Each year, our Section recognizes the outstanding contributions of its members through the following awards.
*Lifetime Achievement in Public Health Law: This award is given annually to an individual who, over the course of his or her career, has made significant contributions to the field of public health law. The individual’s contributions should span at least two of the following areas: research, teaching and mentoring, practice and advocacy. To be eligible for this award, an individual must have completed his or her terminal degree more than 30 years ago. For this award, the nominee must be a member of APHA but need not be a member of the Law Section.
2023: Martha Katz
2022: Wendy Parmet
2021: Daniel Swartzman
2020: Paula K. Barnes
2019: Gene Matthews
2018: Marice Ashe
2016: Peter Jacobson
2015: Larry Gostin
2014: Scott Burris
*Early Career Award for Excellence in Public Health Law: This award is given annually to an individual who demonstrates great promise as a future leader in the field of public health law. The individual’s major contributions to the field should include at least one of the following areas: research, teaching and mentoring, practice and advocacy. To be eligible for this award, an individual must have completed his or her terminal degree within the last 10 years. For this award, the nominee must be a member of APHA but need not be a member of the Law Section.
2023: Melissa Sager
2022: Robyn Powell
2021: Dawn Pepin
2020: Derek H. Carr
2019: Colleen Boufides Healy
2018: Benjamin Mason Meier
2017: Max Gakh
2016: Allison Winnike
2015: Tony Yang
2014: Dru Bhattacharya
*Jennifer Robbins Award for the Practice of Public Health Law: This award recognizes an individual, typically at mid-career, for outstanding dedication and leadership in the field of public health law. The individual’s major contributions should have the potential for significant and long-term impact on the field. The award is named in honor of Jennifer Robbins (1940-1987), a public health lawyer who practiced in the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare and subsequently served as an Assistant Attorney General in Maryland and principal counsel for the state’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. For this award, the nominee must be a member of APHA but need not be a member of the Law Section.
2023: Corey Davis
2022: Angie McGowan
2021: Dawn Hunter
2020: Lindsay Wiley
2019: Anna G. Palladino-Davis
2018: Julie Kay Reagan
2017: Montrece Ransom
2016: Kathi Hoke
2015: Matthew Penn
Distinguished Service to the Law Section: This award is given to an individual in recognition of his or her dedication and service to the Law Section. The recipient must have held at least one elected or appointed leadership position within the Section.
2023: Lindsay Cloud
2022: Leigh Haynes
2021: Stacie Kershner
2019: Andy Baker-White
2017: Jennifer Ibrahim
2016: Jason Smith
2015: Kerri Lowrey
2014: Heather McCabe
2013: Ross Silverman
Abstract of the Year: This award is given to the individual whose abstract receives the highest overall score based on anonymous reviews from members of the Law Section.
2023: S. Brynn Austin. Algorithms, addiction, and adolescent mental health: An interdisciplinary study to develop state legislative action to protect youth from the dangers of social media.
2022: Julia Costich. Legal approaches to mitigating private equity harm in health care and public health.
2021: Elizabeth Platt, Lindsay Cloud, Scott Burris. Navigating the unique challenges of scientific policy tracking in a pandemic.
2020: Erin Hall. Prioritizing violence prevention: Integrating medical-legal partnership into hospital based violence intervention.
2019: Wendy Parmet. Health Implications of the Public Charge Rule.
2018: Katie McCabe. Domestic violence and housing instability: Gaps in the protection of victims in three domains of housing law.
2017: Jon Wardle, Jonathan Adams. Regulating the 'irregular': Regulatory experiences and stakeholder perceptions around regulation of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practitioners.
2016: Elise Lopez, Mary Koss. Situating restorative justice innovations within VAWA and DCL guidelines on campus sexual misconduct resolution.
2015: Natasha Frost, Julie Ralston Aoki. Using child care regulations as a policy lever for promoting healthy food and physical activity in out-of-school time settings.
2015: Jonathan Purtle, Robert Field, Esther Chernak, Tom Hipper, Jillian Nash Arot. Exploring the impacts of public health laws on syndromic disease surveillance practices in the United States.
2014: Marizen Ramirez, Laura Schwab Reese, Erica L. Spies, Corinne Peek-Asa, Angela Onwuachi-Willig. Evaluation of the implementation of anti-bullying legislation in schools.
2013: Corey Davis, Nabarun Dasgupta, Matthew Pierce. Longitudinal legal assessment and analysis of prescription monitoring programs.
2013: Y-Vonne Hutchinson, Purvi Patel. Corporate liability, state responsibility, and labor rights intervention as a strategy to address a public health crisis: developing a framework for protection of sugarcane workers in Nicaragua.
Student Abstract of the Year: This award is given to the student whose abstract receives the highest overall score based on anonymous reviews from members of the Law Section.
2023: Lindsay Cloud. Evaluating the effect of state laws that limit access to firearms for perpetrators of intimate partner violence in the United States.
2022: Mary Quandt. Making rights meaningful: Advocating for simple changes in federal agency practice to promote health equity.
2021: Lina Brou. Targeting addiction structural stigma embodied in law (TASSEL): A legal epidemiological mapping study of California.
2020: Martha Grace Cromeens. Federal appeal case review of social security disability insurance and supplemental security income disability claims by women with endometriosis.
2019: Theresa Cheng. Senate Bill 1152: Implementation of California's Solution to Patient Dumping in Emergency Departments.
2018: Thomas Griner. How Do Medical Amnesty Laws Correlate with Drug Overdose Deaths?
2017: Cayce Hook, Christopher Bryan, Hazel Markus. To sell a soda tax, don't talk about health? Exploring the role of personal responsibility beliefs in Americans’ attitudes towards health policies.
2016: Alaz Sengul, Melissa G. Swain. A success story of university-based medical-legal partnership in obtaining social security.
2015: Molly Simmons, Shannon Frattaroli, Lainie Rutkow. Collaborating with policymakers to produce applied research: a case study of the military's Integrated Disability Evaluation System.
2014: Zhiqiu Ye, Yue Li, Helena Temkin-Greener. Impact of state mandatory public reporting on hospital-acquired infection rates.
2013: Sarah A. Hexem, Kari R. Hexem. Professionalization of midwifery and its ramifications for midwife practice.
* individuals must be nominated for the award