Brown Medical Alumni Association Awards

This award recognizes medical alumni (within 15 years of graduation) for outstanding service to the Medical School, their local community, or for a scientific or academic achievement. 

2023 Recipient: Sarah E. Wakeman ’05 MD’09

Sarah Wakeman is associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and the medical director for the Substance Use Disorder Initiative at Mass General Brigham and Mass General Hospital’s Substance Use Disorder Initiative. She is a champion for addressing the overdose crisis and helping patients suffering from substance use disorders. Her research includes recovery coaching, screening, as well as low threshold treatment models where clinicians help break down barriers for patients struggling to access care. She also evaluates the practice of integrated care in medical settings which attempts to address physician attitudes and practices related to overall approaches to substance use disorder diagnosis and treatment. 

Dr. Wakeman is also chief medical officer of RIZE Massachusetts, a nonprofit seeking to implement and evaluate innovative interventions to address the opioid crisis through research, community partnerships, addiction treatment and overdose prevention. Their work extends regionally and nationally to benefit health care innovation, policy and standards.

Dr. Wakeman holds a number of leadership roles at Mass General, including its addiction consult team and co-chair of their opioid task force. She is clinical co-lead of the Partners Healthcare substance use disorder initiative and co-chair of its opioid steering committee. Dr. Wakeman is also a diplomate and fellow of the American Board of Addiction Medicine and is chair of the policy committee for the Massachusetts Society of Addiction Medicine. 

Previous Recipients

• Steven Rougas MD’09 RES’13
• Peter Lee ’94 MD’05 PhD’15
• Barrett W. Bready ’99 MD ’03
• Andrea A. (Anderson) Byrd ’96 MD’00
• Stephen W. Gilheeney ’95 MMS’97 MD’99
• Leslie B. Gordon SCM’91 MD/PhD’98
• Rajiv Kumar ’05 MD’11
• Neel T. Shah ’04 MD’09
• Judy Jang ’03 MD’07

This award, first presented in 2021, recognizes medical alumni (within 10 years of graduation) who have demonstrated leadership in diversity, equity, and inclusion activities that have led to improving awareness and engagement related to diversity in medicine and/or health equity.

2023 Recipient: Jennifer W. Tsai ’14 MD’19

Jennifer Tsai is a physician, writer, educator and activist working at Yale New Haven Hospital in emergency medicine who uses her unique skill set to advocate for racial equity while also drawing attention to the the barriers to quality care that marginalized communities regularly face. Dr. Tsai’s work expertly highlights the ways in which structural racism impacts the quality of care in communities of color. 

Having been written about in myriad publications such as Scientific American, The Washington Post, ELLE Magazine, and the Journal of the American Medical Association, Dr. Tsai has also co-authored instructive and informative articles such as “Misrepresenting Race — The Role of Medical Schools in Propagating Physician Bias” in the New England Journal of Medicine and “From race-based to race-conscious medicine: how anti-racist uprisings call us to act” in The Lancet.

Dr. Tsai’s commitment to rethinking and advancing health and climate justice, expanding social medicine, and supporting equity across health systems position her well to make a long-term impact in promoting anti-racism in medicine and furthering the conversation about diversity, equity, belonging, and inclusion in the realm of patient care.

Previous Recipients 

• Marshala Lee MD’11
• Michael Danielewicz ’14 MD’18

This award, first presented in 2021, honors alumni who have excelled in their careers, making significant contributions to diversity, equity, and inclusion locally, regionally, nationally, or internationally. 

2023 Recipient: Agueda Hernandez ’92 MD’96, P’25 MD’29

Agueda Hernandez is the vice president of medical education, chief health equity officer for Baptist Health South Florida, and associate professor at Florida International University, Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine. She is a physician-leader, educator, and champion for equity, diversity, and inclusion. With dual roles overseeing a multi-year graduate medical education expansion and leading the development and implementation of a systemwide health equity strategy, she plays a critical role in shaping the future healthcare workforce by ensuring the next generation of physicians has a deep medical, cultural, and practical understanding of what it means to provide equitable, high-quality care to patients of all backgrounds.

In 2003, Dr. Hernandez authored a Residency Training in Primary Care Grant, which was funded by the Health Resources and Service Administration to provide public health advocacy and cultural competence training. As co-director of the project, she has since developed and implemented the curriculum for residents and adapted it for use with undergraduate medical students. She joined Baptist Health South Florida in 2012 as the medical director of the Baptist Health Medical Group Family Medicine Center and founding associate director of the West Kendall Baptist Hospital/Florida International University Family Medicine Residency. 

Previous Recipients

• Galen Henderson MD’93
• Augustus A. White, III MD PhD ’57 DMS’97 hon., P’98

This award honors medical alumni who embody the philosophy that medicine is a socially responsible human service profession and have contributed significantly to further the personal and professional development of medical students as well as the community-at-large. This lectureship was established in tribute to Sauber’s uninterrupted 23 years as Medical Student Affairs Officer.

2023 Recipient: Peter V. Chin-Hong ’92 MD’97 

Peter Chin-Hong is the associate dean for regional campuses and professor of medicine at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). He directs the immunocompromised host infectious diseases program at UCSF and has been one of the leaders of institutional and community education around COVID-19 and Monkeypox. Throughout the COVID pandemic, his expertise and advocacy shone a light on how we could respond to COVID disparities through news outlets, radio, and television, where he shared his expertise through writing, speaking engagements, and interviews. 

Dr. Chin-Hong has excelled at teaching, clinical care, research, and leadership aimed at improving health and outcomes across different populations, with a particular focus on patients from marginalized communities. His activism has led to writing petitions and working with public defenders to address disability rights community policing. Additionally, his work among HIV+ individuals has grown into national leadership and advocacy over the past several years. 

Dr. Chin-Hong has been part of numerous UCSF initiatives including outreach to the Asian American community and the Association of Black Cardiologists national webinars on the impact of COVID-19 on minority populations. In 2022, he received the Carl Sagan Prize for Science Popularization which recognizes researchers who “have contributed mightily to the public understanding and appreciation of science.”

Previous Recipients

• Kathleen Ferrer MD’95
• Joel Selanikio MD’92
• Joseph F. Amaral MD’81 RES’89
• Stanley M. Aronson ADE’71 hon. DMS’07 hon., P’83 MD’87
• Bruce M. Becker ’78 MD’81
• Seth F. Berkley ’78 MD’81
• Mark S. Blumenkranz ’72 MD’75 MMS’76, P’05, P’08
• Nora Burgess ’74 MD’77
• Atul Butte ’91 MMSc’95 MD’95
• Anthony A. Caldamone ’72 MMS’75 MD’75, P’06
• Deborah A. DeHertogh ’74 MD’77
• Karen Furie ’87 MD’90 RES’94 F’95, P’19
• Arthur L. Horwich ’73 MD’75 DMS’14 hon.
• Julianne Ip ’75 MD’78 RES’81, P’18
• Kerry J. Kelly MD’77
• Pardon R. Kenney ’72 MMS’75 MD’75 RES’80, P’03
• Jonathan D. Kurtis ’89 PhD’95 MD’96
• Sandra Nusinoff Lehrman ’69 MD’76
• David C. Lyden MD’89
• Lloyd Minor ’79 MD’82, P’17
• Charles N. Mock ’77 MD’80 RES’88
• Steven A. Rasmussen ’74 MMSc ’77 MD ’77, P’17 MD’17
• Griffin Platt Rodgers ’76 MMS’79 MD’79
• Bonnie R. Saks ’72 MD’75
• Peter A. Thompson ’80 MD’84, P’15
• Alan J. Zametkin MD’77
• Kavita M. Babu ’96 MD’00 RES’04

Named for William Williams Keen—Class of 1859 and one of Brown’s most distinguished and well-known alumni in the medical profession—this award recognizes outstanding contributions (lifetime or a single achievement) to medicine, encompassing research, education, leadership, or extraordinary contributions to patient care or public health.

2023 Recipient: Jack A. Elias, M.D.

Jack A. Elias served as the seventh Dean of The Warren Alpert Medical School (2013-2021) and the first senior vice president for health affairs at Brown. He currently holds The Warren Alpert Professorship in Translational Science. 

During his tenure as dean, Dr. Elias raised the national profile of The Warren Alpert Medical School, making it one of the top 10 most selective medical schools in the country. One of Dr. Elias’s most outstanding achievements was the forming of Brown Physicians, Inc. (BPI) which built partnerships between the medical school, physician groups, and affiliated health systems. This alliance has fostered an exceptional level of patient care as well as the integration of research, teaching and clinical excellence in the region through alignment with Lifespan and Care New England. Critical partnerships such as these will further research in areas including cancer, women’s health, and brain diseases. 

Dr. Elias bolstered the Medical School's focus on evidence-based research and biomedical innovation. During his tenure, research funding increased by over 150%. In a professional career spanning more than 30 years, Dr. Elias's own research has positively affected countless individual patients and has advanced scientific understanding of multiple disease processes. His impact has and will extend beyond Brown and the local region and will be the basis for many advances in the field of medicine.

Previous Recipients

• Mercedes Domenech, MD, PhD
• Adrian F. Gardner ’98 MD’03
• Levi C. Adams ADE’75 hon.
• Eli Y. Adashi ADE’06 hon.
• Stanley M. Aronson ADE’71 hon. DMS’07 hon., P’83 MD’87
• Frederick W. Barnes, Jr.
• John T. Barrett ’39, P’67, P’74, GP’03
• Elisha Bartlett 1826
• Irving A. Beck ’32
• Richard W. Besdine ADE’02 hon.
• Mark S. Blumenkranz ’72 MMSc’76 MD’75, P’05, P’08
• Judi D. Braman
• Brown Physicians, Inc.
• Hermon Bumpus 1912
• Alexander M. Burgess 1906, P’33
• Kenneth G. Burton 1927
• Anthony A. Caldamone ’72 MD’75 MMS’75
• Harold G. Calder 1902, P’36
• Charles C.J. Carpenter
• Charles V. Chapin 1876
• Marlene Cutitar ’83 MD’86 RES’92
• Ernest M. Daland 1912
• Ronald A. DeLellis ’62
• Richard H. Dollase ’62, P’86, GP’18
• Michael G. Ehrlich
• Allan D. Erickson
• John R. Evrard ADE’74, P’71
• Edward R. Feller PMD’03
• Edwin N. Forman ’56, P’92
• Marshall N. Fulton 1920
• Pierre M. Galletti ADE’68 hon.
• Milton Hamolsky ADE’64 hon.
• Arthur I. Holleb ’41
• W.W. Keen 1859
• Pardon R. Kenney ’72 MD’75 MMS’75 RES’80
• David C. Lewis ’57, P’84, P’87
• Governor Gina M. Raimondo
• Charles J. McDonald
• James McIlwain
• William Oh ADE’75 hon.
• Peter J. Panton ’79 MD’82, PMD’15, PMD’21
• Robert G. Petersdorf ’48
• Walter C. Quevedo, Jr. PhD’56
• Henry T. Randall
• Stephen R. Smith ADE’81 hon., P’01 MD’06
• Walter R. Thayer, Jr. ADE’66 hon.
• Sanford W. Udis ’41, P’72 MAT’73, P’75
• George W. Waterman 1915
• J. Walter Wilson 1918, PhD 1921, P’44
• Edward J. Wing ADE’99 hon.
• Julianne Y. Ip ’75 MD’78 RES’81, P’18

This award recognizes a member of the Brown community for long-term, dedicated, and meritorious service to the Medical School. It honors those whose devotion to the mission, beliefs, and aspirations of the Medical School have improved the lives of its students, faculty, alumni, and patients.

2023 Recipient: George A. Bray, Jr., MD ’53

George Bray has made lifelong contributions to the study of diabetes, and many consider him one of the fathers of obesity research. Dr. Bray’s devotion to the mission, beliefs, and aspirations of Brown’s medical program have improved the lives of countless medical students, faculty, alumni, and patients, and his legacy at the Medical School is visible in every area from clinical research and teaching to medical humanities education.

During his tenure at Louisiana State University, Dr. Bray contributed to the growth of the Center to more than 70 scientists, 350 employees and an annual budget of nearly $20 million. Dr. Bray elevated the Center to international recognition as a leader in obesity research and energy metabolism. In 1999, Dr. Bray was named an LSU Boyd Professor, which is the most prestigious distinction awarded by the LSU Board of Supervisors for outstanding teaching, research, or other creative achievement. In addition to research and teaching, he established two prestigious journals: Obesity Research (now known as Obesity) and Endocrine Practice, serving terms as editor-in-chief for both.

Previous Recipients

• Levi C. Adams ADE’75 hon.
• Stephen R. Ehrlich ’55 and Mary Ann Ehrlich
• Artemis A.W. Joukowsky ’55 LLD’85 hon.
• Herbert M. Kaplan LHD’11 hon.
• Marie J. Langlois ’64 LLD’92 hon.
• Samuel M. Mencoff ’78 and Ann S. Mencoff P’11, P’15
• Ruth J. Simmons LHD ’12 hon.