Medical school alums receive top honors at Reunion

This year’s Brown Medical Alumni Association Awards honored alumni whose work embodies dedication to social justice and equitable health practices and research—in everything from pediatrics to surgical education—at Commencement-Reunion Weekend in May.

Griffin Rodgers '76 MMSc'79 MD'79 received the W.W. Keen award, which recognizes outstanding contributions to medicine, encompassing research, education, leadership, patient care, or public health. Rodgers 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.

Rodgers is recognized internationally for his research that led to hydroxyurea becoming the first FDA-approved therapy for sickle cell disease, and has published more than 250 peer-reviewed articles. A proponent of workforce development, he has been heavily involved in Pacific STEP-UP, which provides hands-on biomedical research opportunities to high school students.

“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 the Ruth B. Sauber Distinguished Alumni Lectureship. A practicing general surgeon, he is associate dean for graduate medical education and professor of surgery at Cooper Healthcare and Cooper Medical School of Rowan University in Camden, NJ. Joshi is also editor-of-chief of the American Board of Surgery’s SCORE curriculum.

Joshi calls the lectureship a landmark milestone in his career. He says his education at Brown set the stage for his professional focus on surgical education.

“Having had the benefit of fantastic teaching and mentoring for over eight years in Providence, I have loved being able to pass it forward,” he says.

For the Sauber lecture, which took place during Reunion Weekend, Joshi recounted the tremendous advances in data, collaboration, and curricular innovation in medical education in the last 25 years. Despite many improvements, he laments that increased physicians’ responsibilities cut into time spent teaching and mentoring.

“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, medical director at Sunshine Health and an obstetrician-gynecologist in Florida, received the Early Achievement Award.  The award recognizes medical alumni within 15 years of graduation for outstanding service to the Medical School or their local community, or for a scientific or academic achievement.

Crespo, who is also board certified in healthcare quality and management and a physician executive, has contributed to the American Cancer Society's National Roundtable on Cervical Cancer, served as a National Hispanic Medical Association Leadership Fellow, and has worked with federal agencies to address public health disparities. He has also authored several research publications.

“As a first‑generation college graduate raised by a teenage single mom in Miami‑Dade County, this honor carries profound meaning,” he says.

At Sunshine Health he has led various maternal health quality initiatives, and he credits Brown for nurturing his passion for advocacy and approaching medicine through an innovative and humanitarian lens.

“Brown instilled in me a responsibility to advocate for those without a seat at the table, and that responsibility continues to drive my work,” Crespo says.

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, which recognizes alumni who have demonstrated leadership in diversity, equity, and inclusion activities that have led to improving awareness and engagement related to diversity in medicine and/or health equity . She is the associate program director of Brown’s general surgery residency program and chief of vascular surgery at the Providence VA Medical Center.

Moreira has researched health disparities and the impact of social determinants of health on vascular outcomes, and holds leadership roles on institutional, regional, and national committees. She says she was humbled by the recognition, and is thankful for Brown’s continued commitment to its students.

“Brown has given me the opportunity to fulfill my dream,” she 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, and Brown does a great job of recruiting incredible individuals.”

Fluent in Portuguese, Cape Verdean Creole, and Spanish, Moreira enjoys 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.”

Tina Cheng ’83 MD’86, PMD’22, received the 2016 Galen V. Henderson MD’93 Award for Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, which honors those with significant contributions to DEI locally, regionally, nationally, or internationally.

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—says she appreciates the BMAA’s recognition of her efforts to advocate for children and families from underserved communities.

“Early on in my career, I saw the joy and challenges families in poverty faced in caring for their children,” she says. “With too many families living in poverty I knew we could do more to support them and ensure that every child is healthy and thriving.”

Cheng is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and co-led the National Academies study on “Launching Lifelong Health by Improving Health Care for Children, Youth and Families.  She also co-led the National Institutes of Health-funded DC-Baltimore Research Center on Child Health Disparities for 15 years, and is the president-elect of the Association of Medical School Pediatric Department Chairs; her term begins in February 2027.

“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.”