Awards and Honors: Spring 2021

Sherri Rose Wins Prestigious Gertrude M. Cox Award

Sherri Rose, PhD, associate professor of medicine at the Center for Health Policy and Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research, won this year’s prestigious Gertrude M. Cox Award for her work applying statistics to improve health care.

The award, named for famed statistician Gertrude Cox, who played a key role in establishing Mathematical Statistics and Biostatistics Departments at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a Statistical Division at the then newly founded not-for-profit RTI.

Rose’s research is centered on developing and integrating innovative statistical machine learning approaches to improve human health. Within health policy, Rose works on risk adjustment, comparative effectiveness research, and health program evaluation.  She is She is co-director of the Health Policy Data Science Lab, a group of interdisciplinary researchers at Stanford and Harvard who focus on developing and applying quantitative methods to solve problems in health policy.

Rose said she was “honored” to receive the award, adding, “This recognition further highlights the important role of statistics in tackling the immense challenges we face in health care, particularly for marginalized groups.”

Saloni Kumar Wins 2021 CA-HI SGIM Excellence in Clinical Education Award

Saloni Kumar, MD, clinical assistant professor of medicine, won the 2021 Excellence in Clinical Education Award from the California-Hawaii chapter of the Society of General Internal Medicine (SGIM).  The award announcement highlighted Kumar’s nomination which “glowed above all,” as well as her “truly phenomenal” accomplishments.

Lucy Kalanithi Wins Excellence in Service Award

Lucy Kalanithi, MD, clinical associate professor of primary care and population health, just received Stanford Health Care’s Excellence in Service Award.  The award, presented virtually on March 25, “appropriately reflects a physician who actively promotes a culture that embraces, expects, and rewards the delivery of patient-and-family-centered care,” as the award announcement attested.  And the individual who receives it “demonstrates compassion, effective communication, and meaningful partnership with their patients and caregivers.”

The awarders also cited Kalanithi’s “ability to organize and motivate her team” as well as her “innovation and persistence, which made all the difference in making this achievement possible.”

VJ Periyakoil Wins ABIM Foundation’s John A Benson Jr, MD Professionalism Article Prize

VJ Periyakoil, MD, professor of primary care and population health and associate dean of research for geriatrics and palliative care, just received the American Board in Internal Medicine or ABIM Foundation’s John A Benson Jr, MD Professionalism Article Prize for her article “Common Types of Gender-Based Microaggressions in Medicine.”

The award “recognizes outstanding contributions to the growing body of peer-reviewed journal articles that document the impact of medical professionalism on improving health care.”  It was named for American Board of Internal Medicine and ABIM Foundation President Emeritus John A. Benson Jr., MD, who taught medical students at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and at Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine, where he also served at the Center for Ethics in Health Care.

Colleagues called the award “well-deserved.”  Congratulations to VJ!

Brian Blackburn Receives the 2021 Alwin C. Rambar-James B.D. Mark Award for Excellence in Patient Care

Brian Blackburn, MD, also recently promoted to clinical professor of infectious diseases, just received the 2021 Alwin C. Rambar-James B.D. Mark Award for Excellence in Patient Care.  The award was established in 1984 “to recognize and honor a Stanford physician who excels in patient care, is compassionate in dealing with patients and their families, is effective and pleasant in working with ancillary patient care staffs, and also inspires as a role model for young physicians and students in training.”

Dean Lloyd Minor, MD, who informed Blackburn about the award, added that the Advisory Committee stated that Blackburn “exemplifies true caring and commitment to patient care.”

Errol Ozdalga named Department of Medicine Service Representative on the SHC Medical Executive Committee

Errol Ozdalga, MD, clinical associate professor of medicine, was elected the new Service Representative for the DOM on the SHC Medical Executive Committee.  Megan Mahoney, MD, commented, “Your engagement will contribute to the function and impact of the committee,” adding, “We look forward to working with you!”  Other colleagues chimed in to offer their congratulations.

Ozdalga will start the process of representing the department beginning in early May.  He is also the director of the Stanford 25.

Temesgen Woldeyesus, Lisa Goldman Rosas Awarded Funding from Stanford’s Office of Community Engagement

Stanford’s Office of Community Engagement or OCE recently awarded funding to eight faculty-led projects that will work with community-based organizations and government agencies in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties. Among the awardees were Temesgen Woldeyesus, MD, clinical assistant professor of primary care and population health, and Lisa Goldman Rosas, PhD, assistant professor of primary care and population health, (along with Patricia Rodriguez Espinosa, instructor in epidemiology and population health).

Their projects focus on community health and ways to combat COVID-19 locally.  OCE received 45 proposals and granted funding to eight.

Martin Shell, vice president and chief external relations officer at Stanford, explained, “The pandemic has underscored the need for many vital services, especially for the most vulnerable residents of this area. The Stanford community has been active in helping many groups in our region, and we are grateful to the many faculty members who are leading the way to deepen collaboration with community organizations in service to the community.”

Congrats to Lisa, Tem, and all other awardees!  Project details are below.

Project Name: Community Health Workers Promoting COVID-19 Vaccine Awareness and Public Health Guidelines in Latinx Communities

Faculty: Lisa Goldman Rosas, assistant professor (research) of epidemiology and population health and of medicine; faculty director, Office of Community Engagement, Stanford School of Medicine (SOM); Patricia Rodriguez Espinosa, instructor, epidemiology and population health; associate director of research, Office of Community Engagement, SOM

In Collaboration With: SOMOS Mayfair

Description: In a community of practice and learning, n/community health workers (CHWs) will receive training and co-develop resources to raise awareness about COVID-19 vaccines in under-resourced communities, combat misinformation and promote public health guidelines. The project will strengthen and evaluate the effectiveness of resources and outreach in four key areas: 1) capacity development among CHWs; 2) evidence-based materials (particularly in Spanish) for community members addressing COVID-19 misinformation and adherence to prevention guidelines; 3) social media as a tool for promoting vaccine confidence and uptake; 4) mental health resources.

Project Name: Bridging Technological Divide in Pandemic Resources for Marginalized Communities

Faculty: Temesgen Woldeyesus, clinical assistant professor, SOM

In Collaboration With: Roots Community Health Center (San Jose)

Description: To circumvent the digital divide and promote health equity, the project aims to build digital capacity and infrastructure within a trusted community partner, Roots Community Health Center, to technologically scale ongoing efforts to reduce widening racial disparities in Santa Clara County. They will deploy a 12-month pilot of a multilingual two-way text-messaging-based community engagement solution to build a trust-based community outreach and awareness campaign for COVID and vaccine-related education, support current vaccine-related operations, and integration of an existing COVID/Telehealth outreach program to support troubleshooting vaccine registration and assess technological gaps for marginalized community members.

More information about the Office of Community Engagement’s work in the region is available at community.stanford.edu.