Awards & Recognitions: June 2021

Honors received by HMS faculty, staff and students

Augustus White III, the Ellen and Melvin Gordon Distinguished Professor of Medical Education and professor of orthopedic surgery at HMS and Beth Israel Deaconess, received a 2021 International Book Award, with Jon Land and David Chanoff, in the category of Self-Help: General for the book Overcoming: Lessons in Triumphing Over Adversity and the Power of Our Common Humanity. The book features 20 profiles of men and women from all walks of life, united by the fact they have all overcome varying forms of adversity.


Two HMS faculty members are among 22 early-career researchers have been selected to join the Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences. The scientists will receive funding from the Pew Charitable Trusts over the next four years as they investigate timely questions surrounding human health and disease.

The 2021 Pew scholars in the biomedical sciences from HMS are:

Edward Chouchani, HMS assistant professor of cell biology at Dana-Farber, will study how the chemically reactive byproducts of metabolism regulate the activity of proteins involved in inflammation and obesity.

José Ordovas-Montañés, HMS assistant professor in pediatrics at Boston Children's, will explore how different cells within a tissue contribute to the initiation and spread of an inflammatory immune response.


Four HMS entries won the Council for Advancement and Support of Education 2021 Circle of Excellence Awards. The winning entries from the offices of Alumni Association and Development and Communications and External Relations are:

Category: Digital Communications

Silver: Harvard Medicine News

Category: Design | Covers

Silver: Harvard Medicine Spring 2020

Category: Writing | Feature

Silver: “The Body, the Self,” by Stephanie Dutchen

Category: Design | Single-Sheet Publications

Bronze: HMS Charitable Gift Annuity Brochure


Nancy Oriol, faculty associate dean for community engagement in medical education and lecturer on global health and social medicine at HMS, has received Massachusetts Medical Society’s 2021 Reducing Health Disparities Award, which recognizes an individual who has made outstanding contributions to reducing health disparities due to race, socioeconomic status, age, education, or sexual orientation.

Oriol, who is also HMS associate professor of anesthesia at Beth Israel Deaconess, was instrumental in founding The Family Van, a mobile health clinic designed to increase access to health care and improve the health of residents in Boston’s underserved communities. In the last five years, the program has saved $2.8 million in avoided emergency room costs. Additionally, Oriol was instrumental in the creation of Mobile Health Map, a database of mobile clinics from across the United States, which allows for collaboration and learning.


Marc Fisher, HMS professor of neurology at Beth Israel Deaconess, was named to receive the American Heart Association’s Gold Heart Award, and is being recognized for devoting his career to improving evaluation, triage, and treatment in post-stroke care and for many other contributions to the field. He will receive the honor at a virtual awards ceremony in June.

Fisher and his team used diffusion MRI, a magnetic imaging technique, to evaluate stroke patients. Being able to locate viable tissue and large vessel occlusions—strokes that result from a blockage in one of the brain's major arteries—meant that doctors could finally identify patients who could benefit from a relatively simple procedure, known as a thrombectomy, to remove a blood clot in the brain. He is president of the World Stroke Organization, whose mission is to educate health care professionals and the public to improve stroke care around the world.


Fatima Cody Stanford, HMS assistant professor of medicine at Mass General, was one of seven physicians to receive the AMA Foundation’s 2020 Excellence in Medicine Awards at a virtual ceremony in June.

Stanford, an obesity medicine physician-scientist, received the Dr. Edmond and Rima Cabbabe Dedication to the Profession Award, which is presented to a physician who demonstrates productive improvement to the profession through community service. Stanford was recognized for working tirelessly to care for, and promote the care of, patients with obesity around the world.


Nikhil Munshi, HMS professor of medicine and Kraft Family Chair at Dana-Farber, was named to receive the Robert A. Kyle Lifetime Achievement Award, which honors those whose work has resulted in significant advances in research, treatment, and care of myeloma patients. The award will be presented at the annual International Myeloma Working Group summit, which will be held virtually in June.

Munshi's research focuses on understanding genomic changes in myeloma and molecular mechanisms driving cancer, as well as improving diagnosis, prognosis, and therapeutics. His clinical interests include CAR T-cell therapy and novel targeted therapeutics. Munshi is director of basic and correlative science, and associate director of the Jerome Lipper Myeloma Center at the Dana-Farber.


Alan Packard, HMS associate professor of radiology (nuclear medicine) at Boston Children's, and Julie Price, HMS professor of radiology at Mass General, were among 17 individuals to become 2021 Fellows of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging at the society’s virtual annual meeting in June. Additionally, Price received SNMMI's 2021 Kuhl Lassen Award.


The following researchers have received awards from Harvard’s Star-Friedman Challenge for Promising Scientific Research, which provides seed funding for high-risk, high-impact projects that might not otherwise receive grants:

Jonathan Abraham, assistant professor of microbiology in the Blavatnik Institute at HMS, for a project profiling the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. Abraham is examining the evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 sequence to better predict mutations most likely to emerge among circulating variants. Predictions of how the mutations may escape antibodies can help scientists develop countermeasures.

Sophie Helaine, assistant professor of microbiology in the Blavatnik Institute at HMS, for a project tackling antibiotic persistence during microbial infection. Helaine is researching the physiology and survival of stubborn infections, called “persisters,” and better ways to control them. Helaine’s group has developed systems to study antibiotic persistence in vivo, similar to the conditions that bacteria encounter in an infected host, with the hope that what they learn can be used to create improved treatments and counteract antibiotic resistance.


Benjamin Spurgeon, HMS research fellow in pediatrics at Boston Children’s, was named a Marylou Ingram Scholar by the International Society for Advancement of Cytometry. The program is designed to enhance scientific and leadership experiences of young scientists in the field of cytometry.

Spurgeon develops new tests for the analysis of platelets in health and disease at the Center for Platelet Research Studies at Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center.


Jeffrey Schnipper, HMS professor of medicine and director of clinical research at Brigham and Women's, was named to receive an inaugural DrFirst Healthiverse Heroes Award in the Healthcare Providers category.

The award honors healthcare providers and organizations that are breaking through information silos that stand in the way of clinical collaboration and patient care. Additionally, McLean Hospital received an honorable mention in the Hospitals and Health Systems (100-550 beds) category.


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