2023 Distinguished Alumnus/a Award

Deborah J. Baker, Nurs ’92, ’97, ’11, ‘22
Dr. Deborah Baker is the senior vice president for nursing for the Johns Hopkins Health System. She also serves as the vice president of nursing and patient care services for The Johns Hopkins Hospital. As the health system’s first senior vice president for nursing, Dr. Baker partners with the chief nursing officers at our other hospitals to ensure integration of services and alignment with the health system’s strategic goals and objectives, including the provision of quality services and strengthening of the enterprise as a true full-service, integrated health system. She is accountable for enhancing a clinical practice environment that is patient centered, with unsurpassed clinical quality and patient safety, while also providing significant contributions to education and research, ensuring nursing practice at the highest scope of licensure. Dr. Baker first came to Johns Hopkins as a student, earning her bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, where she currently serves as a member of the school’s advisory board. She joined the staff of The Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1992 as a clinical nurse in the Department of Surgery. Prior to her current appointment, she served as the Director of Nursing for Surgery, Wilmer Ophthalmology and the Comprehensive Acute Care Rehabilitation Unit at Johns Hopkins Hospital (2008-2015); as Assistant Director of Nursing for Advanced Practice and nurse practitioner in the Division of Surgical Oncology at Johns Hopkins Hospital (2005-2008); and Manager of the Department of Surgery NP/PA teams (2003-2005). Prior to nursing leadership roles, Dr. Baker practiced as an acute care nurse practitioner in the Divisions of Trauma and Surgical Oncology in the Department of Surgery at Johns Hopkins. Dr. Baker has spent most of her career focused on patient and family centered care. She is a dedicated member of the Nursing Advisory Board for Johns Hopkins School of Nursing.

Alexis Bakos, Nurs ‘00
Alexis D. Bakos, is Program Director of the Supportive Care and Symptom Management Science portfolio at the National Cancer Institute/National Institutes of Health where she oversees extramural research on the prevention or treatment of acute and chronic symptoms and morbidities related to cancer and treatment interventions. In addition, Dr. Bakos assists in the management of the NCI Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP). Dr. Bakos has worked in a number of research positions within the federal government, including serving as Chief of the Diversity Training Branch within the Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities (NCI) where she coordinated the management of programs designed to improve the diversity of the cancer research workforce and served as Program Director at the National Institute of Nursing Research, NIH, where her responsibilities included scientific areas related to end of life/palliative care, informal caregiving, and long-term care. She also served as the Senior Advisor to the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health within the Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Bakos received a B.S.N. and an M.S.N. from The Catholic University of America, an M.P.H. from George Washington University, and a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University. Her education also included three years of postdoctoral training as an NCI Cancer Prevention Fellow. Dr. Bakos served on the U.S. House of Representatives Health and Long-Term Care Subcommittee as a Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Fellow and served as Congressman Edward Roybal’s Health Legislative Assistant on the House Select Committee on Aging.

Michael Banks, A&S ’92, Ed ’19
Dr. Michael Christopher Banks exemplifies a Johns Hopkins alumnus by showing initiative, creativity, and determination as a leader in medical education. He is an assistant professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Vice-Chair of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for his department, and the assistant residency director and the director of resident education in critical care. Dr. Banks has created several programs including Pathways in Medicine Discovery lab which is a program designed to encourage underrepresented minorities, women, LGBTQ+, and persons with disabilities to pursue academic medicine. Dr. Banks is also committed to Interprofessional Education (IPE) and Interprofessional Collaboration in the burn intensive care unit. He completed a capstone project to promote interprofessional education for post-licensure trainees. Additionally, he was selected this academic year to be an IPE School of Medicine Faculty Exemplar to serve as a role model for over 200 medical, nursing, and pharmacy students. Dr. Banks earned his M.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and completed his residencies at the University of Maryland Medical System. He performed a fellowship in microbiology and immunology at Weill Cornell Medical College, a fellowship in surgery at New York-Presbyterian Hospital and a fellowship in critical care medicine at Johns Hopkins.

Daniel Coe, A&S ’04, ‘08
Dr. Dan Coe provides support for astronomers using and preparing to use the Hubble Space Telescope (HTS) and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). He leads the HST and JWST Help Desks. As an instrument scientist for the JWST Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam), Dr. Coe wrote much of that instrument’s user manual in JDox (JWST Documentation) and developed more efficient dither patterns for NIRCam observations. He is also the Frontier Fields Lens Model Coordinator. Previously, Dr. Coe managed the JDox project and was an instrument scientist on HST’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). As an astronomer, Dr. Coe discovers and studies the most distant galaxies known using the Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes with the aid of gravitational lensing by massive galaxy clusters. He is the principal investigator of the Reionization Lensing Cluster Survey (RELICS), a 188-orbit Hubble Treasury Program. RELICS observed 41 clusters and delivered many of the best and brightest galaxies known in the universe’s first billion years. Previously, as a co-investigator on the Hubble Multi-Cycle Treasury Program CLASH (Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble). Dr. Coe discovered a strong candidate for the most distant galaxy known at z-11. Dr. Coe also successfully advocated for lensing clusters to be included in the Hubble Deep Fields Initiative, which became the Frontier Fields. He is a co-investigator on the JWST Guaranteed Time Observation (GTO) program.

Linda Cureton, Engr ’94, ‘96
Linda Cureton is the founder and CEO of Muse Technologies, Inc. A thought leader and known strategic innovator, her more than 40 years of public service ensure Muse delivers responsive solutions in leadership, program management and organizational development. She has proven success in cloud computing, mobility, and program management and is an industry leader, having served as chief information officer (CIO) at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). There, she led one of the best IT organizations in the government, serving as the principal advisor to the NASA administrator and providing insight and technology leadership to some of the world’s most brilliant scientists and engineers. While CIO, she created the popular NASA CIO blog, and continues to be a prolific blogger. A strong leader and innovator, Cureton has been recognized for leading the way for other federal CIOs in the professional use of social media. Well known in the public sector for her ability to communicate, lead, and drive change, she has a record for delivering innovation and notably reducing her organization’s operating costs. She has written several articles for Federal Computer Week and the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers and is a monthly contributor to Information Week Government. She is the author of numerous articles in publications, including the Journal of Sound and Vibration, Synergy Press, and IT Professional. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., she attended D.C. public schools, including Duke Ellington School of the Arts. There, she studied trumpet, French horn, and piano. In 1980, she graduated from Howard University with a BS in Mathematics. Later, she received a Master of Science degree and post-master’s Advanced Certificate in Applied Mathematics at Johns Hopkins University. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Organizational Leadership at the University of Maryland.

Lisa Egbuonu-Davis, Med ‘83
Lisa Egbuonu-Davis, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A., is the vice president of medical innovations at DH Diagnostics, a Danaher company, and is the former chief medical officer of two Danaher subsidiaries, Beckman Coulter Diagnostics and Leica Biosystems. She serves as a board director for Omega Healthcare and Avanos Medical. She is on the board of trustees for Johns Hopkins Medicine and on the board of advisors for the School of Education. Lisa received her medical and public health degrees at Johns Hopkins in 1983. She was part of the first large group of Black medical students recruited by Dr. Levi Watkins and joined her classmates in honoring Dr. Watkins with an endowed scholarship. She has served on the Bloomberg School of Public Health’s advisory board. She has focused on reducing health and educational disparities faced by minority populations and disadvantaged youth, while also working with nonprofits to enhance the future pipeline of minority students in science and medicine. Professionally, she is a senior executive with extensive leadership experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, public health and consulting. Her experience includes line management of large multidisciplinary global research staff and budgets, merger and acquisition management, licensing and portfolio decisions and public, private, and academic partnership development. Dr. Egbuonu-Davis has worked most of her professional life to increase access to medicine on a global scale and decrease health disparities.

W. Bruce Fye, Med ‘72
W. Bruce Fye, M.D., M.A. has had a remarkable three-part career as an internationally recognized cardiologist, historian of medicine, and medical bibliophile. He holds three degrees from Hopkins: A.B. (1968, Phi Beta Kappa), M.D. (1972, Alpha Omega Alpha), and an M.A. in the History of Medicine (1978). He also did a fellowship in Cardiology at Hopkins, where he was a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar (1976-1978). Experiences and mentors at Johns Hopkins helped him establish and expand his unique career path. In 1978 he joined the Marshfield Clinic (Wisconsin), where he founded the echocardiography laboratory and served as chair of the Cardiology Department for 18 years. From 2000 until his retirement in 2014 he was a cardiologist and professor of medicine and the history of medicine at Mayo Clinic. He has published three books and more than 100 historical and biographical papers. Dr. Fye has been president of the American College of Cardiology, the American Osler Society, and the American Association for the History of Medicine, which awarded him the Welch Medal (best book) and Lifetime Achievement Award. A medical book collector since his days at Hopkins, Dr. Fye has donated 15,000 medical books to Mayo Clinic and has donated what was considered to be the best private collection of cardiovascular books to the Huntington Library.

Adil Haider, SPH ‘00
Adil Haider, MBBS, MPH '10, is a dynamic leader and internationally acclaimed trauma surgeon and health disparities researcher. Dr. Haider is credited with establishing the field of trauma disparities research and is known as one of the leading authorities in patient-centered outcomes research. His research has uncovered significant disparities in mortality and other healthcare outcomes based on unconscious bias from medical professionals, and his research also recognizes the continued need to understand the exact mechanisms that lead to disparity outcomes and how providers can be trained to eliminate disparities in care. This work contributes significantly to health disparities research and the future of public health and healthcare. When flooding hit Pakistan in June of 2022, placing one third of the country under water and displacing nearly 33 million people, Dr. Haider knew the disaster would result in multiple public health catastrophes. As Dean of the Medical College at Aga Khan University in Pakistan, he mobilized resources to train over 4,000 healthcare providers to serve in emergency response positions as pre-existing research field sites, resulting in over 400,000 individuals receiving treatment in the first two months. Dr. Haider's work in trauma disparities research and his incredible leadership in the immediate aftermath of the devastating floods in Pakistan truly demonstrate the global impact of his work.

Nimisha Kalia, Bus ‘12
Nimisha Kalia, M.D., is the Chief Medical Officer at GE Corporate and an Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. In the past, she served as Interim Director for the Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Executive Director of Health, Safety and Environment for Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins Health System. She earned her M.D. at the University of South Florida College of Medicine. She also received an MPH from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and an MBA from the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School. In her role at GE, Dr. Kalia serves approximately 195,000 employees at GE to provide them physical, mental, and financial wellbeing. She provided critical leadership at GE during the pandemic where she led their response to COVID-19 through compassionate leadership and care. Along with her professional success, Dr. Kalia is active in the Johns Hopkins community. She serves on the Council for Equity and Belonging at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School. Dr. Kalia is passionate about mentorship and serves as mentor to students at the Carey Business School and the Bloomberg School of Public Health, as well as a mentor at the Biomedical Science Careers Program at Harvard Medical School. BSCP provides mentoring to underrepresented students interested in science and medicine.

Mayer Katz, A&S ‘58
Dr. Mayer Katz received his undergraduate degree from Hopkins in 1958, and later received his medical degree from The University of Maryland at Baltimore. Mayer was a member of the Phi Epsilon Pi fraternity at Johns Hopkins and graduated with his bachelor’s degree before earning his medical degree at the University of Maryland in Baltimore. He secured a surgical internship at the University of California Hospital in San Francisco, and then completed his residency at Boston City Hospital. Through 1967 and 1968, Dr. Katz was stationed in Vietnam as a Captain and vascular surgeon in the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) program. During those two years, he performed approximately 400 operations with only 8 casualties. Dr. Katz’s service coincided with the Tet Offensive and the Battle of Huê, the most violent battle of the Vietnam War. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1968 battle, the Newseum in Washington, D.C. featured an exhibit of photography and audio interviews of the soldiers who were on the ground. The exhibit, which ran from January 2018—January 2019, included pictures of the then 31-year-old Katz as well as some of the men he was able to save during that battle. Perhaps the most well-known of the photographs was “The Marine on the Tank,” which showed an injured soldier (A.B. Grantham) lying unconscious on a makeshift stretcher atop an army tank. Though the bullet wound in his chest was severe, Dr. Katz was able to save Grantham’s life. In 2018, the program reunited Wagner and Dr. Katz, who continue to have a strong relationship to this day. He was once featured in a Newseum exhibit (2018) called "The Marines and Tet: The Battle that Changed the Vietnam War." He's also been highlighted in the PBS series "We'll Meet Again." After Vietnam, he spearheaded the development of a vascular program at Beebe Healthcare. After a long career of excellence in medicine he retired in May 2018.

Jason Matheny, SPH ‘04
Dr. Matheny is exceptionally deserving of this award given his many invaluable leadership positions serving the US government, academia and the private sector. His high-level expertise at the intersection of science, technology and security has led to innovative research and ideas, helped to ensure more robust scientific thinking and use of data to inform critical challenges on national security, and set the foundation for developing long-term solutions to complex issues. Dr. Matheny's innovative thinking and leadership span many significant entities within the US and abroad. For example, prior to serving as President and Chief Executive Officer of the RAND Corporation, he served in both the Obama and Biden Administrations and held pivotal leadership positions in the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy, the National Security Council and The Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity. He has a remarkable ability to combine current scientific and technological expertise with strategies that ensure important research stays relevant and timely, creating forward-thinking and impactful solutions across multiple sectors. This caliber of expertise led him to popularize the concept of cultured meat and the founding of New Harvest as the world's first non-profit organization dedicated to supporting research for in vitro meat. This work earned him recognition as one of Foreign Policy's Top 100 Global Thinkers and one of the ideas of the year by The New York Times. Above all, Dr. Matheny is deeply respected and admired by those who work with and for him.

Patricia Neuman, SPH ’87, ‘93
Patricia Neuman, ScD, is the Senior Vice President, Executive Director, Program on Medicare and Policy, and Senior Advisor to the President at Kaiser Family Foundation. There is likely not one student who has graduated from the Bloomberg School in the Departments of Health Policy and Management, Health Behavior and Society Mental Health, or Population Family and Reproductive Health that has not read a Kaiser Family Foundation report written or supervised by Dr. Patricia Neuman. Dr. Neuman is a Senior Vice President of the Kaiser Family Foundation. Her work is the go-to place for information on Medicare, health and long-term needs and challenges facing older adults and people with disabilities, prescription drugs, and other health policy issues. Her work is frequently cited in the major media outlets, by members of Congress and in peer reviewed journals. After finishing her MHS and ScD in the Department of Health Policy and Management, she worked in the US House of Representatives on the Ways and Means Committee Subcommittee on Health and then transitioned to the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF). She has written many peer-reviewed articles, but that is not her main way of communicating her findings to policymakers. She has testified in Congress on multiple occasions and often briefs Congressional staffers and members of Congress about health policy issues and legislation. Tricia and her team produce analyses that are widely used to inform health policy discussions and prepare summaries of proposed legislation that are used by both Republications and Democrats to understand the complexities of the issues being discussed. She is frequently quoted as an independent expert in the media, such as New York Times, and on radio and TV. Dr. Neuman was recently nominated by President Biden to serve as a public trustee for the Medicare, Social Security and Disability Insurance Trust Funds.

Jane Oski, Med ’91, SPH ‘09
Dr. Jane Oski. M.D., M.P.H. is a staff pediatrician at the Tuba City Regional Health Care Corporation and Sacred Peaks Health Center, and an adjunct clinical instructor in pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Oski joined the Tuba City Regional Health Care Corporation in 1998 as a staff pediatrician in the Tuba City Indian Medical Center before becoming director of the center’s adolescent health services program. She fostered public health initiatives, and led innovative efforts and dedicated advocacy on behalf of Native American children. She currently serves as chair of the Indian Health Special Interest Group for the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Native American Child Health, member of the Arizona Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics Vaccines for Children Committee, and chair of the Tuba City Regional Health Care Infection Prevention Committee and co-chair of the Tuba City Regional Health Care Epidemic Response Team. In 2017, for her work in fostering public health initiatives and her impact on Native American adolescents, Dr. Oski was awarded the Community Hero Award from the Johns Hopkins University Alumni Association—an award recognizing outstanding contributions that address critical social, economic, and environmental needs throughout our society and communities. She has published over nine works, two texts, and two book chapters, and has previously served on the editorial boards of The Journal of Pediatrics, Contemporary Pediatrics and the Physicians for DHA Newsletter.

Janice Piccinini, A&S ‘74
Ms. Piccinini had a long career in service, education, and civil service. Her personal and professional passion is to “organize, energize, and mobilize” volunteers. Beginning as a teacher for Baltimore County Public Schools, Janice pursued leadership opportunities including President of the Teachers Association, and President of the Maryland State Education Association. Ms. Piccinini served as a Maryland state senator expanding on her work in public policy on issues with the Boards of Education, the Maryland State Legislature, and Congressional delegation. Ms. Piccinini received numerous awards and recognition from diverse education agencies, including the Maryland State Legislature and the U.S. Congress. After the senate, Ms. Piccinini merged her passions for community and education with international development by conducting research in the Caribbean on the links between economic empowerment and government, education, agriculture, non-government agencies and private sector policies and programs. This led to the U.S. Agency on International Development commissioning Ms. Piccinini to study work force training issues in the Caribbean. Ms. Piccinini and her family have created a legacy of support at Johns Hopkins institutions, beginning when Ms. Piccinni's mother's estate created the Piccinini Investigators at the Heart Institute. Ms. Piccinini has grown the support of her mother's gift as well as committed a sizable bequest to the Master of Liberal Arts program at the Krieger School.

Rachel Salas, Ed ‘18
Dr. Rachel Salas, Professor in the Department of Neurology at Johns Hopkins Medicine with a joint appointment in the School of Nursing, has been remarkably industrious in her career as an exemplary medical educator. Dr. Salas has been recognized as a Distinguished Teacher locally and nationally. The Johns Hopkins (JH) Institute for Excellence in Education recognized Dr. Salas with the 2018 Teaching and 2021 Educational Scholarship Awards. Dr. Salas received one of the most prestigious recognitions at JH, the 2020 Alumni Association Award for Excellence in Teaching. She is an inductee of the JH Distinguished Teaching Society, the most renowned teaching distinction at JH. She received the 2015 American Academy of Neurology Clerkship Director Innovation and 2018 The Clerkship Director Teaching Awards. Dr. Salas is also the founder and Co-Director of the Johns Hopkins Osler Apprenticeship Program (in Neurology), a medical education research program for senior medical students and the Johns Hopkins PreDoc Program, a pipeline premedical college program. Dr. Salas is a certified professional life coach and certified strengths coach and uses a strength-based approach and coaching to connect to, support, and develop those involved with her educational mission and clinical practice. Dr. Salas is a 2019-21 Josiah Macy Scholar, a 2019-20 AMA Health Systems Science Scholar, and a 2021 AΩA Leadership Fellow. Dr. Salas has been invited to speak on her medical education career nationally, signifying her reputation as a teacher and an educator leader.