Awards

AAHPM Lifetime Achievement Award

Recognizes outstanding contributions and significant publications that have helped shape the direction of the field of hospice and palliative medicine. View past winners by clicking Read More.

2018

Timothy E. Quill, MD FACP FAAHPM is the Georgia and Thomas Gosnell Distinguished Professor of Palliative Care and Professor of Medicine, Psychiatry, Medical Humanities and Nursing at the University of Rochester, School of Medicine (URMC) and served as president of AAHPM in 2012. The founding director of URMC Palliative Care Program for more than 15 years, he is now the acting director of the URMC Paul M. Schyne Center for Bioethics.

AAHPM Gerald H. Holman Distinguished Service Award

Recognizes outstanding and dedicated service to the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. The award will be presented to an individual (or group) that has advanced the mission of the AAHPM in a significant and lasting way.

2018

Phillip E. Rodgers, MD FAAHPM is an associate professor of Family Medicine and Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan where he practices and teaches full-spectrum family medicine and subspecialty palliative medicine and directs the Adult Palliative Care Clinical Program. He has been an AAHPM member since 2001 and achieved status as a Fellow of the Academy in 2009. 

The AAHPM Josefina B. Magno Distinguished Hospice Physician Award

Recognizes a hospice medical director or hospice physician who provides the highest quality services and innovative programs and who demonstrates exemplary dedication to the practice of palliative medicine in a hospice setting.

2018

Joel S. Policzer, MD FACP FAAHPM is the senior vice president of Medical Affairs at VITAS Healthcare; previously, he was the senior vice president and national medical director. He serves as the medical director for the hospice inpatient unit at Florida Medical Center and Sunrise Health and Rehabilitation Center, and as an assistant adjunct professor at the Florida Atlantic University Schmidt College of Medicine and the Florida International University Wertheim College of Medicine. 

AAHPM Humanities Award

Recognizes person(s) whose work has advanced the relationship between humanities and palliative care, and who have employed the discipline of the humanities to improve end-of-life care through community or professional education. Candidates for the award include poets, artists, musicians, medical educators and others involved in medical humanities in the broadest terms.

2018

Frank Ostaseski is the founder and director of the Metta Institute in Sausalito, CA. He established the institute in 2004 to provide education on spirituality in dying. The faculty is among the leading voices in re-visioning end-of-life care in America. One of their programs is the End of Life Care Practitioner Program which is one of the most comprehensive professional training programs in the country.  Ostaseski was a cofounder and director of the Zen Hospice Project in San Francisco, CA, which created the first Buddhist hospice in America. This nationally recognized hospice program is a fusion of spiritual insight and practical social action.

Award for Excellence in Scientific Research in Palliative Care

Recognizes meaningful, exemplary research contributions to the field of hospice and palliative care. The recipient is expected to present his/her research within the broad context of the field of hospice and palliative care.

2018

Holly Prigerson, PhD is the Irving Sherwood Wright Chair in Geriatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine where she has tenure. She is also affiliated with New York – Presbyterian Hospital of Columbia and Cornell, where she works on many mentored awards at this time. Prigerson’s research has concentrated on 2 main topics: 1)  cancer related end-of-life decision making and care and 2) bereaved caregivers’ adjustment to a loved one’s death. She’s published nearly 250 original research publications and has been cited over 27,000 times.

AAHPM Project on Death in America (PDIA) Palliative Medicine National Leadership Award

Recognizes a physician leader who has advanced the field of palliative care by the education of the next generation of palliative care leaders. The award program promotes the visibility and prestige of physicians in both academic and clinical settings who are committed to mentoring future leaders and serving as role models for other health professionals engaged in improving the care of the dying.

2018

Eduardo Bruera, MD FAAHPM is the chair, of the Department of Palliative Care and Rehabilitation Medicine and the F.T. McGraw Chair in the Treatment of Cancer at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. He is also a professor at UT Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston among many other appointments and affiliations.

AAHPM Project on Death in America (PDIA) Palliative Medicine Community Leadership Award

Recognizes a physician leader who has advanced the field of palliative care in their communities through distinctive mentorship and leadership. This award recognizes physicians in both academic and clinical settings who are committed to mentoring future leaders and serving as role models for other health professionals engaged in improving the care of the dying.

2018

Alexander R. Nesbitt, MD is the medical director of University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Susquehanna Supportive and Palliative Care. He is also the director and coordinator of the Lycoming County Physicians Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment (POLST) Initiative. He set the standard for all POLST facilitators in the region to attend a four hour in-service training sessions which he developed.

AAHPM Presidential Citation(s)

These award(s) acknowledge individuals who have made significant contributions to the field of hospice and palliative medicine but do not qualify for consideration in other award categories. Recommendations would be made by the President, Board members or leadership, and approved by the Board of Directors or Executive Committee. This recognition would not have to be given each year – only when suitable and exceptional candidates are identified and selected. It would also be limited to a maximum of three recipients (individuals or organizations) in a given year.

2018

Patrick H. Conway, MD MSc; Jeri L. Miller, PhD; and Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation

AAHPM Early Career Investigator Award

Recognizes a member of AAHPM who is developing as a research leader, showing promise of making contributions to the development of a scientific foundation for practice and research, conducting or facilitating research by others that advances the field of hospice and palliative medicine, has a beginning record of scientific publications, and contributes to the AAHPM community at large. The nominees for this award will not yet have achieved independence as an investigator (ie having R01 level funding, or its equivalent). This award was presented for the first time at the 2014 annual assembly.

2018

Abby Rosenberg, MD MS is an assistant professor, Pediatrics and Associate Program Director, Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Fellowship at the University of Washington. She is an attending at Seattle Children’s Hospital and is part of the core faculty in pediatrics at Truman Katz Center for Pediatric Bioethics. She has published more than 50 articles in referred journals and written two book chapters. She is also a member of the AAHPM PC-FACS editorial board. Dr. Rosenberg has been invited to speak both nationally and internationally.

2018: Abby Rosenberg, MD MS
2017: Arif Kamal, MD MBA MHS FACP FAAHPM
2016: Yael Schenker, MD

AAHPM Paper Awards

These awards recognize the top 5% of papers, as determined by the Scientific Subcommittee during the abstract review and scoring process.

AAHPM Scientific and Quality Improvement Poster Awards

These awards recognize the best poster in each research topic category and best quality improvement project poster.

AAHPM Case Poster Awards

These awards recognize the best poster submitted by a professional and a professional in training.