As a PLME student, Grace Farris ’04 MD’08 didn’t expect to find her future in bright, colorful comics. Her time drawing daily strips for the Brown Daily Herald, however, eventually led her to a career that is equal parts physician, cartoonist, and educator.

“Comics are a great way to explore complicated topics,” says Farris, a hospitalist and associate professor of internal medicine at the University of Texas at Austin. “You can make it more accessible for people and get at their emotions in interesting ways.”

Far from being just the funny pages, Farris’s comics take routine aspects of medicine and motherhood and make them relatable. Her illustrated monthly column, Dr. Mom, in the Annals of Internal Medicine, and her 2022 book, Mom Milestones: The TRUE Story of the First Seven Years, explore her life as a physician and mother and have earned her a global audience.

Now her cartooning has netted her the Brown Medical Alumni Association’s Early Achievement Award—one of four awards presented during Reunion Weekend in May. “I feel lucky to be part of this community, and it’s a testament to what I’ve always experienced at Brown—this permission to have a creative life in addition to pursuing medicine,” Farris says.

The other 2025 BMAA Award recipients are:

• Brownsyne Tucker Edmonds ’00 MD’05, MS, who received the Galen V. Henderson MD’93 Award for Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. She is vice president and chief health equity officer at Indiana University Health, and a professor of obstetrics and gynecology and of pediatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine. Her research focuses on how social and cultural influences shape medical decision-making and communication. Edmonds also serves as the Indiana state legislative chair for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
• Tatiana M. Gellein ’10 MD’16, who received the Junior Alumni Award for Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. An assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of California, Los Angeles, and a pediatrician at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, Gellein led the transformation of the UCLA pediatrics residency through the support of a diverse workforce committed to serving an equally diverse patient population facing unique social, economic, geographic, and racial inequities. She co-chairs the Pediatric Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee at Olive View.
• Shannon M. Thyne MD’95, P’28, director of pediatrics for the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, who received the W.W. Keen Award. She helped establish the Pediatric Leadership for the Underserved Program at the University of California, San Francisco. She’s also vice chair and chief of pediatrics at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center and co-PI of the UCLA/UCSF ACEs Aware Family Resilience Network.