Dr. Farideh Kioumehr (MPH ’71, DrPH ’73) was presented with the first-ever peace award during the 136th Annual Meeting of APHA in October 2008.

Kioumehr received the new Sidel-Levy Award for Peace in recognition of her work against gun violence. As founder and executive director of the International Health and Epidemiology Research Center, she created the Anti-Violence Campaign for Peace. The project strives to educate and raise awareness about the hazards of guns, toy guns and weapons, violent video games, and violence among children, parents and educators. The focus of the campaign’s initiatives is on children, following Mohandas Gandhi’s assertion, “If we want to have true peace in the world, it must begin with the children.” The goal of her project is to create a healthier and more peaceful world.