The AAMC is proud to honor five academic medicine leaders with the 2025 AAMC ACE Award for Advocacy, Collaboration, and Education. Established in 2023, the ACE Award recognizes individuals who partner with the nation’s medical schools, academic health systems, and teaching hospitals to advance the health of patients, families, and communities across the country.
“The AAMC is excited to celebrate the 2025 ACE Award recipients for their leadership and impact across academic medicine,” said Danielle Turnipseed, JD, MHSA, MPP, AAMC chief public policy officer. “Now more than ever, the academic medicine community must come together with the shared purpose of improving the health of people everywhere. These five leaders demonstrate how collaboration, advocacy, and education can strengthen health outcomes. We are inspired by their achievements and look forward to building on their efforts to advance our shared mission.”
The 2025 ACE Awards will be presented at a reception on Sept. 24 at AAMC’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., to celebrate the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 54th Annual Legislative Conference and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s 48th Leadership Conference. The reception is jointly hosted by AAMC, the National Hispanic Medical Association, the National Medical Association and the National Minority Quality Forum.
Learn more about this year's ACE Award recipients:
Congressman Raul Ruiz, MD (Calif.-25) serves on the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health and is a member of the Congressional Academic Medicine Caucus. A physician who has completed his residency in emergency medicine and a fellowship in international emergency medicine, Rep. Ruiz advocates for academic medicine priorities including expanding the physician workforce and improving access to high-quality health care for all Americans. Recognizing the physician shortage crisis in the Coachella Valley, Rep. Ruiz started a pre-medical mentorship program for young aspiring doctors, which has grown to include over 100 local students. The program is now part of the AAMC member institution University of California, Riverside School of Medicine, where Rep. Ruiz served as Senior Associate Dean.
Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (Va.-03) is the Ranking Member of the Committee on Education and Workforce where he has served as the Committee’s Democratic leader for six terms. As Ranking Member, he is leading the fight to protect federal student aid, expand and protect access to affordable health care, and ensure workers have a safe workplace. He is committed to improving the quality of education and is working to lift the burden of student loan debt. He is a member of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, the Congressional Black Caucus, and serves on the Committee on the Budget, where he is a leading voice on fiscal policy.
Michellene Davis, Esq. is President and CEO of National Medical Fellowships, Inc. (NMF). NMF broadens the pathways to medical education, provides transformative leadership opportunities, and ensures clinical research includes everyone. She made history in New Jersey as the first African American to serve as Chief Policy Counsel and New Jersey State Treasurer. Davis founded the Social Impact and Community Investment, an equity-centered, policy-led community health practice addressing social and political determinants of health. She has been named one of Modern Healthcare’s Top 25 Most Influential Minority Leaders and Becker’s Black Healthcare Leaders to Know.
Maria L. Soto-Greene, MD, MS-HPEd, FACP serves as a tenured Professor and Executive Vice Dean at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. She helped develop programming that expanded access to education for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, guiding thousands into careers in medicine and science. Throughout her more than 30-year career, Dr. Soto-Greene's impact has been honored with numerous awards including AAMC’s 2019 Herbert W. Nickens Award, which is presented to an individual working to promote equal opportunity in medical education and access to quality health care in the United States.
David Cazares Dorantes is a second-year medical student at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo. Working as both a Spanish medical interpreter and free clinic manager shaped his commitment to serving vulnerable communities. He serves as Assistant Program Manager for UB HEALS, the school’s student-run street medicine initiative, and as an M2 Class Representative within Student Government. He also represents the Jacobs School of Medicine at the University at Buffalo as a Regional Representative for the Latino Medical Student Association. Dorantes has spoken to federal elected officials about his journey in medicine in support of others who might come behind him. He plans to advance access to primary and preventative care as a family medicine physician.