2022 Alumni Award Winners

Luana Silva Rodrigues de Araujo, MPH ’20

Infectious Disease Specialist; Public Health Communicator

Global Achievement Award

Luana Araujo, MD, MPH ’20, MBA, is an infectious disease specialist who is saving and improving lives across the globe.

Araujo continuously defends science in the face of misinformation. She has been an outspoken voice of truth in her home country of Brazil, where she regularly appears on local and national news outlets to share impartial, informed updates on COVID-19, vaccines, and public health measures to combat misinformation and confusion.

She testified in June 2021 to Brazil’s Parliamentary Inquiry Committee, opposing the government’s interest in pursuing natural herd immunity and relying on untested and unapproved drugs and early COVID-19 treatments. Her impassioned testimony against the official government response led to death threats and the loss of her appointment as the National Secretary for the COVID-19 Response in the Ministry of Health.

Through her website, Des-Infectando!, Araujo empowers audiences with public health information, from the science behind mask wearing to how a vaccine is made. In addition to her involvement in Brazil’s COVID-19 response, she has also worked with governments worldwide to build and improve pandemic responses, including Cabo Verde, Guinea Bissau, and South Korea.

Whether acting as a physician, consultant, advocate, or policymaker, she demonstrates her commitment to truth while seeking to protect the health of people around the world.

Diane Becker, ScD '84, MPH '79, SON BS '78

Posthumous

Heritage Award

Diane Becker, ScD '84, MPH '79, SON BS '78 was an expert in the prevention and management of coronary disease who passed away in November 2021. She joined the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine faculty in 1984 and was the first nurse to receive a primary academic appointment in the School of Medicine. She also held a joint appointment in the Bloomberg School Department of Health Policy and Management.

Her doctoral thesis at the Bloomberg School on the cardiovascular risk in siblings of adults with premature coronary artery disease grew into a landmark NIH-funded cohort study. With her colleague and husband, Lewis Becker, she founded the Johns Hopkins Sibling and Family Heart Study. Becker’s foresight to collect DNA on all subjects led to the discovery of novel genetic variants associated with platelet function and early onset coronary artery disease. Today, the Sibling Study continues to produce new knowledge regarding biological, genetic, behavioral, and socio-cultural risk factors for cardiovascular disease, as well as effective interventions to lower overall cardiovascular risk profiles in the families of individuals with genetic markers for the disease.

Becker was a dedicated partner and advocate to the communities. She partnered with clergy in East Baltimore on multiple award-winning projects and organizations that deliver community-based health care and support those entering health careers. Her work to reduce health disparities was recognized with numerous awards and prestigious fellowships.

A passionate supporter of the Hopkins School of Nursing, Becker worked classmates to raise more than $500,000 to fund the Class of 1964 Terrace. Becker leaves a great legacy as a role model to all the alumni and students she touched throughout the years.

William C. Clarke, III, Health Advisory Board member

Founder and President, Osprey Foundation

Heritage Award

William (Bill) C. Clarke, III has devoted a tremendous amount of time, energy, and resources to the success of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He is a passionate advocate for public health, focusing on clean water, improved sanitation, clean cookstoves and interfaith thinking around the world.

Through visionary philanthropy, Bill has provided resources that allow the Bloomberg School to conduct research that creates sustainable, scalable solutions for domestic, agricultural, and industrial water challenges. Bill is one of the School’s most generous non-alumni donors; he established the Abel Wolman Professorship in Water and Public Health in partnership with the State of Maryland in 2015.

Bill is a keen listener who is open to hearing the most critical needs of organizations in which he invests. For example, the leadership of the Bloomberg School transformed its PhD funding model and expressed urgent needs for additional philanthropic support. Bill responded with a commitment that enables us to attract and fund new scholars focused on health equity and social justice across all the School’s departments.

Bill has served on the Bloomberg School’s Health Advisory Board since 2013. In this role, he repeatedly provides insightful and wise counsel, often nudging the Dean, Board and the School to address challenges in innovative ways. 

Bill has an intense personal dedication to creating equity and promoting wellbeing in Baltimore and around the world. It is this dedication that has motivated his exceptional commitment to the University and its mission.

Debra Furr-Holden, PhD ’99, KSAS BA ‘96

Dean of the School of Global Public Health, New York University

Distinguished Alumnus/a Award

Debra Furr-Holden, PhD ’99, KSAS BA ’96, is an advocate, epidemiologist, and public health professional who works with local and national policymakers to improve data-driven decision-making across a broad range of health topics and to mandate equity in all policies.

With the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, Furr-Holden was appointed to multiple government task forces, where she is a voice for public health and health equity. Furr-Holden has worked tirelessly with the state of Michigan and the city of Flint to address public health needs during the pandemic and beyond. Her work has resulted in the elimination of the racial disparity in COVID-19 cases and deaths among the African American population in Flint.

Furr-Holden is an outspoken advocate for health equity, lending her voice across media and academic outlets. She works in collaboration with communities to deploy her expertise in health disparities and health equity, drug and alcohol dependence epidemiology, psychiatric epidemiology, and prevention science.

Furr-Holden was recently named Dean of School of Global Public Health at New York University. Previously, she held multiple positions at the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine. Her research and advocacy in service of health equity have saved lives and improved public health in communities across the country.

Darrell J. Gaskin, PhD ‘95

William C. and Nancy F. Richardson Professor, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; Director of the Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Distinguished Alumnus/a Award

Darrell Gaskin, PhD ’95, is an internationally recognized leader in the fields of health policy, healthcare disparities, health services research, and health economics. Through his research and professional contributions, Gaskin is advancing community, neighborhood, and market-level policies and programs that are reducing health disparities.

A skilled cross-disciplinary researcher, Gaskin directs the Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions, which brings together the health research and program development resources of the Johns Hopkins Schools of Public Health, Medicine, and Nursing to demonstrate the efficacy of public health, social science, and medical science in mitigating health disparities. The Center’s work has a national focus alongside an emphasis on the local Baltimore community that is accomplished through both research and training. In addition to this directorship, Gaskin holds the William C. and Nancy F. Richardson Professorship in Health Policy at the Bloomberg School of Public Health and a joint appointment at the School of Medicine. His current research focuses on evaluating the impact of community-based interventions and public policies on disparities in health and healthcare.

In 2021, Gaskin’s outstanding professional achievements and commitment to service were recognized with his election to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM). Membership in the NAM is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine. Gaskin lends his expertise to multiple prestigious boards and committees including notable federal, foundation, and academic organizations.

Gaskin is an esteemed scholar who is committed to reducing health disparities and fighting for health equity, ensuring healthy outcomes for all.

Céline Gounder, ScM ‘00

Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine and Bellevue Hospital Center; Senior Fellow and Editor-at-Large for Public Health at the Kaiser Family Foundation and Kaiser Health News

Distinguished Alumnus/a Award

From individual patients to broad audiences, Céline Gounder, MD, ScM ‘00, shares her expertise in roles, including medical journalist, filmmaker, podcast host, epidemiologist, and practicing HIV/infectious diseases specialist and internist.

She works tirelessly to address public health issues as a medical journalist and thought leader. Gounder is best known for her coverage of the Ebola, Zika, COVID-19, opioid overdose, and gun violence epidemics. She is a frequent expert guest and writer for major news outlets and publications. 

Gounder’s work has long had a focus on the health of communities across the globe. She has spent years researching and responding to TB and HIV across multiple continents. Gounder spent two months volunteering as an Ebola aid worker in Guinea in 2015. While there, she also interviewed locals to understand how the crisis was affecting them, leading her to begin work on Dying to Talk, a feature-length documentary about the Ebola epidemic in Guinea.

No stranger to the needs of communities in her home country, Gounder has also served as Assistant Commissioner and Director of the Bureau of Tuberculosis Control at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. On November 9, 2020, she was named a member of the COVID-19 Advisory Board of then U.S. president-elect Joe Biden.

In recognition of Gounder’s commitments to the health of populations around the world 2017, People Magazine named her one of their “25 Women Changing the World”, and in 2021, InStyle Magazine named her one of their “50 Women Making the World a Better Place”.

Mónica Guerrero Vázquez, MPH ‘18

Executive Director of Centro SOL, the Johns Hopkins Center for Salud/Health and Opportunities for Latinos

Community Champion Award

Mónica Guerrero Vázquez, MPH ‘18 is a tireless advocate for the wellbeing of Baltimore’s Latino community who works to promote equity in both health and opportunities for her community. She is the Executive Director of Centro SOL, the Johns Hopkins Center for Salud/Health and Opportunities for Latinos, leading programs that serve families in Baltimore since its founding in 2014.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Guerrero Vázquez has led mental health initiatives and coronavirus education campaigns through Centro SOL for Baltimore’s Latino community. She is committed to the organization’s vision that all Latinos receive culturally appropriate healthcare that acknowledges the diversity of the community and respects the dignity of everyone.

Guerrero Vázquez's work draws on her own experiences as she helps others face pain and adversity. She brings a passion for human development that arose from her personal experience as an immigrant from Ecuador, and personally understands how trauma can inform healthcare outcomes. A member of Baltimore’s Trauma-Informed Care Task Force, she is working on a multi-year strategy to inform city policies and procedures to align with best practices of trauma-informed care. Guerrero Vázquez has also been serving as Commissioner for the Maryland Governor's Commission on Suicide Prevention for two years.

A compassionate and skilled advocate, Guerrero Vázquez is advancing partnerships and programs that serve and support the growing Baltimore’s Latino community.

Keana Kaleikini, MSPH ‘20

Senior Epidemiologist, Navajo Nation

Outstanding Recent Graduate Award

Keana Kaleikini, MSPH ’20 is Diné and grew up on the Navajo Nation. She began her time at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health as an undergraduate with the Diversity Summer Internship Program. That experience led to her pursuing and receiving her degree in the Department of Environmental Health & Engineering. She graduated amidst the pandemic and immediately applied her new knowledge and skills to support her community during this challenging time. She began her post-graduate public health career by serving as a county epidemiologist for part of the Navajo Nation and as an environmental scientist for the State of New Mexico. She now leads the state’s pandemic response program, leading scientists across the state protecting the health and safety of New Mexico.

Additionally, she has organized multiple mutual aid groups serving tribes across North America. She serves as Chairwoman and Associate Director of the non-profit, Collective Medicine, which started in 2020 in response to the emergency needs of Navajo and Hopi nations during the pandemic. Their main project, Water Warriors, focuses on water justice and access issues, delivering clean water to Native elders and rural families in need. They are planning to scale their operations to five hubs and 15 drivers across the Navajo Nation, which will serve thousands of residents a month.

Adam Milam, PhD '12, MHS '09, KSAS BA '08

Cardiothoracic Anesthesiologist, Mayo Clinic

Community Champion Award

Adam Milam, MD, PhD, graduated from the Krieger School of Arts & Science with a bachelor’s degree in public health studies. He received a Master of Health Science and PhD from the Department of Mental Health at the Bloomberg School of Public Health. While at the Bloomberg School, where he received a Master of Health Sciences and PhD from the Department of Mental Health, Milam served as an epidemiologist with the Baltimore City Health Department. He completed his residency in anesthesiology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, becoming the first Black chief resident in the program’s history. Following residency, he completed a cardiothoracic anesthesiology fellowship at Cleveland Clinic. He is currently an Cardiothoracic Anesthesiologist and Associate Professor of Anesthesiology at Mayo Clinic.

Throughout his young but impressive career, Milam’s work has focused on mentorship, community outreach, and boosting diversity in medicine. As chief resident, he and a colleague arranged for the hospital to provide financial support for underrepresented minority medical students doing short-term rotations in the department; the stipends helped to offset travel and housing costs in Los Angeles.

Milam also holds faculty appointments at BSPH and Arizona State University, where his research is rooted in practices, policies, and interventions to address health disparities and health inequities. Dr. Milam has published over 80 peer-reviewed publications and has more than 75 national and international presentations. His research has been featured in leading public health journals as well as Rolling Stone and US News & World Report. His work has been used to guide local and state legislation that promote health equity

Loyce LaShawndra Pace, MPH ‘05

Assistant Secretary for Global Affairs, Department of Health and Human Services

Public Service Award

As Assistant Secretary for Global Affairs in the Department of Health and Human Services, Pace is responsible for setting priorities and policies that promote American public health agencies and interests worldwide. She executes global health diplomacy with foreign governments, international institutions, and policymaking bodies including the G7, G20, United Nations General Assembly, and World Health Assembly. In her role, Pace also has testified before Congress, joined President Biden at the 2021 Global COVID-19 Summit, and represented the administration in the media to explain key global health strategies and challenges.

In November 2020, she was invited to be one of the initial 13 public health experts to serve on the Biden–Harris Transition COVID-19 Advisory Board. Pace approached that role with a commitment to prepare the administration to hit the ground running after inauguration.

At Global Health Council (GHC) as executive director and president, Pace drafted an open letter urging the Trump administration to reverse course when it first considered pulling U.S. funding for the WHO; the letter was signed by over 1,000 charities, medical experts, and health care companies. Also in this role, she advocated for increased federal investments in global health, in the face of budget cuts to the CDC, USAID, and the WHO. Pace has championed a wide range of issues over her career, including global health equity, universal health coverage, patient advocacy and survivorship, and the integration of health in other social or economic policies.

Nadine E. Rogers, PhD ‘02

Country Director, Peace Corps Guyana

Global Achievement Award

Nadine Rogers, PhD ’02, is a public servant and leader. Rogers has nearly 30 years of experience in management, policy and science administration, and education and communication across the private, public, and non-profit sectors. 

Before earning her degree from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Rogers spent ten years developing training curricula and distance learning programs for diverse organizations from corporations to the American Red Cross. Upon completion of her PhD in the Department of Health Policy and Management, Nadine launched a career in public service at the U.S. State Department in the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator.

She spent ten years at the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health where she administered multi-million-dollar research grant applications focused on HIV/AIDS prevention and services in populations at risk-for or addicted to drugs, both domestically and internationally. Also at NIH, Rogers served as project director for an initiative to explore the capacity for clinical sites worldwide to diagnose and treat depression in people living with HIV. In recognition of her capacity building efforts focused on mental health and substance abuse in Vietnam, the U.S. State Department’s Embassy in Vietnam honored her with a Franklin Award. 

Since February 2020, Rogers has been the Peace Corps Country Director in Georgetown, Guyana—the U.S. agency that focuses on spreading world peace and friendship through Volunteer service. She led her team to meet the moment of the COVID-19 pandemic by supporting the efforts of the Government of Guyana to get the population vaccinated; work that continues. She achieves success and fosters community by ensuring that Peace Corps follows the lead of the Guyanese people, providing reinforcement, expertise, creativity and a willingness to share.

Deanna Saylor, MD ‘11, MHS ’09

Associate Director, Neurological Consultation Service, Johns Hopkins Medicine; Assistant Professor of Neurology, Johns Hopkins Medicine

Global Achievement Award

Deanna Saylor is a neurologist, clinical researcher, and public servant with a special interest in the neurological complications of HIV infection. Her clinical interests also include other infectious and inflammatory diseases of the brain and spinal cord, including multiple sclerosis, transverse myelitis, and encephalitis. Throughout her time as a student, trainee, and now as faculty, she has dedicated herself to improving neurological health for under-resourced communities in sub-Saharan Africa. She has ongoing research collaborations in Uganda and Zambia and has previously lived and worked in Kenya. In 2018, she and her family relocated full-time to Zambia.

In a few short years since her move to Zambia, she has made a significant impact on clinical care, teaching and mentorship, program building, and activism. In 2018, she opened the first inpatient neurology service in Zambia, a nation with over 18 million people and a growing burden of neurological disease. This was followed by the initiation of the only adult and pediatric neurology postgraduate training programs in the country, which have served as a beacon of knowledge for trainees across the region. Her weekly educational sessions reach over 100 African providers benefitting countless patients. Saylor has tirelessly devoted herself to mentoring the first generation of Zambian neurologists, and they have already begun to establish themselves as future leaders of academic neurology in sub-Saharan Africa. Their work under her guidance has already led to demonstrable improvements in systems of neurological care for the Zambian population.