryngology at the University of Miami where she practices as a clinical and research audiologist. She leads the clinical program for bone-anchored and middle ear implants and has established a program of study investigating unilateral hearing loss and application of treatment using hearing devices and auditory implants to improve hearing outcomes. Dr. Snapp serves as a lead researcher, clinician and educator to students, residents and fellows at the University of Miami. As the Director of Clinical Education in Audiology, she established a comprehensive clinical training program for Doctor of Audiology students. Now a highly sought after training program, the audiology fellowship at UM has proudly trained several rising leaders in audiology. Dr. Snapp demonstrates a strong commitment to developing future women leaders in the health sciences. Current efforts include mentorship in academic advancement through teaching and research, mentorship training to facilitate early-career audiologists in clinical teaching and mentoring, and supporting developing research efforts of junior clinical faculty who wish to branch into clinician-scientist roles.
2017 RESIDENT DIVISION AWARD WINNERS
Global Initiative Against HPV & Cervical Cancer Educate. Empower. Eradicate Shobha S. Krishnan Award – Alice E. Drain
Alice Drain is a student at the NYU School of Medicine. She graduated from Yale University with a degree in History before completing a post-baccalaureate program at Johns Hopkins. Her interest in medicine developed in 2009 in Kutch, India where she worked with the Global Initiative Against Cervical Cancer (GIAHC) to develop a cervical cancer prevention program for an NGO in that area. She has continued to work with GIAHC throughout her time in medical school, in addition to volunteering at the free clinic and tutoring high school students. She remains interested in women’s health and completed an MSCI degree during medical school with research focused on Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery. In her free time, Alice enjoys concerts, traveling, and biking in Prospect Park. She will be starting residency in Urology at NYU in July.
AMWA CFHI Global Health Scholar – Hannah Canepa
Hannah Canepa is a third-year medical student enjoying life in Brooklyn, NY. Both the highs and the lows of her past global health experiences have greatly shaped who she is today. Each experience has made Hannah appreciate the intricate relationship between medicine and social determinants of health. She is wildly passionate about women’s health, expanding access to health care and preventive medicine. Hannah’s intention is not only to graduate medical school in 2018, but to graduate as a culturally-competent physician. She believes that her upcoming CFHI international rotation throughout western India will help her reach her goal. Hannah is incredibly grateful for the financial support that AMWA has provided her with through this scholarship.
2017 RESIDENT DIVISION AWARD WINNERS
Charlotte Edwards Maguire, MD Outstanding Resident Mentor Award – Chung Sang Tse, MD
Chung-Sang Tse, MD, is an Internal Medicine resident at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. She graduated from the Yale School of Medicine where she was named a Farr Scholar for excellence in research, leadership, and creativity, and was the recipient of the John P. Peters Commencement Prize. She was the Yale Chapter Representative for the American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) and was the Co-President for Women in Medicine. She was also a Medical Student Council Member for the Connecticut State Medical Society and Co-President of the American Medical Association (AMA) Yale Chapter. As an Internal Medicine Resident at the Mayo Clinic, Dr. Tse continues to stay active in AMWA. Most recently, she was the recipient of the AMWA Young Women in Science Award 2016 and received First Place for her Case Poster Presentation in the resident’s division at the AMWA 101st Annual Meeting in Miami, Florida. She continues to serve as a mentor for medical students and junior residents, and she hopes to advance women in medicine through mentorship and networking.
Susan L. Ivey, MD Courage to Lead Award – Cherilyn Cecchini, MD
Cherilyn Cecchini, MD is entering her third year of pediatrics residency at Children’s National Medical Center. She served as President of the Resident Division this year after having been President-Elect for the past year. Prior to this, she worked as the AMWA Blog Coordinator as a member of the social media division. She graduated from Sidney Kimmel Medical College (formerly Jefferson Medical College) in 2011. During her time in medical school, she held the National Secretary position of the Student Division. She also was elected to serve as co-president of her local Jefferson AMWA branch. Cherilyn grew up in Westchester County, New York and she attended The Pennsylvania State University as an undergraduate earning her MS in Biology. Her hobbies include reading, running, playing soccer, boxing, and traveling.
Elinor T. Christiansen, MD Altruism Award – Olivia Ringo, MD
Olivia Ringo, MD, is a small town Kentuckian getting that big city experience during her Anesthesiology residency at SUNY Downstate in Brooklyn, NY. She is passionate about medical education, and has completed an education fellowship during medical school, developed lectures for incoming anesthesia residents at Downstate, and was ecstatic to be appointed Education Chief for her last year in residency. Also active in research, Olivia has presented original work as well as case reports at conferences across the nation. Her AMWA involvement began with the fateful meeting of a colleague in medical school outside of a spin class, which then developed into a best friendship and a collaboration to form University of Kentucky’s first medical school AMWA chapter. Having attended her first national conference in March 2016, she is further inspired to continue spreading the AMWA word during residency and is proud to serve as the resident division Awards Chair. Exciting news came in 2016 that she had been appointed by the governor as a Kentucky Colonel, making Colonel Ringo her new favorite title. Beginning in August, Olivia will start 25th grade and her final year of medical training as a Pain Management Fellow at the University of Washington. Outside the hospital, Olivia loves destroying the kitchen creating culinary masterpieces, counting as many breaths as possible while upside down in yoga poses, and traveling to places that make her family nervous.
Susan Love Writing Competition: 1st Place – Angela Jarman, MD “Nevertheless, she persisted”
Angela Jarman, MD, initially became interested in gender as an undergraduate at Duke University, where she majored in Women’s Studies before deciding to pursue a career in Medicine. She graduated from the University Of Kentucky College Of Medicine and during her time there worked extensively with administration to increase representation of women among the College’s graduates. In 2013, Angela moved to Salt Lake City to pursue residency training in Emergency Medicine at the University of Utah, where she graduated as Chief Resident. Angela was awarded a fellowship position at Brown University in International Emergency Medicine. At Brown, Angela is continuing her work with a focus on gender as a determinant of health in the developing world and is obtaining a Masters in Public Health degree while splitting her time between Providence and Kigali, Rwanda.
Susan Love Writing Competition: 2nd Place – Chung Sang Tse, MD “Mentorship for Women in Medicine – An Invaluable Relationship”
See Bio Above
2017 STUDENT DIVISION AWARD WINNERS
Dr. Eliza Lo Chin Unsung Hero Award – Laura Gardner
Laura Gardner is in her third year as an MD/MS student at the University of Utah School of Medicine and the Department of Bioengineering. Her involvement with AMWA started out small. As a first-year medical student, Laura played the piano for the White Rose Ceremony at AMWA’s centennial meeting. By her second year, she served as the local AMWA branch president and planned mentoring dinners, a women’s weight lifting class, and a women in orthopedic surgery meet-and-greet. As AMWA’s National Social Media Chair for the past 2 years, Laura has increased AMWA’s Facebook and Twitter following, planned social media contests, and coordinated content for social media posts. Most recently, Laura served as the National Conference Co-Chair, organizing the abstract submissions and poster sessions for AMWA’s 102nd annual meeting.
Dr. Eliza Lo Chin Unsung Hero Award – Tannaz Safari Vejin
Tannaz Safari was born in Tehran, Iran and received the opportunity to live in various parts of the UK before moving to the U.S. at the age of 14. She is an aspiring physician who hopes to bring her life and cultural experiences to the various fields of medicine she is involved with. She is passionate in being able to combine her knowledge in Molecular, Cell and Development Biology through her undergraduate degree from UC Santa Cruz and her growing knowledge of public health as she is pursuing her masters degree from the University of New England to AMWA. She wishes to inspire all members to be more involved in bringing their unique individual skill sets to medicine. She is a nerd at heart and loves anything science and is always intrigued to learn how things truly function. Her hobbies include playing the piano, reading Victorian and Persian poetry as well as exploring the world of abstract scientific and anatomical art
Heller Outstanding Branch Award – Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine — Linda Brodsky MD Essay Award – Soumitri Barua
Soumitri Barua is a member of Brown University’s Program of Liberal Medical Education, an eight-year combined Baccalaureate-MD program. She will graduate from Brown this May with a B.A. in Public Health and will enter Brown Medical School Class of 2021 in the fall. Hailing from the small town of Olean, NY, she believes her experiences in a disadvantaged hometown shaped her perspective on healthcare access in America. As a future physician, she hopes to touch the lives of her patients by bringing them the medical care they deserve. Soumitri enjoys endeavoring in her creative outlets like dancing, writing, and cooking in her free time, and she hopes to specialize in gastroenterology after graduating from medical school.
2017 PREMED DIVISION AWARD WINNERS
Student of the Year Award: Esther Sue Choi (University of Colorado Boulder)
Esther Choi is an undergraduate at the University of Colorado Boulder. She is studying Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology with a Certificate in Neuroscience to further pursue a career as a physician-scientist. She is currently serving as the president of the CU Boulder branch after founding the group in August 2016. The executive board works diligently to provide CU students a community-oriented in weekly service and peer-empowerment. Our Health Seminar Series has been exciting and enriching for our group to experience diverse aspects of healthcare. Esther enjoys spending her time collaborating with AMWA members, studying genetic heart disease in the lab, and snowboarding down the beautiful Rocky Mountains.
BRANCH AWARDS
Outstanding Branch Award – University of Colorado Boulder
Active Branch Award Texas Tech University
Branch Event Award- for their Health to Hope Mobile Clinic involvement – California Baptist
Humanitarian Award University of West Florida
Outreach Award Florida Atlantic University