Please join us for a special virtual celebration of Dr. Ruby Mendenhall, the 2021 recipient of the Pearl Birnbaum Hurwitz Humanism in Healthcare Award. Gold President and CEO Dr. Richard I. Levin will present Dr. Mendenhall her award, followed by a conversation with Dr. Don Berwick, and then a live Q&A with Dr. Mendenhall and the audience – all of this on Monday, Feb. 28, 3:30-5:00 p.m. CT.
Register for the Zoom link.
Dr. Ruby Mendenhall is a visionary leader and interdisciplinary researcher who has galvanized students, faculty, community groups, and citizen scientists to advance the shared quest for a more equitable, healthy and just world for all. Dr. Mendenhall, MPP, PhD, is the Kathryn Lee Baynes Dallenbach Professor in Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Associate Dean for Diversity and Democratization of Health Innovation at the Carle Illinois College of Medicine. She is on the leadership team of the Carle Illinois College of Medicine’s Health Maker Lab, an initiative to spark innovative solutions to health disparities. The annual Health Make-A-Thon competition encourages innovators to pitch their ideas on improving health to a “Dolphin Tank” of judges – friendlier than a “Shark Tank” – and compete for $10,000 in resources to create a prototype. She is also the Co-Director of STEM Illinois and the Director of the medical school’s new Health Maker Lab node. She has published extensively, including on the medicalization of poverty, genomics, depression, stress, resiliency, and the design of spaces of hope. Her research has been supported by the Ford Foundation, the City of Chicago Office of the Mayor, the National Science Foundation, and the MacArthur Foundation.
The Pearl Birnbaum Hurwitz Humanism in Healthcare Award is presented annually to a woman who exemplifies humanism and has advanced, through her scholarship, advocacy, leadership or work, the well-being of underserved populations in the healthcare arena.
