The tradition of an annual discourse goes back to the Academy’s founding year, 1847, when Dr. John W. Francis delivered an oration to an audience of 2,500 people at the Broadway Tabernacle. At the Anniversary Discourse & Awards each fall, the Academy also recognizes five distinguished individuals for their leadership and contributions in their field. Following the Annual Meeting of the Voting Fellows on November 6, the 167th Anniversary Discourse was delivered by Claire Pomeroy, MD, MBA, President of the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation, on “How Research Does and Should Inform Clinical Practice.” The Academy then honored the 2014 Academy Distinguished Award winners, who are esteemed leaders in academia, science, medicine, health policy, and public health.
Elaine L. Larson, PhD
Associate Dean and Professor,
Columbia University School of Nursing
Stuart L. Schreiber, MD
Director of Chemical Biology and a Founding Member of the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT,
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and the Morris Loeb Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University
Sir Michael Marmot, PhD
Professor of Epidemiology & Public Health;
Director of the Institute of Health Equity and MRC Research Professor in Epidemiology University College London (UCL)
Uwe E. Reinhardt, PhD
James Madison Professor of Political Economy & Professor of Economics and Public Affairs;
Princeton University
Leslie Goldman, MA
Former Director of the Office of School Health Programs,
The New York Academy of Medicine
During the Discourse and Awards ceremony, the Academy also had the pleasure of honoring 32 Fellows affiliated with the Academy for at least 30 years. Dr. Boufford hosted a visual presentation highlighting the careers of the sixteen Fellows that were present. The following are excerpts of comments from the 30-year Fellows on the importance of their affiliation with the Academy:
“There are many pressing healthcare issues, and it is the Academy’s unique ability to link research to policy that allows them to advance critical health policy in New York. I am honored to be recognized as a 30-year Fellow of this prestigious organization.” -Rabbi Joseph Stamm, PhD
“Among many ways that the Academy has affected my life, this was the place where great leaders of the previous generation of healthcare, and some of the present generation, made an enormous difference in my professional and personal life. I will always be grateful to the Academy.” -Bruce Vladeck, PhD
“I can remember sitting in this auditorium in 1969 when there was a panel with Dr. Christian Bernard about the first cardiac transplant. This enthusiasm carried me through my residency, and I feel privileged to be part of this great institution.”
-Edward Powers III, MD
“Curiosity is the hallmark of the excellent physician. I think we have seen in all of the work done in urban health today and the ability to be part of the specialty sections that the Academy provides is an incredible experience. When I moved to New York of course I was going to apply to become a Fellow, since there was no other place in the city that allowed you to satisfy your curiosity about medicine. The early work done on AIDS, all of the work done in public health historically.” -Jane Petro, MD
“The Academy is a gorgeous setting for offering inspirational programs.”
-William Schneider, MD, MPH