Sponsored by Coalition for Excellence in MCH Epidemiology
 
Maternal and Child Health Epidemiology
The systematic collection, analysis and interpretation of population-based and program-specific health and related data in order to assess the distribution and determinants of the health status and needs of the maternal child population for the purpose of planning, implementing, and assessing effective, science-based strategies and promoting policy development.
Purpose of Awards
To recognize individuals, teams, institutions and leaders of institutions for making significant contributions to one or more aspects of this definition with the aim of improving the health of women, children and families by
  1. Advancing public health knowledge through epidemiology and applied research,
  2. Improving public health practice through effective use of data and epidemiology and training in the field, and
  3. Enhancing the political will to support practice and advance knowledge through effective use of data, epidemiology and applied research.
The Coalition for Excellence in MCH Epidemiology
No one organization represents MCH Epidemiology as a profession from both an academic and practice perspective. MCH Epidemiology, however, is a major contributor and participant in many health organizations and professional groups. To better recognize the field as a whole and to promote excellence in MCH Epidemiology, 16 national health organizations have formed the Coalition for Excellence in MCH Epidemiology to sponsor the National MCH Epidemiology Awards.
Award Categories and Levels
Nominations are being accepted for the following 2012 National MCH Epidemiology Awards for presentation at the Annual MCH EPI Conference. The Coalition offers awards in seven categories:
Manuscript That Advances the Field of Applied MCH Epidemiology Award

This award category is to recognize papers or manuscripts that have been accepted to peer-reviewed journals, based upon work that was presented at a past National Maternal and Child Health Epidemiology (MCH EPI) Conference, which have advanced the field of applied MCH Epidemiology.
There are 3 award categories:

  • National level analyses
  • State/Local level analyses
  • Early Career Professional

The awardee must meet the following criteria:

  • Had an abstract accepted for oral or poster presentation at the MCH EPI Conference in 2009, 2010, or 2011. To be considered for the Early Career Professional Award, the abstract must have been accepted while the nominee was a student, postgraduate fellow, student intern, or EIS officer.
  • Developed a peer-reviewed manuscript from that presentation. 
  • Had that manuscript accepted for publication by a peer-reviewed journal (MMWR articles are not considered peer-reviewed).

Only one article per first author should be submitted for consideration.

Nominees should complete the nomination form and send a copy of the manuscript to mchepireg@unmc.edu. Nominations will be accepted until June 15, 2012.

Nominations for this award will be accepted beginning Friday, April 27, 2012.

*Download Manuscript That Advances the Field of MCH Epidemiology Award Nomination Form here.

Greg Alexander Award for Advancing Knowledge—Advancing public health knowledge through epidemiology and applied research
The purpose of this award is to recognize individuals and organizational teams from a variety of disciplines who have made a substantial contribution to advancing the knowledge base aimed at improving the health of women, children and families. Because this is an MCH Epidemiology award, preference is given to those whose focus is applied or those whose focus has contributed to the advancement of applied work in one or more of the following ways: engagement in creating new data systems, development of new methods for measurement or analysis, generation of new information (based on data from a variety of sources whether it be surveillance systems, evaluation data or primary data collection methods), or development of new conceptual frameworks. It is expected that the new knowledge contributed by the awardee has led the MCH field to consider new approaches and or discover new findings related to an MCH problem. Evidence of whether an individual has advanced knowledge is best assessed through publications in the peer-reviewed literature but can also include technical reports, Institute of Medicine type syntheses, books, book chapters and/or creation of surveillance systems and learning tools that are widely disseminated. The criteria for this award include: 1) originality of scientific work, 2) contribution to the field, and 3) impact on the MCH population.
Effective Practice Award—Improving public health practice through effective use of data, epidemiology and applied research
This awards category recognizes individuals, organizational leaders, organizational units and institutions who make significant contributions to public health practice in MCH at the community, state, tribal or national levels through the effective use of data and epidemiology. The award can be given to the organization or individuals primarily responsible for the contribution. For organizations, the actual plaque will go to the individual(s) or leader(s) personally or most closely responsible for the work leading to the contribution. In any one year, these awards are given for the specific level of contribution--community, state, tribal and national. The criteria for this award include: 1) significance of work, 2) contribution to public health practice, and 3) level of impact on the intended population. This award is not necessarily based on publications, but is based on contributions that impact on the MCH population.
Excellence in Teaching and Mentoring Award—Improving MCH public health practice through excellence in teaching; training in the use of data, epidemiologic methods and applied research; and mentoring of students, trainees, fellows, and early career professionals
This award is given to an individual or organization with a strong history of excellence in teaching and training in MCH Epidemiology and/or an outstanding record of mentoring students, trainees, fellows, and early career professionals. The committee defines mentoring as a professional relationship in which an experienced person (the mentor) assists another (the mentoree) in developing specific skills and knowledge that will enhance the less-experienced person’s professional and personal growth.  The following are among a mentor’s functions:  1) teaches the mentoree about a specific issue; 2) coaches the mentoree on a particular skill; 3) facilitates the mentoree’s growth by sharing resources and networks; 4) challenges the mentoree to move beyond his or her comfort zone; 5) creates a safe learning environment for taking risks and 6) focuses on the mentoree’s total development.  Awardees will have developed and/or implemented training materials, courses, and/or programs within and/or outside academe to increase the capacity of MCH public health to turn data into information and action and/or served as a mentor for multiple students, trainees, fellows, and early career professionals who have emerged as beginning or established leaders in the field of MCH epidemiology, in practice and/or academe.

The purpose of the award is to recognize an individual/organization who is viewed as a teacher/training leader/mentor not only by their peers and former students and trainees but also by the larger MCH community. The criteria for this award includes: 1) an identifiable track record in developing/implementing MCH Epidemiology training and/or training products; or 2) a track record of excellence in mentoring in MCH Epidemiology; and, 3) contribution to the field of MCH public health practice.
Outstanding Leadership Award—Enhancing the political will to advance knowledge and to support public health practice through effective use of data, epidemiology and applied research
Improving the health of women, children and families takes more than quality science and public health practice. Political will is needed at all levels to take the needed steps to improve public health knowledge and practice. This awards category is to recognize leaders and organizational teams who serve at a local, state or national level and who have made significant contributions to the field by creating the political will to improve the health of women, children and families through epidemiology, applied research, and effective data use. The criteria for this award include: 1) demonstrated increase in political will including the provision of resources, 2) contribution to public health practice, and 3) impact on their MCH population.
Zena Stein and Mervyn Susser Award for Lifetime Achievement

The purpose of this award is to recognize an internationally or nationally known expert or team of experts who have contributed broadly and substantially to the advancement of the field of MCH epidemiology throughout their career, and whose work has significant and lasting impact. This award is considered to be a capstone award; hence its recipient(s) should be at or near the end of their career. The proposed lifetime achievement in MCH epidemiology award will be given only when deemed appropriate, and is not expected to be awarded annually. No more than one lifetime achievement award will be given in any calendar year.

Young Professional Achievement Award
This awards category is to recognize young outstanding professional leaders whose early work are making substantial contributions to the field in one or more of the above awards categories, and serves as a model to other young professionals. The awardee or team of awardees must be under 40 years of age at the time of the MCH EPI Conference in December. This award equally recognizes all three types of contributions and uses the respective awards criteria in the selection process.
Past National MCH Epidemiology Award Recipients
Greg Alexander Award for Advancing Knowledge
2011 Paul W. Newacheck, University of California, San Francisco
2010 Gopal K. Singh, HRSA/MCHB
2009 Allen James Wilcox, NIEHS
2008 Pat O'Campo, University of Toronto
2007 Michael Kramer, McGill University
2006 James Collins, Childrens's Memorial Hospital, Chicago
2005 Mark Klebanoff, National Institute of Child Health and Development
2004 David Savitz, University of North Carolina
2003 Michael Kogan, Health Resources and Services Administration
2002 Nigel Paneth, Michigan State University
2001 Greg Alexander, University of Alabama at Birmingham
2000 Milton Kotelchuck, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Effective Practice
2011 Center for Women's Health, Trover Health Systems
C. Meade Grigg, Florida's Office of Health Statistics and Assessment, State Registrar of Vital Statistics
Isabelle L. Horon, Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
  
2010 Kenneth D. Rosenberg, Oregon Public Health
CDC Maternal Health Team for 2009 Pandemic H1N1 Influenza Response
   
2009 Maternal and Child Health Epidemiology Unit, Section of Women's, Children's, and Family Health, Division of Public Health, Alaska Department of Health and Social Services
Priscilla A. Guild, Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research
   
2008
Institute for Health, Policy & Evaluation Research, Duval County Health Department
CityMatCH, University of Nebraska Medical Center
   
2007
Kimberlee Wyche-Etheridge, Nashville-Davidson County Health Department
Wanda Barfield, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Carrie Shapiro-Mendoza, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
   
2006
Douglas Paterson, Michigan Department of Community Health
Stephanie Ventura, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
   
2005
Los Angeles County STD Program
Richard Lorenz, Okalahoma State Department of Health
Stella Yu, Health Resources and Services Administration
   
2004
Carol Brady, Northeast Florida Healthy Start Coalition
Paul Buescher , North Carolina Division of Public Health
Laura Kann, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
   
2003
Countryside Lead Prevalence Study Team
Garland Land , Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services
Larry Edmonds, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
   
2002
Carolyn Slack, Columbus Health Department
Gilberto Chavez , California Department of Health Services
Carol Hogue, Emory University
New Mexico and Navajo PRAMS Collaborative
   
2001
Kathy Carson, Public Health Seattle-King County
Bao-Ping Zhu, Michigan Department of Community Health
Hani Atrash, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
   
2000
Pinellas County Healthy Start
Aaron Roome , Connecticut Department of Public Health
Arden Handler, University of Illinois in Chicago
Outstanding Leadership
2009 Donna J. Peterson, College of Public Health, University of South Florida
2008 William Hollinshead III, Rhode Island Department of Health
2007 Jeffrey Gould, Stanford University
2006 Jose Cordero, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
2005 Magda Peck, University of Nebraska Medical Center
2004 William Sappenfield, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
2003 William Sappenfield, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
2002 Deborah Klein Walker, Massachusetts Department of Public Health
2001 Peter van Dyck, Health Resources and Services Administration
2000 Claude Earl Fox, Health Resources and Services Administration
Excellence in Teaching and Mentoring Award
2009 Donna M. Strobino, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University
2007 Russell Kirby, University of Alabama at Birmingham
2005 Deb Rosenberg, University of Illinois in Chicago
Young Professional Achievement
2011 Reem M. Ghandour, Office of Epidemiology, Policy, and Evaluation at HRSA
2010 Amina P. Alio, University of South Florida
2009 Brian Christopher Castrucci, Georgia Division of Public Health
2008 Stephen Blumberg, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
2007 Charlan Kroelinger, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
2006 Jihong Liu, University of South Carolina
2005 Stephanie Schrag, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
2004 Kay Tomashek, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
2003 Michael Lu, University of California in Los Angeles
2002 Joann Petrini, National March of Dimes Foundation
2001 Cande Ananth, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
2000 Wendy Struchen, Pinellas County Healthy Start
Zena Stein and Mervyn Susser Award for Lifetime Achievement
2009 Bernard Guyer, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University
2007 Irvin Emanuel, University of Washington
2006 David Erickson, Centers for Disease Control
2005 Mervyn Susser and Zena Stein, Columbia University
Nomination Process    *Nominations are due June 15, 2012

*CLICK HERE to complete/submit an award nomination.
  (Nomination submissions require you to make an account. You may exit and re-enter the site to edit before submitting.)

*CLICK HERE to download the Manuscript That Advances the Field of MCH Epidemiology Award nomination form and then complete/submit the nomination.
  (This award is a separate nomination form.)

* NOTE:
   Click the corresponding link below to view a copy of each award nomination form and categories required before submitting:

Nominations should include:

  1. a completed nomination form,
  2. C.V. or resume, and
  3. two supporting letters of nomination (nominators may not submit a letter of support for applicants).

Each category of award has its own separate form which aligns with the award's criteria. The nomination form is the primary means of evaluating and rating nominees. The C.V. and letters provide supportive justification and explanation for selecting award recipients beyond the nomination form. Brief work samples or other evidence (for example, unpublished or location-specific work) can be provided when beneficial, but no more than 20 pages.

The committee has strong interest in recognizing the work of women and minorities. Self-nominations are accepted. Nominees must be alive at the time of nomination. A person/organization cannot nominate the same individual for more than one award category, but the Awards Selection Committee reserves the right to select the final award category. The Awards Selection Committee also reserves the right not to give an award in any category if a candidate of sufficient merit is not nominated. Prior award recipients may not receive an award again in the same category, but may be nominated for another award category based on new merit. Members of the Awards Selection Committee cannot be nominated for an award.

Questions about nominations should be sent to:
Dr. Charlan D. Kroelinger
Chair, National MCH Epi Awards Committee
MCH EPI Team Lead
Division of Reproductive Health
Center for Disease Control and Prevention
4770 Buford Hwy. NE. MS-K22
Atlanta, GA 30341-3717
Phone: 770-488-6545
Fax: 770-488-6291
mchepi@cdc.gov

Update: April 26, 2012