Together We Thrive: Health Across the Lifespan

APHA's Public Health Awards Ceremony and Luncheon recognized individuals who received the association's most distinguished awards. APHA honors those who exemplify professionalism and dedication to the field of public health.

Meet the 2026 Award Winners 

Sedgwick Memorial Medal for Distinguished Service in Public Health
Honors an individual for their distinguished service to advance public health knowledge and practice in the field of research, administration, education, technical services or a specialty field of public health practice. The Sedgwick Memorial Award is the Association’s oldest and most prestigious honor.
Recipient: James Curran, MD, MPH, Dean Emeritus, Emory Rollins School of Public Health

Giorgio A. Piccagli Leadership Award 
Recognizes an APHA student or early-career professional who demonstrates outstanding leadership and initiative.
Recipient: Ira Memaj, MPH, Adjunct Professor, CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy

APHA Distinguished Public Heath Legislator of the Year
Recognizes a legislator at the federal or state or local levels who strongly supports public health
Recipient: U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, I-VT

APHA Presidential Citation
Recognizes a person or organization in recognition of outstanding contributions to the advancement of public health or the public health profession.
Recipient: The National Pan-Hellenic Council

APHA Award for Excellence
Recognizes an individual for making a significant and well-recognized contributions to the improvement of community health by utilizing scientific knowledge or innovative organizational strategies.
Recipient: Jack Tsai, PhD, Professor and Regional Dean, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

David P. Rall Award for Advocacy in Public Health
Honors an individual who has made outstanding contributions to public health through science–based advocacy. The award is a tribute to David P. Rall, MD, PhD, whose scientific-based advocacy efforts advanced public health and prevention across many fields and in many forms.
Recipient: Kevin Borrup, DrPH, JD, MPA, Executive Director, Connecticut Children’s Injury Prevention Center

Helen Rodriguez-Trias Social Justice Award
Honors an individual who has worked toward social justice for underserved and disadvantaged populations. The award is named after the late Dr. Helen Rodriguez-Trias, past president of the American Public Health Association.
Recipient: Melissa A. Simon, MD, MPH, MBA, Professor and Obstetrics and Gynecology, Preventive Medicine, Medical Society Sciences and Preventive Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine

Milton and Ruth Roemer Prize for Creative Local Public Health Work
Honors a local health officer of a county, city or other unit of local government who has demonstrated creative and innovative public health work.
Recipient: Iulia Vann, MD, MPH, Public Health Officer, Allegheny County Health Department

Ayman El-Mohandes Young Professional Public Health Innovation Award
Recognizes a young public health professional who is making a significant, innovative contribution to the public health field. The award is endowed by Ayman El-Mohandes, MPH, MD, MSc, MBBCh, a former APHA Executive Board member.
Recipient: Alexandra López Vera, PhD, MPH, DrPH(c), CHES, Assistant Professor of Medical Education, California University of Science and Medicine

Lyndon Haviland Public Health Mentoring Award
Recognizes an individual for their essential role of mentoring in public health and leadership development.
Recipient: Gregory G. Homish, PhD, Professor and Chair, Department of Community Health and Health Behavior, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Buffalo

Martha May Eliot Award
Honors a professional worker from the field of maternal and child health. The award is named after the late Dr. Martha May Eliot. past present of the American Public Health Association and a moving force in APHA’s Maternal and Child Health Section.
Recipient: Arden Handler, DrPH, MPH, Professor Emerita, Community Health Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health

Sommer Klag Advocacy Achievement Award
A partnership of APHA and the Lerner Center, the award goes to a person who understands the importance of advocacy in academic public health training.
Recipient: Lilia Cervantes, MD, MSCS, Professor, Tenured, Director of Immigrant Research, Anschutz, Medical Campus, University of Colorado

Victor Sidel and Barry Levy Award for Peace
The Victor Sidel and Barry Levy Award for Peace is awarded to an APHA member who has made outstanding contributions to preventing war and promote international peace. The award draws attention to the profound health consequences of war and what public health workers can do to help prevent war and promote international peace. 
Recipient: Theodore Tulchinsky, MD, MPH, Professor Emeritus, Hebrew University of Jerusalem 

2026 APHA Chief Executive Officer's Citation
Honors an APHA member for their exceptional service to the Association
Recipient: Celeste A. Monforton, DrPh, MPH

APHA PRESIDENTIAL CITATION

The National Pan-Hellenic Council is the winner of the 2026 APHA Presidential Citation for its role as a vehicle for community-based public health and civic engagement programs that improve the health and well-being of marginalized communities.

The APHA Presidential Citation is given to an individual or organization for outstanding advancements in public health or its profession.

The nearly century-old Council represents 4 million people and more than 6,500 chapters of the historically Black fraternities and sororities known as the “Divine Nine”: Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.; Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.; Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.; Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.; Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.; Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.; Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.; Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.; and Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc. Under the Council’s umbrella, these organizations have advocated for civil rights and equity for underserved communities and created national initiatives centered on voter outreach and education, Black mental health, and access to healthcare and social services.  

2026 APHA AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE
Jack Tsai, PhD, is the winner of the 2026 APHA Award of Excellence for his creative and evidence-based public health solutions to reduce and prevent homelessness.

The APHA Award of Excellence goes to a person who has made and will continue to make significant achievements in improving public health through the marriage of science and innovation.

Tsai’s work continues to evaluate how homelessness affects behavioral health, risks for chronic disease and access to healthcare. As research director of the Department of Veterans Affairs National Center for Homelessness Among Veterans, Tsai’s research on interventions such as rapid rehousing and permanent, supportive housing has been instrumental in cutting veteran homelessness in half over the past decade.   

Tsai also serves as regional dean and professor of public health at UTHealth in San Antonio, where he has evaluated innovative housing solutions and community paramedicine programs that train the city’s EMTs and paramedics on providing primary and preventive healthcare services.

In addition to publishing over 500 peer-reviewed studies, Tsai has made an impact within APHA as a chair of the APHA Caucus on Homelessness and the Association’s Committee on Health Equity.

2026 APHA CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER CITATION
Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH, is the winner of the 2026 Chief Executive Officer Citation for her work on behalf of APHA to advance environmental and occupational health.

The Chief Executive Officer Citation is given to an APHA member who furthers the Association’s reach through their outstanding public health service.

Monforton’s career and research on preventing workplace illnesses and injuries span federal agencies. Her on-the-ground health research placed her among community-based groups fighting for the safety of meatpacking workers and with Hispanic day laborers experiencing health disparities. At the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Mine Safety and Health Administration, Monforton called out industries that undermined regulations meant to protect workers from toxic exposures such as asbestos and silica.

An APHA member since 1996, Monforton has represented the Association through congressional testimony and in comments on proposed federal regulations on occupational health issues. She is a leader among her peers as the Occupational Health and Safety Section’s co-chair of policy and advocacy, and the Section’s program planning chair. Monforton has also lent her policy expertise to APHA through her roles as a Governing Councilor, Action Board chair and Joint Policy Committee co-chair.

AYMAN EL-MOHANDES YOUNG PROFESSIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH INNOVATION AWARD 
Alexandra López Vera, PhD, MPH, CHES, is the winner of the 2026 Ayman El-Mohandes Young Professional Public Health Innovation Award for her work advancing culturally responsive care that increases access to healthcare. The award goes to a public health professional who is age 40 or younger and finds creative solutions to complicated public health issues.

Recognizing the barriers to healthcare for Spanish-speaking patients, López Vera created the Vida Medical Spanish program at the California University of Science and Medicine, where she serves as an assistant professor of medical education. The curriculum teaches medical students how to speak Spanish with patients and educates them about structural health inequities in the Latino community that result in worse health outcomes. 

She sees the tenets of her curriculum in practice as a volunteer faculty member at the Inland Empire Free Clinic in Colton, California, where more than half of the population speaks Spanish. There, she helps vulnerable community members access healthcare resources while  giving medical students real-world experience in delivering culturally competent care to patients. 

DAVID P. RALL AWARD FOR ADVOCACY IN PUBLIC HEALTH 
kevinKevin Borrup, DrPH, JD, MPA, is being honored with the David P. Rall Award for Advocacy in Public Health for his decades-long work in injury prevention research and policy advocacy.

Named for Rall, whose scientific research was a boon to prevention and environmental health policy, the award is given to a mid-career public health professional who has used science-based advocacy to influence policy change.                                                                

Borrup’s interdisciplinary and collaborative approach has been key to building the power and evidence base behind life-saving injury prevention policies. During his more than two decades at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center in Hartford, where he is now executive director of the center’s Injury Prevention Center, Borrup has trained hospital nurses and medical residents on how to advocate on behalf of their patients to address the social determinants of health. He played a key role in managing the Connecticut Teen Driving Safety Partnership from 2007 to 2013, which pushed for a more robust state graduated driver licensing law in 2013 that ultimately helped lower teen driving deaths by 30%. 

As an APHA member, Borrup has made a broad impact on public health policy as a member of the Governing Council, chair of the Action Board, part of the Joint Policy Committee and chair of APHA’s Injury Control and Emergency Health Services Section.

HELEN RODRÍGUEZ TRÍAS SOCIAL JUSTICE AWARD 
Melissa Simon, MD, MPH, is the winner of the 2026 Dr. Helen Rodríguez Trías Social Justice Award for her work advancing equity in women’s health, cancer care and the healthcare workforce. 

Named in honor of the late Rodríguez-Trías, a past president of APHA, the award recognizes a public health professional’s leadership, advocacy and mentorship in seeking social justice for underserved populations.

Simon’s work combines academic research with community-based partnerships to make a difference for populations facing the greatest health disparities on local, state and national levels. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she co-founded Illinois Unidos, a statewide coalition of nonprofits, healthcare professionals and policymakers. She also founded the Chicago Cancer Health Equity Collaborative, which partners the University of Chicago Illinois, Northwestern University and Northeastern Illinois University with Chicago community-based organizations on outreach to improve the health of minorities, low-income residents and people with disabilities. 

Simon also led research identifying that breast cancer deaths were 62% higher in Black women versus white women in 2007. She later spearheaded a task force that, through policy advocacy and boosting screenings, reduced that disparity to 37% by 2019.  

As chair of the health equity committee for the National Cancer Institute’s National Oncology Community Research Program, she also advocates for more community oncology practices to seek out diverse populations for clinical trials. 

SEDGWICK MEMORIAL MEDAL FOR DISTINGUISHED SERVICE IN PUBLIC HEALTH 
James Curran, MD, MPH, is being honored with APHA’s 2026 Sedgwick Memorial Medal for Distinguished Service in Public Health for being at the forefront of HIV/AIDS research and prevention.

The award, which is one of APHA’s highest honors, was named in recognition of the late professor William Thompson Sedgwick, a past APHA president and the head of the department of biological and public health at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It recognizes outstanding achievements in the field of public health.

Curran was a key part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s earliest response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and his research in the 1980s identifying disease transmission was critical to federal HIV prevention strategy. He held a variety of roles at CDC, including director of CDC’s AIDS Program, also served as Assistant Surgeon General under the U.S. Public Health Service. Through his leadership, he championed disease surveillance strategies and public health messaging that reduced both the number of new infections and the stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS.

Curran has received numerous awards for his accomplishments, including the Surgeon General’s Medal of Excellence. An APHA member, Curran previously received the Epidemiology Section’s John Snow Award.

Curran is dean emeritus and professor of epidemiology and global health at Emory’s Rollins School of Public Health.

VICTOR SIDEL AND BARRY LEVY AWARD FOR PEACE
Theodore Tulchinsky, MD, MPH, is the recipient of the 2026 Victor Sidel and Barry Levy Award for Peace for promoting health diplomacy to prevent the spread of infectious disease, reduce food insecurity and strengthen the global public health workforce.

The award is given to an individual whose accomplishments focus on promoting global peace and preventing war. It is endowed by two APHA past presidents, Victor W. Sidel, MD, and Barry S. Levy, MD, MPH, known for their research on the devastating public health consequences of war.

Tulchinsky is known for his work bridging divides between Israeli and Palestinian public health authorities, researchers and students, which includes training Gazan healthcare professionals in Israeli hospitals. The result has been successful vaccination campaigns to eradicate measles and polio in Gaza, improved maternal and child health outcomes and expanded access to nutritious food. His work with Israelis and Palestinians is credited for being instrumental in forming the World Health Organization’s Global Health and Peace Initiative.

A professor emeritus at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Tulchinsky is known for making education in health professions more accessible to students from all over the world. His work in establishing public health programs in former Soviet states and his founding of Israel’s first bachelor of public health program at Ashkelon Academic College helped boost academic opportunity for people living in underserved regions. His passion for health equity and justice lives on in students he’s taught and mentored who represent many countries across the Americas, Asia and Africa.

MARTHA MAY ELIOT AWARD 
Arden Handler, DrPH, MPH, will receive the 2026 Martha May Eliot Award for her commitment to health equity through advocacy, research and training the next wave of maternal and child health professionals.  

The Martha May Eliot Award recognizes excellence in maternal and child health and achievements that raise the field’s profile. The award honors the late Dr. Eliot, a former APHA president, a Maternal and Child Health Section leader, and chief of the Children’s Bureau of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. 

Handler’s early work to improve maternal and child health outcomes in Indiana and Illinois included promoting high-quality maternal health care. Handler was one of the founders of the Illinois Maternal and Child Health Coalition, now known as EverThrive Illinois, and spent over two decades as a board member. She was instrumental in fighting for expanded Medicaid coverage for pregnant women and coverage extensions for postpartum women from 2 months to one year.  

Handler has also shared her expertise beyond the University of Illinois, serving as a policy subcommittee co-chair and later president of the Association of Teachers of Maternal and Child Health. 

Handler has also been a leader in the maternal and child health epidemiology field and is part of an effort to preserve the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Pregnancy Risk Assessment and Monitoring System, which was shut down as a result of sweeping CDC staff cuts in 2025.

MILTON AND RUTH ROEMER PRIZE FOR CREATIVE LOCAL PUBLIC HEALTH WORK
Iulia Vann, MD, MPH, received the 2026 Milton and Ruth Roemer Prize for Creative Local Public Health Work for her collaborative approach to public health services that embraces policy, community input and workforce development.

APHA members Milton Roemer, MD, and Ruth Roemer, JD, endowed the prize to recognize innovative public health work.

As public health director for the Allegheny County Health Department in Pittsburgh, Vann has expanded relationships with community groups, health professionals and academia. Since Vann became director in 2024, the department has built trusted relationships with environmental health advocates by attending community meetings, translating and delivering air quality data for the public, and creating an environmental justice index that shows the communities at  greatest risk of exposure to high levels of air pollution. 

Under her leadership, the department partnered with the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health in an academic health department model that strengthens the public health workforce pipeline while using the university’s resources and personnel to meet the community’s public health needs.

She is also credited with updating regulations surrounding areas such as housing, plumbing and safe water standards to reflect best practices that protect public health. In addition, Vann created the Allegheny County Board of Health’s first-ever onboarding materials that educate future board members about public health frameworks and how the public health authority functions.

SOMMER KLAG ADVOCACY ACHIEVEMENT AWARD 
Lilia Cervantes, MD, MSCS, is the winner of the 2026 Sommer Klag Advocacy Achievement Award for her work in securing kidney-related healthcare for undocumented people in Colorado and beyond. 

A partnership of APHA and the Lerner Center, the award goes to a person who understands the importance of advocacy in academic public health training.

Cervantes’ advocacy work highlighted the real-life health consequences of emergency-only hemodialysis for undocumented immigrants with kidney failure who were ineligible for a Medicare benefit to cover regular hemodialysis. With patients having to wait until their health became critical to get treated, Cervantes began a research project that ultimately served as evidence for a February 2019 revision to Colorado’s emergency Medicaid policy to cover standard hemodialysis treatments for undocumented residents. Alongside her research, she formed a coalition of community organizations, physicians, patients and caregivers who championed policy change through meetings with state Medicaid officials, the governor’s office and local media. 

After follow-up research showed benefits, including savings of $15,000 per patient, Cervantes advocated for widespread change. She shared her findings and advocacy strategies with physicians in other states seeking similar policy reforms, resulting in six more states expanding access to regular hemodialysis.  

Cervantes’ advocacy for kidney healthcare has been used as a blueprint to fight for other forms of medical care for marginalized groups. Statewide, her advocacy has helped expand Medicaid for undocumented children and postpartum people as well as emergency Medicaid coverage for family planning.

Cervantes is the director of immigrant health and associate professor in the University of Colorado Anschutz’s Department of Medicine.

LYNDON HAVILAND PUBLIC HEALTH MENTORING AWARD 
Gregory Homish, PhD, is the winner of the 2026 Lyndon Haviland Public Health Mentoring Award for guiding the career paths of future public health leaders and creating grant-funded training opportunities to prepare students and early career professionals for the workforce.

The award is given to accomplished professionals who are dedicated to mentoring the future public health workforce by helping students and early career professionals with resume-building work such as research and professional development.

Homish has made an impact on over 150 students, fellows and faculty members as professor and chair of the Department of Community Health and Health Behavior at the University at Buffalo’s School of Public Health and Health Professions. He was the principal investigator on a $1.3 million Health Resources and Services Administration grant that Homish used to fund a scholarship program for underserved and diverse students to pursue a public health education that prioritizes reducing health disparities. 

From chairing dissertation committees to co-authoring research papers, Homish has helped early career professionals reach professional milestones, such as finding faculty positions, applying for fellowships and getting published in peer-reviewed academic journals. 

APHA DISTINGUISHED PUBLIC HEALTH LEGISLATOR OF THE YEAR AWARD
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., will receive the 2026 APHA Distinguished Public Health Legislator of the Year Award for revealing recent Trump administration efforts to undermine preventive public health measures. Sanders exposed emails that showed Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s plans to replace officials in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices with anti-vaccine members, as well as goals to eliminate influenza vaccine campaigns and falsely link vaccines to autism. A ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Sanders has long been a proponent of public health, serving on committees with jurisdiction over veteran’s healthcare, climate policy and safety net programs  such as Social Security and Medicaid.

GIORGIO A. PICCAGLI LEADERSHIP AWARD
Ira Memaj, MPH, an adjunct professor at the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, will receive the 2026 Giorgio A. Piccagli Leadership Award for her advocacy and work in public health innovation, coalition building and research to promote health equity. As an early-career professional, she created programs that promote preventive healthcare and provide educational opportunities for incarcerated people and underserved children and families in her hometown of Detroit, and she continues to guide students as a as a professor at CUNY, where she teaches public health communications, health policy and management. She recently completed a doctoral fellowship through APHA’s Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs Section, where she informed Section members about key legislative issues, planned policy meetings and fostered connections between the Section and APHA Affiliates.