The Brown Medical Alumni Association honored five distinguished physician leaders, researchers, and advocates at Reunion Weekend in May.
Griffin Rodgers ’76 MMSc’79 MD’79, MBA, received the W.W. Keen Award in recognition of his outstanding contributions to medicine. He has been the director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases since 2007.
“Brown’s Open Curriculum and its humanistic approach gave me the scientific rigor and freedom to ask some truly unconventional questions,” he says.
It was thanks to Rodgers’ research that hydroxyurea became the first FDA-approved therapy for sickle cell disease, gaining him international renown. A proponent of workforce development, he has been heavily involved in Pacific STEP-UP, which offers hands-on biomedical research opportunities to high school students in the Pacific Basin.
“Scientific talent is evenly distributed, but opportunities are not,” Rodgers says. “I’m hoping this, as well as other programs, provides that blending of talent with opportunity.”
Amit R.T. Joshi ’97 MD’01 delivered this year’s Ruth B. Sauber Distinguished Alumni Lectureship. He is a general surgeon; associate dean for graduate medical education and professor of surgery at Cooper Healthcare and Cooper Medical School of Rowan University in Camden, NJ; and editor-of-chief of the American Board of Surgery’s SCORE curriculum.
In the Sauber lecture, Joshi recounted the tremendous advances in data, collaboration, and curricular innovation in medical education in the last 25 years. He laments, however, that physicians have less time to teach.
“Physicians have a lot more administrative responsibilities than they ever have,” Joshi says. “It can definitely impinge upon their time and resources they can devote toward mentoring.”
Frank Crespo ’07 MD’11, MS, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Florida and medical Tina Cheng ’83 MD’86, PMD’22 received the Galen V. Henderson MD’93 Award for Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Throughout her career, Cheng—the B.K. Rachford Professor and Chair of Pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, director of the Cincinnati Children’s Research Foundation, and chief medical officer at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center—has advocated for children and families from underserved communities.
As a member of the National Academy of Medicine, Cheng co-led its 2024 report on improving health care for children. She also co-led the NIH-funded DC-Baltimore Research Center on Child Health Disparities for 15 years, and in February will become president of the Association of Medical School Pediatric Department Chairs.
“As a pediatrician, I believe that child health forms the foundation for a healthy adulthood and society, but too many children today do not have a healthy start in life. This is unfair to them, and dangerous for our future,” Cheng says. “Investing in children pays dividends and is our most profound opportunity to shape a better and healthier future.”
Carla Moreira MD’08 RES’10, associate professor of surgery, clinician educator, at The Warren Alpert Medical School, received the Junior Alumni Award for Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. The associate program director of Brown’s general surgery residency program and chief of vascular surgery at the Providence VA Medical Center, she has studied health disparities and the impact of social determinants of health on vascular outcomes, and holds leadership roles on institutional, regional, and national committees.
“Brown has given me the opportunity to fulfill my dream,” Moreira says. “Returning to Providence [after training in Chicago and Boston] and allowing me to grow and feel supported professionally and as part of a community—it’s inspiring. I’m amazed at the quality of the students and trainees that I work with and learn from.”
Fluent in Portuguese, Cape Verdean Creole, and Spanish, Moreira prioritizes working with diverse populations in a time when health care has been heavily politicized.
“Getting this award has forced me to think about my role, and how to be more intentional and effective when the problem is systemic, and my patients vulnerable and marginalized,” she says. “I’m just doing my job the best that I can.”