The 2023 NYAM Annual Awards

Dr. Claire M. Fraser is a pioneer and global leader in genomic medicine and one of the most highly cited investigators in microbiology. In 1995, Dr. Fraser was the first to map the complete genetic code of a free-living organism—Haemophilus influenza—the bacterium that causes lower respiratory tract infections and meningitis in infants and young children. This achievement took place at the Institute for Genomic Research, where Dr. Fraser served as Director from 1998 until 2007. Her discovery forever changed microbiology and launched a new field of study—microbial genomics. During that time, she and her team also sequenced the bacteria behind syphilis and Lyme disease, and eventually the first plant genome and the first human-pathogenic parasite. She even helped identify the source of a deadly 2001 anthrax attack in one of the biggest investigations conducted by U.S. law enforcement. In 2007, Dr. Fraser launched the Institute for Genome Sciences (IGS) at the University of Maryland, which holds over 25 percent of the funding awarded by the Human Microbiome Project. Her current research interests center on the structure and function of the human gut microbiota. Dr. Fraser has authored more than 320 scientific publications, edited three books, and has served on committees of the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, and National Institutes of Health. She is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the Promega Biotechnology Award and the E.O. Lawrence Award from the Department of Energy. Dr. Fraser uses her skills and position of leadership in genome sciences to improve the lives of women throughout the world.

Dr. Charles Rotimi received his undergraduate education in biochemistry from the University of Benin in Nigeria before immigrating to the United States for further studies. He started his education in the United States at the University of Mississippi, where he obtained a master's degree in health care administration. He obtained a second master's degree and a doctorate in epidemiology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health. Prior to coming to the NIH, Dr. Rotimi was the director of the National Human Genome Center at Howard University. Dr. Rotimi came to the NIH in 2008 to found the trans-institute Center for Research on Genomics and Global Health, with the mission of advancing research into the role of culture, lifestyle and genomics in disease etiology, health disparities, and variable drug response. His lab develops genetic epidemiology models and conducts epidemiologic studies that explore the patterns and determinants of common complex diseases in human populations with particular emphasis on populations of the African Diaspora. His team published the first genome-wide scan for hypertension and blood pressure in African Americans and for type-2 diabetes in West Africans. His lab contributes to the global understanding of human genetic variation by actively participating in the development of international genomic resources including the HapMap, the 1000 Genome and the African Genome Variation Project. He is on the Executive and Scientific Committee for the International Federation of Human Genetics Societies and was recently elected to the Human Genome Organization (HUGO) Council. He is the founding and past president of the African Society of Human Genetics (AfSHG). He successfully led the establishment of the Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3Africa) initiative with $76 million commitment from the NIH and Wellcome Trust. H3Africa will create and support network of labs that will conduct leading-edge research into the genetic and environmental determinants of diseases in Africans. He is on the editorial board of Public Health Genomics, Genome Medicine, Clinical Genetics and Journal of Applied and Translational Genomics. He is on the Coriell Personalized Medicine Collaborative Board. He was recently awarded an honorary professorship at the prestigious University of Cape Town, South Africa. He became the Chief of the Metabolic, Cardiovascular and Inflammatory Disease Genomics Branch in 2014.

Dr. Denis Mukwege is a world-renowned gynecologist, human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate from east Congo. Due to the high level of sexual violence in the region and a war that has been shaking east Congo for more than two decades, he specialized in the treatment of women raped during the conflict. He has become the world’s leading specialist in the treatment of wartime sexual violence and a global campaigner against the use of rape as a weapon of war. Dr Denis Mukwege founded Panzi Hospital and Foundation as a clinic for gynecological and obstetric care. However, when war broke out shortly after, more and more patients arrived with gruesome injuries as the result of sexual assault. At the time, Dr. Mukwege was the only OB/GYN in the region. As Panzi Hospital became a refuge for thousands of victims, the team developed a particularly effective, Dr Denis Mukwege campaigns globally to bring the use of rape as a weapon of war to an end. He was awarded the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize for his activism and received numerous other awards for his outstanding services to survivors of rape. Dr Mukwege received numerous awards for his work, including the UN Human Rights Prize (2008), the Right Livelihood Award (2013) and the Sakharov Prize of the European Parliament (2014). TIME magazine listed him among the world’s 100 most influential persons and the Carter Foundation named him a ‘citizen of the world.

Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky is the Former Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Former Administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. She is an influential scholar whose pioneering research has helped advance the national and global response to HIV/AIDS. Dr. Walensky is also a well-respected expert on the value of testing and treatment of deadly viruses. Dr. Walensky served as Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital from 2017-2020 and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School from 2012-2020. She served on the front line of the COVID-19 pandemic and conducted research on vaccine delivery and strategies to reach underserved communities. Dr. Walensky is recognized internationally for her work to improve HIV screening and care in South Africa and nationally for motivating health policy and informing clinical trial design and evaluation in a variety of settings. She is a past Chair of the Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council at the National Institutes of Health, Chair-elect of the HIV Medical Association, and previously served as an advisor to both the World Health Organization and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS. Originally from Maryland, Dr. Walensky received her Bachelor of Arts from Washington University in St. Louis, her Doctor of Medicine from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and her Master of Public Health from the Harvard School of Public Health.

Dr. Mary-Claire King, is American Cancer Society Professor at the University of Washington, Seattle. She was the first to show that breast cancer is inherited in some families, as the result of mutations in the gene that she named BRCA1. In addition to inherited breast and ovarian cancer, her research interests include the genetic bases of schizophrenia, genetic disorders in children, and human evolution. She pioneered the use of DNA sequencing for human rights investigations. Dr. King has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Institute of Medicine, the American Philosophical Society, and as a foreign member of the French Academy of Sciences. She has served on the Advisory Committee to the Director of NIH; the National Commission on Breast Cancer of the President’s Cancer Panel; multiple councils and study sections of the NIH; and as past president of the American Society of Human Genetics. In 2014, she received the Lasker Special Achievement Award for Medical Research and in 2016 the United States National Medal of Science.

Dr. Clyde W. Yancy is Vice Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; Magerstadt Endowed Professor & Chief of Cardiology; and Professor, Department of Medical Social Science, at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL. He serves as Associate Director, Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute, Northwestern Medicine, Chicago, IL. Dr. Yancy is Deputy Editor for JAMA - Cardiology, a former President of the American Heart Association, and holds extensive government service including leadership positions in the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Department of Health and Human Services. His research addresses heart failure, heart transplantation, outcomes sciences and health disparities. He has published more than 700 peer-reviewed manuscripts and is annually cited as one of the top 1% scientific authors, worldwide. He holds innumerable awards as a healthcare leader, top physician, teacher and mentor in cardiology. He is an elected membership of the National Academy of Medicine and the American Association of Physicians.

Dr. Edward (Ted) H. Shortliffe is Chair Emeritus and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Biomedical Informatics at Columbia University's Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. He is also Adjunct Professor of Biomedical Informatics in the College of Health Solutions at Arizona State University and Adjunct Professor of Healthcare Policy and Research (Health Informatics) at Weill Cornell Medical College. Since 2017 he has been a Senior Executive Consultant to IBM Watson Health. Previously he was a Scholar in Residence at the New York Academy of Medicine and served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA). He was Professor in the School of Biomedical Informatics at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston and before that Professor of Biomedical Informatics at Arizona State University and Professor of Basic Medical Sciences and Professor of Medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. He served as the founding dean of the University of Arizona College of Medicine (Phoenix) from 2007-2008. Before that he was the Rolf A. Scholdager Professor and Chair of the Department of Biomedical Informatics at Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City (2000-2007) and Professor of Medicine and of Computer Science at Stanford University (1979-2000). After receiving an A.B. in Applied Mathematics from Harvard College in 1970, he moved to Stanford University where he was awarded a Ph.D. in Medical Information Sciences in 1975 and an M.D. in 1976. During the early-1970s, he was principal developer of the medical expert system known as MYCIN. After a pause for residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and Stanford Hospital (1976-1979), he joined the Stanford internal medicine faculty where he spearheaded the formation of a Stanford graduate degree program in biomedical informatics. In January 2000 he moved to Columbia University. His research interests have emphasized artificial intelligence and integrated decision-support. Dr. Shortliffe is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and the American Society for Clinical Investigation. He has also been elected to fellowship in the American College of Medical Informatics and the American Association for Artificial Intelligence. He served as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Biomedical Informatics from 2001 to 2020. He received the Grace Murray Hopper Award from the ACM in 1976 and the Morris F. Collen Award from ACMI in 2006. Dr. Shortliffe has authored over 350 articles and several books in the fields of biomedical computing and artificial intelligence. His textbook, Biomedical Informatics: Computer Applications in Health Care and Biomedicine is now in its fifth edition (1st edition, Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1990; 2nd edition, New York: Springer, 2000), 3rd edition, New York: Springer, 2006; 4th edition, London: Springer, 2014; 5th edition, London: Springer, 2021).