The University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health will recognize seven alumni for their outstanding service to the field of public health at an awards ceremony on Nov. 22.
“Through prominent roles in public health research, education, and practice, our alumni are committed to driving impactful change,” said Maureen Lichtveld, M.D., M.P.H., Dean and Jonas Salk Professor of Population Health at Pitt Public Health. “It is an honor to celebrate how our graduates, all shining leaders, are advancing public health in communities across the country and around the world.”
- Christopher Gessner, M.H.A., class of 1991, and Lisa K. Perriera, M.D., M.P.H., class of 2009, will each receive the Alumni Award for Practice. Gessner, president and chief executive officer of Akron Children’s Hospital, has served as a visionary leader amid the changing health care landscape and kept Akron Children’s an independent and locally led pediatric hospital system. Perriera, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Thomas Jefferson University and chief medical director of The Women’s Centers in Philadelphia, works to improve access to contraception and abortion by developing clinical policies, providing care and training a new generation of health care providers.
- Douglas Landsittel, Ph.D., class of 1997, professor and chair of biostatistics at the State University of New York, Buffalo, will receive the Alumni Award for Research, in recognition of his work across a wide range of clinical research and public health disciplines. With multiple leadership roles in statistical groups, data-coordination efforts and multiprofessional networks, he has worked to reduce health disparities and improve health outcomes.
- Robin E. Grubs, M.S., Ph.D., L.C.G.C., class of 2002, will receive the Alumni Award for Teaching and Dissemination. Grubs is an associate professor of human genetics at Pitt Public Health. A member of Pitt’s genetic counseling program leadership team for 25 years, she has trained hundreds of genetic counseling students, served actively in national genetics organizations and published on genetic counseling education, ethics and research methods.
- Lauren Balmert Bonner, Ph.D., class of 2017, and Stephen F. Smagula, Ph.D., class of 2014, will each receive the Early Career Excellence Award. Bonner is an associate professor of preventive medicine in the Division of Biostatistics and Informatics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. With leadership roles in multiple National Institutes of Health–funded trials, she collaborates across a range of clinical fields, including HIV maternal-child health, gastroenterology and pediatric medicine. Smagula is associate professor of psychiatry at Pitt, where he conducts epidemiologic, neuroscientific and clinical translational studies. His work focuses on reducing the burden of depression in older adults, including substantial contributions to developing evidence-based sleep-wake interventions.
- Maria Rosario B. Aguiluz-Abunto, M.D., M.P.H., class of 2016, will receive The Margaret F. Gloninger Service Award. Aguiluz-Abunto is founder of AMBA Venture, a consulting firm that provides strategic clinical support to pharmaceutical, biotech and medical-device companies, and a former epidemiologist at the National Cancer Institute, a part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Throughout her career she has focused on closing the gap between research and real-world application.
In addition to these awards, Marnie Bertolet, Ph.D., and Johannes John-Langba, Ph.D., M.P.H., class of 2004, were both inducted into the Delta Omega Honorary Society in Public Health, Omicron Chapter. Bertolet is an associate professor of epidemiology at Pitt Public Health, where she studies maternal factors associated with preterm birth, maternal health following pregnancy complications and the link between pregnancy and long-term health as women age. John-Langba is professor of social work and founding director of the College of Humanities Doctoral Academy at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Throughout his extensive international development experience, he has worked for various multilateral and international nonprofit organizations in Kenya and South Africa.