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Advocacy Awards

The 2025 Advocacy Awards will take place on March 12, 2025, at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC.

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.

Award Categories & Benefactors

Support The Awards

Past Events (2003-2024)

Past Honorees

Nominations

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.

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
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 Katie Goode, Senior Director, Alliance Development and Membership at [email protected].

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