Washington, D.C., July 8, 2005 - A Harvard Medical School professor who serves as a mentor to aspiring minority physicians has been selected to receive one of the highest honors in the academic medical community. The AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) has named Joan Y. Reede, M.D., M.P.H., M.S., as the sixth recipient of the Herbert W. Nickens, M.D. Award. The award is presented to an individual who has made outstanding contributions to promoting justice in medical education and health care and is named for a former vice president of the AAMC.

Serving in numerous academic capacities, Dr. Reede is associate professor of medicine, dean for diversity and community partnership, director of the Center of Excellence in Minority Health and Health Disparities, and director of the minority faculty development program at Harvard Medical School (HMS). She also serves as a member of the Institute for Health Policy at Massachusetts General Hospital and as an associate professor at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Dr. Reede is recognized by colleagues, students, and young faculty members for her expertise in mentoring, her contributions to the career advancement of young health professionals on the leadership track, and her work in shaping minority health policy. "She is, quite simply, one of the most important teachers of multicultural medicine and cultural competence at Harvard Medical School," said Joseph B. Martin, M.D., Ph.D., dean of the faculty of medicine for HMS.

Among her many accomplishments at HMS, Dr. Reede developed a program to support the academic career development of underrepresented minorities and women and several innovative programs to recruit and retain diverse students and faculty. Between 1992 and 2002, HMS saw a 91 percent increase in underrepresented minority faculty; during that time, the total number of the school's faculty increased by only 30 percent.

Dr. Reede earned her undergraduate degree at Brown University and her medical degree at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Following a residency in pediatrics at Johns Hopkins Hospital, she completed a child psychiatry fellowship at Children's Hospital of Boston. She came to Harvard University as an administrative fellow in the Office of the President and, subsequently, trained as a postdoctoral health services research fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health.

The award will be formally presented to Dr. Reede on November 6, at the AAMC's 116th Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., where she will deliver the Nickens Memorial Lecture.

Dr. Reede joins a distinguished list of Nickens Award recipients: Michael V. Drake, M.D. (2004); Anna Cherrie Epps, Ph.D. (2003); David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D. (2002); Lee Bollinger, J.D. (2001); and Donald Wilson, M.D. (2000).

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The Association of American Medical Colleges is a not-for-profit association representing all 129 accredited U.S. and 17 accredited Canadian medical schools; nearly 400 major teaching hospitals and health systems, including 68 Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers; and 94 academic and scientific societies. Through these institutions and organizations, the AAMC represents 109,000 faculty members, 67,000 medical students, and 104,000 resident physicians. Additional information about the AAMC and U.S. medical schools and teaching hospitals is available at www.aamc.org/newsroom.

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