Catherine Cowell Award

Judy Wilson, RD, MSPH, is the 2008-09 recipient of the Catherine Cowell Award, which was established in 1993 to honor Dr. Catherine Cowell’s contributions to the field of public health nutrition.  This award recognizes an individual who has exemplified excellence and achievement in administration, planning, mentoring, and team building in public health nutrition, including meeting the special needs of urban populations and young children.

Ms. Wilson’s early career included positions as a public health nutritionist in Detroit, Mich., and a clinical nutritionist and WIC Project Director in Newark, N.J., before beginning her work with the Washington, D.C. Department of Health and the USDA.  Currently, she is the Senior Nutrition Advisor, Office of Research and Analysis, USDA Food and Nutrition Service.  Last year, Ms. Wilson was the recipient of two USDA Secretary Honor Awards, one as the group leader for developing and implementing the State Nutrition Action Plan Process and the other as a group member for the Loving Your Family Feeding Their Future nutrition education initiative.  Ms. Wilson has been a member of APHA for more than 35 years, has been active as a Section Councilor, and has served on numerous committees, workgroups and taskforces.

Mary C. Egan Award

Jay Hirschman, MPH, CNS, is the 2008-09 recipient of the Mary C. Egan Award, which was established in 1985 to honor Dr. Mary Egan, who had a major role in the development and implementation of the National WIC Program and the development of graduate training programs for health professionals working in maternal and child health.  This award recognizes an individual’s professional contributions and outstanding services for development of new approaches in public health nutrition, mentoring, nutrition education and addressing special nutrition needs.

Mr. Hirschman, a past chair of the APHA Food and Nutrition Section (2003-2004), began his career as the first public health nutritionist in Cleveland County, N.C., where he established the county’s WIC Program.  He has worked for the USDA since 1984 and currently is the Staff Director, Special Nutrition Staff at the USDA Food and Nutrition Service, Office of Research and Analysis.  In this leadership position, he is responsible for management of staff conducting evaluation studies and policy analysis for all domestic Special Nutrition Programs, including WIC, the National School Lunch Program, the School Breakfast Program, the Child and Adult Care Food Program and the other Child Nutrition Programs, and the Food Distribution Programs.

Excellence in Dietary Guidance Award

Dr. Angela Odoms-Young is the 2008-09 recipient of the Excellence in Dietary Guidance Award, which was established in 1992 as the result of Sue Krebs-Smith’s vision and efforts while working at the National Cancer Institute.  This award recognizes an individual who has made outstanding contributions in the area of dietary guidance formulation, research, education or policy change. 

Dr. Odoms-Young is an Assistant Professor in the College of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago.   She is the Primary Investigator or Co-Primary Investigator on several research grants, including “The Relationship between Perceived and Objective Food Environments, Dietary Intake, and Weight Status in Latino Families,” “Impact of a New WIC Food Package Fruit and Vegetable Cash-Voucher on WIC Vendor Participation, Accessibility, and Fruit and Vegetable Characteristics,” and “Ethnographic Approach to Examining Neighborhood and Marketing Influences on Dietary Intake in African American Families with Preschool-Age Children.”  She has written numerous journal articles, book chapters, and technical reports and presented research findings at many national meetings and conferences.

Student Abstract Award

Renata Jacob, BS, a current MS student in biology at Drexel University, is the 2008-09 recipient of the Student Abstract Award.  This award recognizes the student whose submitted abstract received the highest overall score by reviewers.  Her winning abstract is entitled, “Retail food safety risks for populations of different demographics.”  In addition to the award, Ms. Jacob will receive a one-year paid APHA membership.  

Ms. Jacob has several national presentations and a recent journal article published in the Journal of Food Protection entitled “Fate of surface-inoculated Escherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, and Salmonella typhimuriumon kippered beef during extended storage at refrigeration and abusive temperatures.”