Newsmakers: October 2011

Cari Romm

Ford named hall of fame inductee

APHA member Loretta Ford, EdD, RN, in March was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame. A co-founder of the nurse practitioner model, Ford is the founding dean of the University of Rochester School of Nursing. She is also the author of more han 100 publications and has served as a consultant and lecturer to multiple organizations and universities.

Ho receives research award

David Ho, MD, in August was awarded the 2011 Avant-Garde Award for HIV/AIDS research from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The award provides $2.5 million over five years to support research in HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention.

Davis named honorary fellow

Karen Davis, PhD, in July became an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London. Davis is president of the Commonwealth Fund.

Wellness network honored with media award

My Blue Community, an online wellness and social networking site, in June was honored with an Outstanding Achievement Award from Interactive Media Awards Inc. Created by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, the site allows users to post information on discussion threads and access blogs on a variety of health and wellness topics.

Pablos-Mendez joins USAID

Ariel Pablos-Mendez, MD, MPH, in August became assistant administrator for the Global Health Bureau at the U.S. Agency for International Development. Pablos-Mendez comes to his position from the Rockefeller Foundation, where he served as managing director.

Alzheimer’s Association presents lifetime achievement awards

The Alzheimer’s Association in July presented lifetime achievement awards to four researchers for their contributions to Alzheimer’s disease research. Awardees are Kaj Blennow, MD, PhD, of Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Sweden; John Hardy, PhD, of University College London’s Institute of Neurology; Margaret Pericak-Vance, PhD, of the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine; and Bruce Lamb, PhD, of Case Western Reserve University’s Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine.

Student competition names winners

High school students Rebecca Leong and Michelle Lee in April received first place honors in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Young Epidemiology Scholars competition. Leong, a senior at Columbia River High School in Vancouver, Wash., was recognized for her research on injuries associated with barefoot running. Lee, a junior at North Allegheny High School in Wexford, Pa., was honored for her research on preventing methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections in high school athletes. Both students received $50,000 college scholarships.

Maguire joins Environmental Defense Fund

Former U.S. Rep. Andrew Maguire, PhD, in July became the Environmental Defense Fund’s new vice president for health. Maguire recently served as senior advisor to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization’s Every Child Campaign.

HHS honors innovation in health promotion

The Department of Health and Human Services in July announced the winners of its 2011 Healthy Living Innovation Awards. Winning programs included the Chicago YMCA for its Taking the YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program to Scale and the Cleveland Clinic’s Shape Up and Go campaign. The awards highlight innovative health promotion projects that have demonstrated significant impact on the health of their communities within the last three years.