The Duke University School of Medicine’s faculty, staff, trainees, and students celebrated the year’s achievements in diversity and inclusion and honored exceptional achievements in the field with the Michelle P. Winn Award on Friday, June 15.
Chief Diversity Officer Judy Seidenstein opened the lunch by praising the courage, persistence, and bravery of the Winn Award winners. “Their willingness to take a stand for fairness, peace, justice, and connection--even when it’s hard, even when it’s unpopular, inconvenient, and they’re standing alone--is a testament to their commitment to inclusive excellence,” Seidenstein said. “We need these special types of change agents, now more than ever.”
The Duke University School of Medicine includes more than 5,500 staff members, 2,200 faculty members, 1,500 students and 1,000 residents and fellows. From this diverse pool, six individuals were chosen to receive the 2018 Winn Awards.
This year’s faculty recipient of the Winn award was Nadine Barrett, PhD, MA, Director of the Office of Health Equity and Disparities at the Duke Cancer Institute, Assistant Professor in the Department of Community and Family Medicine, and Director of the Duke Community Engagement Core within the Center for Community and Population Health Improvement. Barrett has worked across the School of Medicine and Duke Health System to improve access and quality of healthcare for underserved communities, from local Muslim populations, to African-American, Latin-x, and Chinese populations in the Triangle, and to increase training on diversity and inclusion for faculty, staff, and trainees.
Melissa Segal, LCSW, received the staff Winn Award. As Senior Business Manager within the Department of Neurobiology, Segal established a Diversity and Inclusion Committee within the Department, updated the Neurobiology diversity strategic plan, and implemented implicit bias training within the Department, all while managing the Department’s daily operations, finances, and human resources.
Charlotte Gamble, MD, MPH, and Gabriela Nagy, PhD, won the 2018 Winn Award for residents and fellows, respectively. Gamble, a fourth-year graduating resident within the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, has won numerous awards for teaching medical students and her advocacy work; she also co-founded the Coalition of Black Physicians, which builds community among African American residents at Duke.
Nagy, a Clinical Associate Fellow within the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, has been actively involved in diversity and inclusion efforts since coming to Duke. Her work includes designing and teaching a seminar on multicultural considerations in clinical care, working to improve access to mental health-care for Latin-x immigrants, and taking on active roles within the School’s Inclusion Council, LGBTQ+ Community Advisory Board, and other committees.
Joshua Davidoff, MHS, and Krystina Quow, MD were this year’s student recipients of the Winn Award. Davidoff, MHS, is member of the Duke Physician Assistant Program’s class of 2018, and the first physician assistant student to receive the Winn Award. His work ranges from organizing discussions on disability access and transgender health care, to improving health care access to new refugees. Quow, MD, a 2018 graduate of the Duke University School of Medicine, who in her four years at Duke led the Student National Medical Association, was a student facilitator of several courses and learning groups, a regular outreach volunteer, and a champion for women and minorities in medicine.
The Michelle P. Winn Inclusive Excellence Award recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to inclusion and diversity within the Duke School of Medicine. The award is named for Michelle P. Winn, MD, an associate professor of Nephrology within the Department of Medicine, a visionary and driving force within the field of Nephrology, a researcher, tireless mentor, a champion for diversity and inclusion, and a role model for women and underrepresented minorities. Winn passed away after a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer in 2014.
Other individuals nominated for the award this year include Raymond Allen (Duke Biology), Crystal Cates, MS, CCRP (Department of Pathology), Oluwadamilola Fayanju, MD (Department of Surgery), Joseph Jackson, MD, (Department of Pediatrics), Viviana Martinez-Bianchi, MD (Department of Community and Family Medicine), and Regina Streaty, MA (Duke Clinical Research Institute).