The GORDON AND LLURA GUND LEADERSHIP AWARD honors volunteer leaders whose significant contributions have made an extraordinary impact on the level of advocacy for medical, public health or other health-related research in their communities or on the local, state, or national level.

Gary K. Michelson, MD, is a board certified orthopedic spinal surgeon, an inventor who holds nearly 1,000 patents throughout the world, and the founder and co-chair of Michelson Philanthropies. Dr. Michelson is one of the most prolific inventors in the history of medicine and the sole named inventor of more than 950 issued patents throughout the world and is one of the very few people inducted into both the National Inventors Hall of Fame as well as the National Academy of Inventors.