2026 Academic Council Award Ceremony: The CHA Office of Academic Affairs and the Academic Council hosted the 14th annual CHA Academic Council Award Ceremony on October 5! Please enjoy these photos from the event with colleagues, seniors leaders, board members, nominators and family members of the awardees. Of note we had the largest number of children of honorees in the history of the award (10 in total!)  Moving tributes were shared by the award nominators.

The Academic Council Award recognizes members of the CHA community who have made significant contributions in educational leadership, teaching and research. The Sandra and Arnold Gold Award for Humanistic Teaching is presented annually to an inspirational CHA Academy of Educators Member on the Harvard Medical School (HMS) faculty who models compassion, integrity, respect and service in teaching HMS students, residents, fellows or peers.

The CHA Academic Council Award was established in 2013 to highlight the value placed on academic excellence and achievement by our institution. The award recognizes members of our community who have made significant contributions to excellence in academic spheres including educational leadership, teaching and research. One or more individuals may be honored in any given year. This award for academic excellence is broadly intended to encompass any number of areas of distinction within domains including:

  • Teaching and/or precepting students, trainees, or colleagues

  • Design and/or implementation of innovative curricula and/or assessment methodologies

  • Design and/or administration of excellent training programs

  • Supervision or mentorship

  • Research that influences clinical, basic science, healthcare systems, or policy domains

  • Scholarly significance (i.e., publications/presentations)

Eligibility, Nomination and Review Process:

Anyone within the Cambridge Health Alliance community may nominate a candidate for the CHA Academic Council Award.

This award is intended for mid-career CHA faculty or staff who are employed at least half time; those within 5 years of completing training or in the late phase of their career are not eligible. 

Additional criteria which may be considered, and which should be made explicit in the nomination letter:  

  • Academic impact extends beyond CHA through publication, presentation, academic leadership roles or other means 

  • Nominees with academic appointments at Harvard Medical School or Tufts University School of Medicine show appropriate and timely engagement in medical school promotion/ advancement processes. 

  • Academic work aligns with CHA’s mission and strategic plan

  • While excellent clinical care may be highlighted, the focus of this award is on academic engagement (which may include clinical precepting, role modeling, etc.)

The selection committee is appointed by the Director of the CHA Office of Academic Affairs.. Each honoree will be celebrated at a reception with the CHA community. Recipients’ names will be inscribed on a plaque prominently displayed in the institution.

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2025 CHA Academic Council Award Ceremony

2024 CHA Academic Council Award Ceremony

Previous recipients (listed below) may not be nominated:

  • 2025: Fa’iz Bayo Awoyemi, Dharma Cortés, Caitlin D’Agata, Debi LaPlante

  • 2024: Arundhati Ghosh, Jessica Santos, Bonni Stahl

  • 2022: Nicholas Carson, Ellie Grossman, Sharmila Mehta

  • 2021: Amber Frank, Adam Gaffney, Rachel Hathaway, Brittany Pierce, Margaret Weiss

  • 2020: Jessica Early, Hsiang Huang, Ranjani Paradise, David Porell, Bianca Shagrin, Linda Shipton

  • 2019: Gaurab Basu, Judy Fleishman, Yamini Saravanan, Tara Singh

  • 2018: Benjamin Cook, Abigail Love, Randi Sokol, Leah Zallman

  • 2017: Wes Boyd, Honor McNaughton, Priyank Jain

  • 2016: Zev Schuman-Olivier, Jamie Barrett, Rob Marlin, Andrea Gordon

  • 2015: Rebecca Drill, Mark McGovern, Sandra DeJong, Kathe Miller

  • 2014: Monica Demasi, Allen Shaughnessy, Danny McCormick, Diya Kallivayalil

  • 2013: David Hirsh, Lior Givon, Rachel Stark, Karen Hacker

 

Our 2025 CHA Academic Council Award Recipients!

 

Fa’iz Bayo-Awoyemi, MD - Dept of Family Medicine

Dharma Cortés, PhD - Health Evaluation Research Lab

Caitlin D’Agata, MD - Dept of Family Medicine

Debi Laplante, PhD - Division on Addiction

 

2025 Academic Council Award and 2025 Sandra and Arnold Gold Award for Humanistic Teaching recipients honored at the Academic Council Award Ceremony (Sept 2025).