Awards
Congratulations to all of our recipients!
Bergman Award: Uma R. Kotagal MBBS, MSc, Senior Vice President, Quality and Transformation; Director, Health Policy and Clinical Effectiveness, Cincinatti Children's Hospital Medical Center
As Director of the Health Policy and Clinical Effectiveness Program at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Dr. Kotagal oversees the development of disease management teams and establishment of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines. Dr. Kotagal is also a practicing neonatologist and was previously the director of the Neonatal Intensive Care Units at the University Hospital and at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. She has published widely in neonatal outcomes research, including the first landmark paper on early discharge programs in the NICU setting. In addition to her hospital administration and research background, Dr. Kotagal has also been a visiting scholar at the Harvard School of Public Health and a visiting professor at Tufts New England Medical Center.
The NICHQ Bergman Award is named in honor of David A. Bergman, MD who serves as NICHQ Board Member and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Bergman has been a longtime innovator in developing, testing, and applying novel approaches to making the health care system more responsive to the needs of children and their families.
The goal of this award is to recognize individuals whose work has substantially improved the quality of care for children in the United States.
Past recipients include Paul Kurtin, Paul Miles, and David Bergman.
For further information, please read the 2010 Forum Bergman Award Criteria.
Faculty Award: Robert Dudley MD, Med, FAAP, Community Health Center, Inc.
The 2010 winner of the Faculty Award is Robert Dudley MD, Med, FAAP, a pediatrician at Community Health Center, Inc. in New Britain, CT. Dr. Dudley joined the Community Health Center as a National Public Health Scholar in the summer of 1996 after completing his residency at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He has been involved in the New Britain community as the district’s school medical advisor and with the state AAP School Health Committee. Dr. Dudley has been actively involved in obesity research for the past two years, with presentations of Healthy Tomorrows data at the Future of Pediatrics Conference and NICHQ’s 2009 Annual Forum. Dr. Dudley also serves as an assistant clinical professor at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine.
For further information, please read the 2010 Forum Faculty Award Criteria.
Family Leader Award: Diana Autin, Executive Co-Director of the Statewide Parent Advocacy Network of New Jersey (SPAN)
The 2010 winner of the Family Leader Achievement Award is Diana Autin, Executive Co-Director of the Statewide Parent Advocacy Network of New Jersey (SPAN), who has helped reduce health disparities for children with special healthcare needs and aided underserved communities with education, advocacy, leadership development and support. In her 15 year tenure at SPAN, Autin has expanded the organization’s mission and activities; moved the organization to an underserved community in Newark, NJ and opened additional offices in other low-income neighborhoods; secured grants to house parents of children with special healthcare needs and grown the staff from 15 to 60 people. Autin’s leadership has inspired parents to be advocates and become involved in public policy campaigns in New Jersey relating to children with disabilities and special healthcare needs.
For further information, please read the 2010 Forum Family Leader Award Criteria.
Spotlight on Excellence: Georgia Free Clinic Network
The Spotlight on Excellence Award recognized a program in the host state of the Annual Forum that has impacted development and/or delivery of a health system that is safe, effective, patient-centered, timely, efficient, and equitable for all patients and populations, particularly children. The 2010 award recognized the Georgia Free Clinic Network, led by Executive Director Donna Looper. The mission of the Georgia Free Clinic Network is to provide a collaborative support system to foster growth and development of charitable clinics and improve access to quality healthcare for the medically underserved across the state. There are more than 100 independent, non-profit clinics across Georgia participating in the Georgia Free Clinic Network to serve more than 1.7 million uninsured residents. Laura Layne, Director of Health Services of the Good Samaritan Health Center accepted the award on behalf of the Georgia Free Clinic Network.
For further information, please read the 2010 Forum Spotlight on Excellence Award Criteria.
Outstanding Contribution to a Childhood Obesity Program: Success through Exercise, Physical Fitness and Sharing Information (STEPS) for Kids
The Outstanding Contribution to a Childhood Obesity Award honored a program that has impacted childhood obesity in the population through clinic and/or community interventions by advancing partnerships between clinicians, other professionals and lay participants, including the community and families. The 2010 award recognized Success through Exercise, Physical Fitness and Sharing Information (STEPS) for Kids, led by Director Shelley Cohen. STEPS for Kids is a health intervention program to assist families in the fight against childhood obesity and a community collaboration of South Jersey Healthcare, the Cumberland Cape Atlantic YMCA and Vineland Public Schools. Through interactive educational sessions on nutrition and exercise, families learn how to implement and sustain necessary lifestyle changes to benefit their children's health. Debbie Erlandson, the Childhood Obesity Coordinator for STEPS accepted the award on behalf of the organization.
For further information, please read the 2010 Forum Childhood Obesity Program Criteria.
