Research!America Receives $5M Endowment to Recognize Outstanding Achievements in Public Health
Research!America is excited to announce an endowment from Johnson & Johnson to create the Outstanding Achievement in Public Health Awards. This new category of awards will be presented annually as part of the Research!America Advocacy Awards Program, now in its 26th year. Johnson & Johnson is a founding member of the Research!America alliance, which launched in 1989.
“For more than 30 years, Johnson & Johnson has been a highly valued strategic partner, contributing expertise, vision, and unwavering resolve to our goal of improving and saving lives through medical and public health research,” said Mary Woolley, president and CEO of Research!America. “We are deeply appreciative of Johnson & Johnson’s generous endowment focused on raising the profile of public health and its numerous heroes as they fight day in and day out to advance the public good.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has helped raise awareness of the pivotal role our nation’s public health ecosystem plays when emergencies strike, and that awareness in turn creates an unprecedented opportunity to increase public appreciation and support for the multi-faceted ways the public health community serves our nation and the global community each and every day. The fact is, public health victories are often silent—the health threat averted or contained; the chronic condition or accidental injury prevented. These awards are a means of celebrating and championing the role individuals and organizations play through research, communication, and public-private partnerships in confronting public health threats that jeopardize our security, prosperity, and well-being.
We’re excited to announce the individuals and partnerships receiving the 2022 Outstanding Achievement in Public Health Awards generously supported by Johnson & Johnson:
- This year, three honorees will receive the Outstanding Achievement in Public Health Award, which recognizes individuals for their extraordinary work and enormous contributions to public health.
- Matthew Myers, president, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, and Bill Novelli, founder and chair, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, professor and founder, Business for Impact, McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University. Myers and Novelli are longtime leaders in the fight to reduce tobacco use and its deadly consequences. Their advocacy efforts have led to drastic decreases in both youth and adult smoking on a global scale since the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids was founded in 1996.
- Vivian W. Pinn, MD, inaugural director, NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health (retired). Dr. Pinn’s many contributions to public health include her leadership in assuring greater inclusion of women and minorities in clinical trials and promoting the consideration of sex differences in the formulation and execution of research studies.
- Christopher Murray, MD, DPhil, professor and chair of health metrics sciences and director, Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington School of Medicine is the recipient of the Building the Foundation Award, which recognizes one or more individuals whose basic research discoveries have played a pivotal role in advancing public health. Dr. Murray created the first COVID-19 global forecast that decision makers have used as a roadmap for ending the pandemic, and state-level forecasts that have been essential to on-the-ground response efforts.
- Ashish K. Jha, MD, MPH, dean, Brown University School of Public Health, is the recipient of the Meeting the Moment for Public Health Award, which recognizes an individual or organization that has been a “clear voice,” playing a key role in communicating public health information and developments to members of the public. Dr. Jha’s masterful ability and tireless commitment to conveying key information about COVID-19 to a wide array of audiences has helped keep the public informed and combat mis- and disinformation.
- Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines (ACTIV) is the recipient of the Rapid Translation Award, which recognizes a public-private partnership that has made a critical contribution to public health progress. ACTIV made crucial contributions to the rapid-pace development of COVID-19 treatments and vaccines by designing master protocols, establishing national standards, and identifying best practices and collaboration opportunities to improve every stage of the prevention and treatment R&D pipeline.
Presentation of the 2022 Advocacy Awards will be made at Research!America’s annual awards event on March 16, 2022. Research!America has hosted the annual Advocacy Awards since 1996.
Johnson & Johnson has invited the honorees to take part in Eureka Moments, a series that shares the stories of the people behind breakthroughs that are improving the lives of millions around the world. The series will air on the company’s YouTube channel Tuesdays at noon (ET).
Research!America has previously-announced other 2022 Advocacy Award honorees: Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD, will receive the John Edward Porter Legacy Award generously supported by Ann Lurie; France A. Córdova, PhD, will receive the Geoffrey Beene Foundation Builders of Science Award; Neal F. Lane, PhD, will receive the Herbert Pardes Family Award for National Leadership in Advocacy for Research; Jed Manocherian will receive the Gordon and Llura Gund Leadership Award; and the Alliance for Aging Research will receive the Paul G. Rogers Distinguished Organization Advocacy Award.
Honorees will be announced in the coming weeks for the Isadore Rosenfeld Award for Impact on Public Opinion and the Edwin C. Whitehead Award for Medical Research Advocacy.
For more information about the 2022 Advocacy Awards, including bios of each honoree and details about the various awards, visit: www.researchamerica.org/news-and-events/awards/advocacy-awards-dinner
Questions? Contact us at awards@researchamerica.org; or media should contact Tim Haynes, thaynes@researchamerica.org.
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