APHA honors the best and brightest of public health

U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams spoke at the APHA Public Health Awards Ceremony and Reception Tuesday night, declaring his commitment to evidence-based science and health equity and pledging to uphold APHA’s values. In his speech, Adams stressed that knowing about health is not enough to effect change; we must be able to break down silos to communicate public health messages to a wider audience. He urged public health practitioners to collaborate with non-traditional community partners such as law enforcement, faith groups and businesses to address public health concerns.

Above, from top to bottom: Surgeon General Adams keynotes APHA’s awards ceremony and reception; APHA Executive Director Georges Benjamin presents APHA’s Executive Director’s Citation to Ayman El-Mohandes, right, dean of the Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy at the City University of New York; APHA President Tom Quade, left, presents the Sedgwick Memorial Medal for Distinguished Service in Public Health to José Cordero, chair of the University of Georgia College of Public Health’s Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics; Beth Roemer, left, presents the Milton and Ruth Roemer Prize for Creative Local Public Health Work to Beverley Townsend, health commissioner for the Georgia Department of Public Health’s West Central Health District; and thanks to generous donations from Annual Meeting attendees, APHA presented Georgia nonprofit HealthMPowers with a donation of $10,000!

Read about all of last night’s award winners. All photos by Jim Ezell/courtesy EZ Event Photography.