The Brown Medical Alumni Association sponsors a number of awards and honors to recognize distinguished alumni, faculty, and members of the community who support The Warren Alpert Medical School's mission and purpose. These awards are typically presented over Commencement-Reunion Weekend.
Brown Medical Alumni Association Awards
Breadcrumb
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.
2026 Recipient: Frank Crespo ’07 MD’11
Frank Crespo ’07 MD’11 is an obstetrician-gynecologist and Fellow of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, with additional board certification in health care quality and management. He has built a career defined by purpose, resilience, and a commitment to communities too often overlooked, dedicating his work to improving care across south Florida. Dr. Crespo also serves as medical director at Sunshine Health, leading maternal quality initiatives that address the intertwined medical and social needs of vulnerable populations.
His passion lies in tackling social determinants of health, strengthening patient and provider education, and speaking on preventative health concepts in community settings. He has served as a National Hispanic Medical Association Leadership Fellow, collaborated with federal agencies on Latino health disparities, and contributed to the American Cancer Society’s national work on cervical cancer education.
Previous Recipients
- Grace Farris ’04 MD’08
- Elyse VyVy Trinh ’11 MD’17
- Sarah E. Wakeman ’05 MD’09
- 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.
2026 Recipient: Carla C. Moreira MD’08 RES
Carla C. Moreira MD’08 RES is a board-certified vascular surgeon and associate professor of surgery at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. She is nationally recognized for her research on health disparities and the impact of social determinants of health on vascular outcomes. Dr. Moreira joined the Department of Surgery in 2015, where she has provided invaluable mentorship to students and led efforts in curriculum design, earning her multiple Excellence in Teaching awards. In 2018, she was appointed Section Chief of Vascular Surgery at the Providence VA Medical Center, where she has spearheaded impactful quality improvement initiatives, secured critical funding, and guided numerous trainees in both clinical practice and career development.
Dr. Moreira actively contributes to the development of surgical guidelines and publishes extensively in peer-reviewed journals. She also holds key leadership roles on institutional, regional, and national committees, where she continues to advocate for a more equitable surgical landscape.
Previous Recipients
- Tatiana Gellein ’10 MD’16
- Nicolette Rodriguez ’11 MD’16 MPH’16
- Jennifer W. Tsai ’14 MD’19
- Marshala Lee MD’11
- Michael Danielewicz ’14 MD’18
This award honors alumni who have excelled in their careers, making significant contributions to diversity, equity, and inclusion locally, regionally, nationally, or internationally. In 2024, the award was renamed in memory of Galen V. Henderson MD’93. As the inaugural recipient of this award in 2021, Dr. Henderson embodied a spirit of inclusivity that broke barriers and advanced a critical national and international conversation.
2026 Recipient: Tina L. Cheng ’83 MD’86, PMD’22
Tina L. Cheng ’83 MD’86, PMD’22 is the B.K. Rachford Professor and Chair of Pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, director of the Cincinnati Children’s Research Foundation, and chief medical officer at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Dr. Cheng’s work focuses on advancing child, adolescent, and family health through community-integrated models that disrupt the intergenerational cycle of disadvantage and promote innovative, equitable outcomes. For 15 years, she co-led the National Institutes of Health-funded DC-Baltimore Research Center on Child Health Disparities, the only center at the time dedicated to pediatric disparities research.
She has developed award-winning care delivery models and innovation centers, authored more than 250 peer-reviewed publications, and led national public awareness campaigns, including the “Seven Great Achievements in Pediatric Research.” She also played a key role in advancing state and federal child health legislation. Dr. Cheng is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and currently serves as president-elect of the Association of Medical School Pediatric Department Chairs.
Previous Recipients
- Brownsyne Tucker Edmonds ’00 MD’05
- Jeffrey F. Hines ’83 MD’86
- Agueda Hernandez ’92 MD’96, P’25 MD’29
- Galen Henderson MD’93
- Augustus A. White, III MD PhD ’57 DMS’97 hon., P’98
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.
2026 Recipient: Griffin P. Rodgers ’76 MMSc’79 MD’79
Griffin P. Rodgers ’76 MMSc’79 MD’79 is director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), where he oversees a broad portfolio of research, training, and public health initiatives for one of the NIH’s largest institutions. As an internationally recognized physician-scientist, Dr. Rodgers is best known for his pioneering research that led to hydroxyurea becoming the first FDA-approved therapy for sickle cell disease. More recently, he and his collaborators developed a modified blood stem-cell transplant protocol that demonstrates high efficacy and low toxicity in adults with sickle cell disease, advancing the field toward more accessible curative therapies.
Dr. Rodgers has led NIDDK for nearly 30 years, providing scientific leadership, shaping research priorities, and training future generations of scientific investigators. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (London), among others. Dr. Rodgers has received honorary doctorates from Washington University, Meharry Medical College, and Albany Medical College, and is the 2026 recipient of the American College of Physicians’ John Phillips Memorial Award.
Previous Recipients
- Shannon M. Thyne MD’95, P’28
- Alexandra Morang, MA
- Jack A. Elias, M.D.
- 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.
Previous Recipients
- George A. Bray, Jr., MD’53
- 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.