Mayor Bloomberg and CDC Chief Tom Frieden Headline NYAM’s 164th Anniversary Discourse and Awards

For Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, NYAM’s 164th Anniversary Discourse and Awards on November 9 was a reunion of sorts, filled with recollections of how he began to think critically about ways to make New York a healthy city for young and old alike. The mayor recalled with great affection his decision to appoint the one man he felt was up to the task, Dr. Thomas Frieden; the physician would serve as the mayor’s first Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene.

In his remarks, Mayor Bloomberg spoke at length about Dr. Frieden’s wide-ranging proposals to eliminate smoking in public areas, including restaurants and bars, and to require the posting of nutritional and caloric information in restaurants.

Mayor Bloomberg then presented Dr. Frieden with NYAM’s Stephen Smith Medal for Distinguished Contributions in Public Health in recognition for his groundbreaking public health work in New York City and later as Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (CDC).

Dr. Frieden thanked the mayor and NYAM for the award, adding that “no other city health commissioner could have envisioned the types of changes we made without the support and resources made available by Mayor Bloomberg.”

Following the presentation to Dr. Frieden, the Academy Medal for Distinguished Contributions in Biomedical Science was presented to Susan Band Horwitz, PhD, Distinguished Professor and co-chair of the Department of Molecular Pharmacology and the Falkenstein Professor of Cancer Research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. The Academy then awarded The John Stearns Medal for Distinguished Contributions in Medicine to Rita Charon, MD, PHD, Professor of Clinical Medicine and Director of the Program in Narrative Medicine at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.

The Academy Medal for Distinguished Contributions in Health Policy was then presented to Vivian Pinn, MD, Director of the Office of Research on Women’s Health at the National Institutes of Health. The awards ceremony concluded with the conferring of The Academy Plaque for Exceptional Service to the Academy to Anne Moore, MD, Professor of Clinical Medicine at Weill Medical College of Cornell University and Attending Physician at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.

Dr. Jo Ivey Boufford, NYAM President, took a moment to talk about Dr. Moore’s contributions as a former NYAM Trustee and as NYAM’s representative to the New York Community Trust, as well as her many years of public advocacy on behalf of patients with breast cancer.

The 164th Anniversary Discourse was then presented by Susan Denzter, Editor-in-Chief of Health Affairs. Ms. Dentzer’s lecture, “Disparities, Prevention and the Promise and Perils of Health Reform,” was an in-depth discussion of the impact that the Affordable Health Care Act of 2010 has had on the delivery of health care as well as the successes and challenges the legislation has posed to underserved communities, particularly in rural areas where access to medical care is infrequent or almost nonexistent.

Earlier in the evening at the Annual Meeting of the Fellows, Dr. Thomas Q. Morris, Chairman of the NYAM Board of Trustees, and Dr. Boufford inducted 47 new Fellows, 16 new members, 33 new Associate Members, and 12 new Student Members.

Vivian Pinn, Rita Charon, Jo Ivey Boufford, Anne Moore, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Susan Dentzer, Thomas Frieden, and Susan Band Horwitz

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Posted on November 10, 2011

Contact:
Andrew J. Martin
Director of Communications
The New York Academy of Medicine
1216 Fifth Avenue
New York, New York 10029
212-822-7285
amartin@nyam.org

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