APHA announces 2025 awards for excellence in public health

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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Every year, the American Public Health Association honors excellence in public health leadership and innovation, from state and local health officials to those speaking up for public health from the halls of Congress.

This year’s awards will be presented Monday, Nov. 3 at 12:30 p.m. during APHA’s 2025 Annual Meeting and Expo, which officially kicks off Nov. 2.

"We celebrate the accomplishments and commitment of these outstanding public health leaders," said Georges Benjamin, MD, executive director of APHA. "Their contributions have helped strengthen the field and provide inspiration as we tackle the serious challenges facing public health today."

This year’s honorees include:

Amelie G. Ramirez, MPH, DrPH, the distinguished professor and chair, Department of Population Health Sciences and Director for Health Promotion Research, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, will receive APHA’s 2025 Sedgwick Memorial Medal for Distinguished Service in Public Health for her work in public health, which spans more than 30 years, and is a powerful testament to the legacy of the late Dr. Sedgwick. As an internationally recognized researcher and the founding director of the Institute for Health Promotion Research at University of Texas Health San Antonio, Ramirez’s career has been dedicated to reducing health disparities, particularly within the Latino community. She has developed and led over 100 interventional studies and communication projects that have improved cancer screening rates, increased clinical trial participation and implemented patient navigation programs. Beyond groundbreaking research, she is deeply committed to mentorship and capacity building. She has personally trained over 300 Latino students and early-career researchers and led the NCI-funded Éxito! program, which has helped more than 200 master's-level Latino students pursue doctoral education and careers in cancer research. Her unwavering commitment to improving health equity and building the next generation of public health leaders makes her a truly deserving recipient of the Sedgwick Memorial Medal for Distinguished Service in Public Health.

Alister Martin, MD, MPP, founder and CEO, A Heathier Democracy, will receive the 2025 APHA Award for Excellence for exceptionally meritorious contributions to improving public health through creative and innovative work. As an emergency physician, he has witnessed firsthand how health outcomes are inextricably linked to civic engagement and social determinants. To address this, he founded A Healthier Democracy, a nonprofit that leverages health care settings to build programs serving vulnerable populations. In a year where the pillars of democracy are being challenged, it is profoundly fitting to honor him for groundbreaking work in bridging the gap between health care and civic participation. 

His signature initiative, Vot-ER, has organized over 50,000 health care providers to help patients register to vote directly from clinics and hospital beds. This innovative organizational work applies scientific knowledge to the betterment of community health by empowering patients to elect leaders who will prioritize health-conscious policies. Martin also co-founded GOTVax to apply a "get out the vote" framework to vaccine delivery, ensuring equitable access for marginalized communities during the pandemic. His efforts exemplify the very purpose of the APHA Award for Excellence, which recognizes creative, effective work in improving the health of the public. 

Ami Zota, ScD, MS, associate professor, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, will receive the 2025 David P. Rall Award for Advocacy in Public Health. By sharing her expertise with advocacy groups, legislators and the media, she has helped shape some of the most stringent cosmetic safety regulations in the U.S. These policies, which ban harmful substances such as PFAS, phthalates and lead from personal care products, directly reflect her efforts to translate scientific findings into tangible public health protections, making her a truly deserving recipient of this international award.

Danny Scalise, MBA, MPH, CPH, FACHE, FRSPH, the public health director, Burke County Public Health in Lenior, North Carolina will receive the 2025 Milton and Ruth Roemer Prize for Creative Local Public Health Work for his visionary leadership and commitment to public health in multiple domains, particularly his street medicine initiative and NCCARE 360 for harm reduction, and collaborating with community partners to address the social needs of hard-to-reach populations. His academic health department is expanding the physician workforce practicing with a public health lens, the kind of skilled practitioners our society needs. He personifies the criteria of the Roemer prize – leadership, creativity, replicable programs and mobilizing popular support for innovative work.

Carol Sakala, PhD, MSPH, maternal health consultant at the National Partnership for Women & Family, will receive the 2025 Martha May Eliot Award for decades of service furthering the health of women in the U.S. and abroad. The systematic development of an evidence base that supports a patient-centered approach to perinatal care makes her a most deserving candidate. We are grateful that, as a “researcher, advocate, and communicator, [she] has been persistent in building the case for more respectful and comprehensive care for women throughout the lifespan as the best way to improve perinatal outcomes.” For more than 11 years, she developed and led the maternal health portfolio at the National Partnership for Women & Families. Over the summer, she transitioned to working full time with the National Partnership on special projects, primarily the ambitious fourth national Listening to Mothers survey, with elevated significance in the present environment of suppression of maternal health data and of illuminating inequity.

Y. Tony Yang, ScD, LLM MPH, endowed professor of health policy at The George Washington University, will receive the 2025 Helen Rodriguez-Trias Social Justice Award for his impactful work, which exemplifies the spirit of this award. Yang’s leadership of a $2 million CDC-funded initiative to expand COVID-19 vaccine access for hard-to-reach populations in Washington, D.C. — including newly-arrived immigrants, undocumented residents and unhoused individuals — demonstrates a deep commitment to equity in public health. Additionally, his direction of a $1.5 million federal grant to address hepatitis B among racial and ethnic minorities has significantly expanded access to testing, vaccination and care for those often overlooked by traditional health care systems.

His "It’s a Dad Thing" project further illustrates his innovative approach, challenging norms by elevating the critical, yet underacknowledged, role of fathers in addressing maternal mortality disparities among Black families. Through his efforts at the intersection of law and public health, he continues the legacy of Dr. Rodriguez-Trías, using social justice as a tool for meaningful, lasting change.

Natalia M. Rodriguez, PhD, MPH, associate professor, Purdue University, will receive the 2025 Ayman El-Mohandes Young Professional Public Health Innovation Award for making transformative strides in human-centered approaches to health technology design. Her work exemplifies true interdisciplinarity, combining biomedical engineering and public health to advance both fields.

Her career has focused on addressing breast and cervical cancer disparities among medically underserved Hispanic immigrant communities, and she has emerged as a thought leader in applying innovative processes to solve complex public health challenges. Her contributions include implementing SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen testing in a homeless shelter, as well as securing a prestigious NIH grant to address cervical cancer disparities in the same population through HPV self-sampling and rapid testing.

As an expert translational scientist, she has successfully engaged with “hard-to-reach” populations, including people living with HIV and those experiencing homelessness. Her research and projects model a deep commitment to systems-level change, ensuring that health technologies are designed with genuine consideration for the social and cultural contexts of the communities most in need.

For these reasons, she is a truly deserving recipient of the Ayman El-Mohandes Young Professional Public Health Innovation Award.

Apryl Alexander, PsyD, the Metrolina Medical Foundation distinguished professor of health and policy, University of North Carolina Charlotte, will receive the 2025 Sommer Klag Advocacy Achievement Award for her advocacy on behalf of at-promise and systems-involved youth. They commend her leadership in advancing juvenile justice reform and her ability to build strong collaborations with community partners to promote legislative changes that improve the lives of young people. She has consistently demonstrated a deep commitment to applying scientific and public health principles to influence policy and drive community-level advocacy.

Her submission for this award highlighted the power of advocacy, evidence and community partnership to advance public health. Her work reflects the many dimensions of advocacy — research translation, teaching, policy engagement through local and state legislative activities, community mobilization and extensive media advocacy — all of which exemplify the spirit and purpose of the Sommer Klag Advocacy Achievement Award.

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The American Public Health Association champions optimal, equitable health and well-being for all. With our broad-based member community and 150-year perspective, we influence federal policy to improve the public’s health. Learn more at www.apha.org.