The Weill Cornell Medical College community recognized four of its members June 17 for their outstanding service and leadership in promoting diversity at the Medical College.
The Office of Faculty Diversity in Medicine and Science bestowed Pioneer in Diversity Awards to rising fourth-year medical student Eleanor Hope Emery, internal medicine resident Dr. Claiborne B. Childs, Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine Dr. Susana R. Morales and Assistant Dean for Student Affairs Elizabeth Wilson-Anstey.
Now in its third year, the Pioneers in Diversity Awards recognize members of the Weill Cornell community who have distinguished themselves as key contributors to the culture of diversity. The winners were honored with plaques and $1,000 cash prizes during an hour-long ceremony in Weill Auditorium, which featured keynote speaker Dr. Barry Smith, president and chief executive officer of the Rogosin Institute.
"These awards have really been an opportunity to say 'thank you,' and to recognize that community service is critically important for us to be a part of and acknowledge. Our outreach embraces the community and is one of the key ways in which we address diversity," said Dr. Carla Boutin-Foster, assistant dean for faculty diversity in the Office of Faculty Diversity in Medicine and Science, the Nanette Laitman Clinical Scholar in Public Health/Community Health, associate professor of medicine and associate professor of public health at Weill Cornell.
Emery received the Ida Sophia Scudder, M.D. Student Award for Excellence in Public Service, named in honor of one of the first female graduates of the Medical College. Emery serves as the executive director of the Weill Cornell Center for Human Rights, a clinic run by students and supported by faculty which brings together activists, professionals and students to develop vital solutions to the common challenges faced by people seeking asylum into the United States. The program was founded in 2010 in partnership with Physician for Human Rights and is the first student asylum clinic at a United States medical college that is run by students.
She was honored for her outstanding service to the program and addressing the complex challenges that surrounds asylum seekers.
"I think one of the things I've learned about public service here at Weill Cornell is that you can only really do it with a team of people," she said. "Everything we accomplish is because we have so many students on board. It makes all the difference. You can have as many dreams as you want, but if you don't have the people to help or the money to support it, it can't go anywhere."
Dr. Christina Harris accepts the Louis Wade Sullivan, M.D. Resident/Fellow Award for Excellence in Public Health Advocacy on behalf of award winner Dr. Claiborne B. Childs
Dr. Childs received the Louis Wade Sullivan, M.D. Resident/Fellow Award for Excellence in Public Health Advocacy, given to a resident or postdoctoral fellow who has been an outspoken champion for health promotion and a public health advocate, especially for medically underserved populations.
Dr. Childs is a primary care resident and a chair of the Minority Housestaff Committee in the Department of Medicine, which works to increase the number of underrepresented minorities at Weill Cornell. Dr. Childs was not present to receive the award; Dr. Christina Harris, assistant professor of medicine, accepted the award on his behalf.
Dr. Morales received the Bruce Laine Ballard, M.D. Faculty Award for Excellence in Mentorship, named in honor of Dr. Bruce Ballard, former associate dean for student affairs and equal opportunity programs at Weill Cornell. She was honored for her outstanding mentorship and ability to foster excellence in the physicians and students she guides.
"There's no greater honor than being recognized by people you have helped mentor for a mentoring award," said Dr. Morales, also associate program director for the internal medicine residency program at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. "It is an incredible honor to receive an award with the name of Dr. Bruce Ballard, who is an icon of this institution and has shepherded hundreds and hundreds of doctors into and through this wonderful field of ours."
This year's Pioneers in Diversity awards added a fourth category due to an outpouring of popular demand, Dr. Boutin-Foster said. The new Administrative Staff Award for Excellence in Creating a Culture of Diversity was given to Wilson-Anstey, assistant dean for student affairs.
She has witnessed some 600 students from backgrounds underrepresented in medicine graduate from Weill Cornell since 1976, and more than 900 premedical college juniors complete the Travelers Summer Research Fellowship Program for Premedical Students — formerly known as the Summer Research Fellowship Program for Premedical Minority Students. Wilson-Anstey was described by students and colleagues as a "rock" and "pillar" in medical students' education. "It certainly is an honor and privilege for this. Stick around long enough and something happens," she said with a chuckle. "I've been here for 36 years and something happened."
During his keynote address, Dr. Smith, who is also director of the Dreyfus Health Foundation, spoke about the foundation's public health initiatives that operate in 30 countries around the globe. The foundation is a division of the Rogosin Institute, the premier not-for-profit medical treatment and research institution for kidney disease, including dialysis and transplantation, in New York City.
These initiatives challenge people to think differently about and take action to solve the health and social issues affecting their communities. Fostering diversity is vital to ensuring the success of these programs, he said.
"What diversity gives us is that there is strength when we bring everyone together in ways perhaps we haven't before," he said. "When the different ideas, different cultures, all the things are brought together, we can make much more in the way of change."