Advocacy Awards
Established in 1996, the Advocacy Awards are an annual, signature event for Research!America and the research community. Through the Awards and in partnership with our supporters, we are able to:
- Honor individuals and organizations whose leadership efforts have advanced our nation’s commitment to medical, health, and scientific research.
- Inspire the next generation of medical and health research advocates.
- Shine a spotlight on the value of scientific innovation and public health.
2025 Honorees
Our 2025 Advocacy Awards honorees include outstanding advocates for medical and health research and individuals, entities, or partnerships demonstrating commitment to research through discovery, innovation, public communications, and leadership.
Edwin C. Whitehead Award for Medical Research Advocacy
The Honorable Zoe Lofgren
U.S. Representative (D-CA-18)
BIO
The Honorable Frank Lucas
U.S. Representative (R-OK-3)
BIO
John Edward Porter Legacy Award,
generously supported by Ann Lurie
Carolyn Clancy, MD
Assistant Under Secretary for Health for Discovery, Education and Affiliate Networks, Veterans Health Administration
BIO
Builders of Science Award
Gary H. Gibbons, MD
Director, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
BIO
Herbert Pardes Family Award for National Leadership in Advocacy for Research
Barbara E. Bierer, MD
Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, and Faculty Director of the Multi-Regional Clinical Trials Center of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard
BIO
Gordon and Llura Gund Leadership Award
Gary K. Michelson, MD
Founder, President, and Co-chair,
Michelson Philanthropies & Michelson Medical Research Foundation
BIO
Paul G. Rogers Distinguished Organization Advocacy Award
Muscular Dystrophy Association
BIO
Isadore Rosenfeld Award for Impact on Public Opinion
Elizabeth Cohen
Freelance Health Reporter
BIO
Outstanding Achievement in Public Health Awards,
generously supported by Johnson & Johnson
Meeting the Moment for Public Health Award
Monica M. Bertagnolli, MD
Director, National Institutes of Health, 2023-2025
BIO
Outstanding Achievement in Public Health Award
Alfred Sommer, MD, MHS
Dean Emeritus, University Distinguished Service Professor, Professor Emeritus, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health
BIO
Building the Foundation Award
Kizzmekia S. Corbett-Helaire, PhD
Assistant Professor, of Immunology and Infectious Diseases; Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; Freeman Hrabowski Scholar, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
BIO
Barney S. Graham, MD, PhD
Director of the David Satcher Global Health Equity Institute, Professor Of Medicine and Microbiology, Biochemistry, & Immunology, Morehouse School of Medicine
BIO
Rapid Translation Award
Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi)
BIO
Thank you to our sponsors and benefactors!
Research!America’s Advocacy Awards
For information about sponsorship opportunities for the Advocacy Awards, please contact Kristen Furlong, Senior Director of Development and Membership at [email protected].