The AAMC is pleased to announce the 2026 recipients of the association’s annual awards, which honor individuals and institutions making significant contributions to medical education, research, clinical care, and community engagement.
Do you know someone who exemplifies the best of academic medicine? Nominations for the 2027 AAMC Awards are now open! Visit aamc.org/awards to learn more about the criteria and to submit a nomination.
Shobhina Girish Chheda, MD, MPH
2026 Alpha Omega Alpha Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher Award
Across her 25-year career at the University of Wisconsin (UW) School of Medicine and Public Health, Shobhina G. Chheda, MD, MPH, professor of internal medicine and pediatrics and associate dean for medical education, has had a significant impact overseeing the undergraduate medical curriculum and assessment for hundreds of medical students.
David Hirsh, MD, FACP
2026 Alpha Omega Alpha Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher Award
Since launching his career at Harvard Medical School (HMS) in 1995, David Hirsh, MD, FACP, has been a significant contributor to the field of medical education locally, nationally, and internationally. A vital member of the faculty, he currently holds several important roles, including professor of medicine, associate dean for undergraduate medical education with the Cambridge Health Alliance, director of HMS’ Academy Fellowship in Medical Education and Scholarship, and associate director of the Harvard Medical School Academy.
Nadia Ismail, MD, MPH, MEd
2026 Alpha Omega Alpha Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher Award
Nadia Ismail, MD, MPH, MEd, arrived at Baylor College of Medicine (Baylor) in 2005 as assistant professor of medicine and, since then, has become vice dean of the school of medicine and one of the college’s brightest lights in educational leadership and student engagement. As the founding director of the Transitions to Clerkship course, Dr. Ismail has transformed student readiness for core clinical rotations, among many other accomplishments.
Julie Anne Kerry, PhD
2026 Alpha Omega Alpha Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher Award
After 16 years leading a variety of NIH-funded investigations into molecular virology, viral gene regulation, and host-virus interactions, Julie Anne Kerry, PhD, turned her attention to medical education. Since then, she has had a significant impact on learners, particularly preclerkship students at the Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences Eastern Virginia Medical School at Old Dominion University (EVMS).
Lara Carson Weinstein, MD, MPH, DrPH
2026 Arnold P. Gold Foundation Humanism in Medicine Award
As a family physician, addiction medicine specialist, and public health researcher in the department of family and community medicine at the Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University (SKMC), Lara Carson Weinstein, MD, MPH, DrPH, has built a distinguished career supporting the most vulnerable patients in her hometown of Philadelphia.
Learn more about Dr. Weinstein
Jonathan L. Haines, PhD
2026 Award for Distinguished Research in the Biomedical Sciences
At the start of Jonathan L. Haines’ career in the mid-1980s, science was just starting to unravel the human genome and genetic associations were known for only a handful of diseases. Since that time, Dr. Haines, a revered researcher at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine (CWRU SOM), has significantly expanded our understanding of the relationship between genetic variation and disease risk.
Thomas Nasca, MD, MACP
2026 Award for Excellence in Medical Education
Educator, dean, and academic medicine leader Thomas Nasca, MD, MACP, has remained an unwavering, innovative force for improving health care in the United States and globally by advancing medical education throughout his illustrious career of nearly five decades. In 2007, he assumed leadership of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), serving as president and CEO for 17 years.
Clyde W. Yancy, MD, MSc
2026 Herbert W. Nickens Award
As the grandson of sharecroppers and the great-great-grandson of enslaved people, Clyde W. Yancy, MD, MSc, chief of cardiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine (Feinberg) in Chicago, frequently cites his humble beginnings as the foundation for his life’s work as an equity-minded cardiologist, researcher, mentor, and educator.
Laine Young-Walker, MD
2026 Louis W. Sullivan, MD, Award
As a physician leader of color in academic medicine, Laine Young-Walker, MD, chair of the psychiatry department at the University of Missouri - Columbia School of Medicine (MU SOM), has had an outsized impact on expanding opportunities at the school for historically underrepresented populations. She’s done this while making significant contributions to the mental health of children and adolescents in communities across Missouri.
Learn more about Dr. Young-Walker
John Z. Ayanian, MD, MPP
2026 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation David E. Rogers Award
Over his 30-plus-year career, John Z. Ayanian, MD, MPP, inaugural director of the Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation at the University of Michigan, has systematically documented racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and gender disparities in health outcomes. His work has helped galvanize national attention to these disparities and stimulated policy and practice efforts aimed at reducing them.
University of Hawaiʻi John A. Burns School of Medicine
2026 Spencer Foreman Award for Outstanding Community Engagement
By combining the resources of academic medicine with the knowledge, culture, and expertise of Hawaiʻi’s communities, the University of Hawaiʻi John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) has built a model of community engagement that is deeply rooted in place, sustained through trusted relationships, and woven throughout its institutional mission.
Victor J. Dzau, MD
2026 Special Recognition Award
Over his illustrious, four-decade-long career as a physician-scientist and leader in academic medicine, Victor J. Dzau, MD, has helped shape the institutions, policies, and partnerships advancing health around the world. In July 2026, Dr. Dzau completed an exemplary 12-year tenure as president of the prestigious National Academy of Medicine (NAM), during which he strengthened its role as a trusted authority and catalyst for addressing some of the world’s most pressing health challenges.
Mary Woolley, MA
2026 Special Recognition Award
During her 35-year career at the helm of Research!America, Mary Woolley played a pivotal role in elevating research and innovation and was instrumental in fostering bipartisan support for biomedical research. Under her leadership, Research!America frequently partnered with the AAMC to advocate for increased federal funding to strengthen federal research and health agencies. She retired from Research!America in June 2026.