W. Montague Cobb/NMA Health Institute Honors Three Outstanding Leaders in Health Disparities
Honolulu, HI (PRWEB) August 21, 2014 -- The W. Montague Cobb/ NMA Health Institute, celebrating its 10th anniversary and a national voice in the elimination of health disparities, honored three outstanding leaders in health disparities during the 112th National Medical Association’s (NMA) Annual Convention and Scientific Assembly.
Distinguished honorees included:
John Ruffin, Ph.D., former Director of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, whose life-long career and innovations have had a significant impact on society, received the W. Montague Cobb Lifetime Achievement Award for his exceptional contributions to the field of African American Medicine.
Alvin Poussaint, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Office of Recruitment and Multicultural Affairs at Harvard Medical School, received the 2014 Cato T. Laurencin Lifetime Research Award. The award recognizes an individual who has demonstrated more than 20 years of consistent, long-lasting contributions to benefit African Americans and to reduce health disparities through recognized research and leadership.
Thomas LaVeist, Ph.D., Director of the Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions was named the 2014 W. Montague Cobb Lecturer for his significant contributions as a pioneer in health disparities research.
“These distinguished individuals have been tireless champions for the elimination of health disparities and advancing minority health. Being selected for the Cobb Awards speaks to their exemplary leadership and service,” said Cato T. Laurencin, Chair of the Cobb Institute Board of Directors and University Professor at the University of Connecticut.
The awards ceremony was followed by the Ninth Annual W. Montague Cobb/NMA Health Institute Lecture and Scientific Symposium to discuss progress in the elimination of health and healthcare disparities since the release of the Institute of Medicine’s 2002 report, Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care. More than 300 NMA members, health disparities researchers, community practitioners, scientists and medical students gathered to discuss where we’ve been, where we are and where we’re going in the elimination of health and healthcare disparities. The Symposium was in partnership with the University of Connecticut Institute for Clinical and Translational Science.
About the W. Montague Cobb/NMA Health Institute
Building on the NMA’s century-long history of advocacy on behalf of the medically underserved, the Cobb Institute strives to achieve health equity for populations of color through research and policy analysis. The vision of the Cobb Institute is to become a premier resource center for data, information, and research pertaining to racial and ethnic health and healthcare disparities. For more information about the Cobb Institute, please contact Lucretia Bullock by phone at 202-772-4274 or by email at info(at)thecobbinstitute(dot)org or visit our website at http://www.TheCobbInstitute.org.
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Lucretia Bullock, The Cobb Institute, http://thecobbinstitute.org/, +1 813-961-4700, [email protected]
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