AIMBE Professional Impact Award

AIMBE will present up to one award for each Professional Impact Award category annually at the AIMBE Annual Event, recognizing Fellows that have significantly contributed to improving the professional environment of the medical and biological engineering fields. Nominations for the Professional Impact Awards will be solicited by AIMBE in the following categories:

Mentoring: including supporting the growth and development of students, post-docs, and early career faculty; motivating and empowering mentees to pursue and achieve their goals, and helping mentees build a network of professional relationships to strengthen their careers.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: including contributing to the advancement of underrepresented minorities in medical and biological engineering, diversifying the biomedical sciences and biomedical engineering workforce, advancing equity and inclusion among students or work colleagues, providing underrepresented students with early exposure to the profession recruiting, retaining and promoting diverse talent; and improving the culture of inclusion.

Leadership: including serving on committees, boards of directors, or other governance positions; participating on peer review panels, advisory commissions, or study groups.

Education: including advancing new teaching methods, curriculum, or training techniques; contributing to changes and improvements on campus, academic life, and/or relationships of students and faculty; promoting and/or advancing STEM.

Nomination Procedures

Both nominators and nominees must be AIMBE Fellows and in good standing with the organization. Nominators shall provide the name, contact details, maximum 30-word citation, and 500-word description of the candidate’s contributions meriting the award, as well as a letter of support. Citations, as well as the 500-word statement, must specially address accomplishments pertinent ONLY to the impact of the award for which the candidate is nominated. Nominations should provide specific metrics to support the candidate’s impact (personal anecdotes will not be considered). The letter of support must be from an individual with direct knowledge of the impact for which the candidate is nominated. Nominators should also submit a CV (5 pages max) that highlights the nominee’s accomplishments that are relevant to the award category.

Professional Impact Award nominations are sought in these categories: Mentoring, Advancing Diversity, Education, and Leadership. Nominees will be considered on the basis of their impact to the field in these areas, engagement with AIMBE and professional societies, strength of endorsement from recommendation letters, and efforts to diversify/expand the field.

Individual recipients receiving an award will be recognized at the Awards Banquet during AIMBE’s Annual Meeting and must be present to accept their award.

2022 PROFESSIONAL IMPACT AWARD – LEADERSHIP

James M. Anderson, MD, Ph.D.

Distinguished University Professor, Department of Pathology, School of Medicine
Member, Developmental Therapeutics Program, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center
Case Western Reserve University

For outstanding leadership through activities involving impactful research, journal editorship, professional society governance and guidance, and regulatory standards development.

2022 PROFESSIONAL IMPACT AWARD – DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION

Lola Eniola-Adefeso, Ph.D.

University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor of Chemical Engineering, Miller Faculty Scholar, and Associate Dean for Graduate & Professional Education
University of Michigan Ann Arbor

For innovative and bold leadership toward addressing diversity and inclusion in the field of biomedical engineering.

2022 PROFESSIONAL IMPACT AWARD – MENTORING

Michele Marcolongo, Ph.D., P.E.

Drosdick Endowed Dean, College of Engineering
Villanova University

For her national leadership in mentoring faculty in professional development, entrepreneurship, and promotion preparation.

2022 PROFESSIONAL IMPACT AWARD – EDUCATION

Ann Saterbak, Ph.D.

Professor of the Practice in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Director of First-Year Engineering
Duke University

For outstanding contributions to biomedical engineering teaching, and national leadership and service to the biomedical engineering education community.

2021 Professional Impact Award – Education

Rashid Bashir, Ph.D.

Executive Associate Dean and Chief Diversity Officer, Carle Illinois College of Medicine
Grainger Distinguished Chair in Engineering
College of Engineering Dean, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

For leadership in bioengineering education, diagnostic technology development, and a new engineering-based medical school curriculum.

2021 Professional Impact Award – Mentoring

Naomi C. Chesler, Ph.D.

Director, Edwards Lifesciences Center for Advanced Cardiovascular Technology, and Professor, University of California, Irvine

For her national leadership in mentoring of women faculty in engineering.

2021 Professional Impact Award – Leadership

Cato T. Laurencin, MD, Ph.D.

University Professor, and Albert & Wilda Van Dusen Distinguished Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Connecticut Health Center

For his leadership in regenerative engineering and medicine through the dissemination of science, advocacy for diversity and inclusion, and contributions to numerous professional organizations worldwide.

2021 Professional Impact Award – Diversity

Manu O. Platt, Ph.D.

Diversity Director, STC on Emergent Behaviors of Integrated Cellular Systems (EBICS)
GRA Distinguished Scholar
Associate Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University

For visionary leadership and an established track record of improving diversity and inclusion in BME and changing the culture for historically under-represented students and faculty across the nation.

2020 Professional Impact Award – Leadership

Walt Baxter, Ph.D.

Senior Principal Scientist and Bakken Fellow
Medtronic Neuromodulation

For his outstanding track record of leadership initiatives that advance corporate scientific interests and simultaneously strengthen the biomedical ecosystem, writ large, on behalf of patients.

2020 Professional Impact Award – Advocacy

Sam Sanjiv Gambhir, M.D., Ph.D.

Chair of Radiology, Stanford University

For his advocacy for science and engineering, radiology, and leadership in promoting innovation in health care technology and infrastructure for the benefit of all patients.

2020 Professional Impact Award – Education

Ajit P. Yoganathan, Ph.D.

Associate Chair of Health Sciences and Technology, Georgia Institute of Technology

For education in development of biomedical engineering graduate and translational educational programs, clinical education techniques and standards development.