Please join ACEP in congratulating the 2015 recipients of the College’s most prestigious awards. Some of these winners will be recognized at the invitation-only President’s Awards Banquet on Wednesday night, while others will receive their awards at Section, Council, or Research Forum events.

Outstanding Contribution in Research Awards

Clifton W. Callaway, MD, PhD, FACEP
Dr. Callaway is professor of emergency medicine and vice-chair at the University of Pittsburgh Department of Emergency Medicine, where he holds the Ronald D. Stewart Endowed Chair of Emergency Medicine Research. For more than two decades he has studied brain resuscitation after cardiac arrest, including basic laboratory work, clinical studies, and clinical trials on the mechanisms of damage during sudden cardiac arrest. He helps write national and international resuscitation guidelines and is active in disseminating best evidence into practice through education. In the last decade, Dr. Callaway and colleagues at UPMC Presbyterian have developed a post–cardiac arrest clinical service that has coordinated care for hundreds of patients. Drawing on multiple medical disciplines, the service conducts studies and trials to optimize recovery.

Daniel W. Spaite, MD, FACEP
Dr. Spaite is professor, Virginia Piper Distinguished Chair of Emergency Medicine, and co-director of the Arizona Emergency Medicine Research Center at The University of Arizona in Tucson. He has published more than 100 scientific articles and has presented his research on EMS, cardiac arrest, trauma systems, EMS outcomes analysis, and EMS cost analysis at scores of conferences internationally. In 2010, the National Association of EMS Physicians presented him with its highest honor: the Ronald D. Stewart Award. Dr. Spaite has been the principal investigator or co-investigator for many key efforts related to the evaluation of EMS systems, including the Ontario Prehospital Advanced Life Support Study (OPALS), the RAMPART prehospital treatment of status epilepticus trial, and the EMS Outcomes Project (EMSOP), among others.

Honorary Membership Awards

Marilyn Bromley, RN
Ms. Bromley was director of ACEP’s Emergency Medicine Practice Department for 22 years. She came to the College in 1992 from Aetna, where she was a medical management consultant, and retired in 2014. During her tenure, Ms. Bromley was a mentor and friend to countless emergency physicians. Among her accomplishments at ACEP, she helped form and support key sections, including Geriatrics, Palliative Medicine, Wellness, Ultrasound, and Observation. Ms. Bromley contributed significantly to the growth of ultrasound in emergency medicine, the development of geriatric emergency department guidelines, and physician wellness. She also served as ACEP’s staff representative to the American Medical Association’s Quality Measures Program for seven years and edited the Health Care Quality Newsletter.

Virginia Kennedy Palys, JD
Ms. Palys has served as executive director of the Illinois College of Emergency Physicians (ICEP) for more than three decades. Her leadership of ICEP’s advocacy, practice management, EMS and continuing education efforts has strengthened the chapter and helped it grow to more than 1,300 members. She also serves as executive director for International Trauma Life Support (ITLS), the only prehospital trauma education program endorsed by ACEP. Each year, she travels with physician leaders to launch and encourage ITLS training initiatives. Some of the program’s newest international sites include Dubai, Portugal, England, and Malta.

W. Calvin Chaney, JD, CAE
Mr. Chaney was ACEP’s general counsel and associate executive director for policy and administration for nearly 22 years. Mr. Chaney developed policies and procedures that have provided key protections for the College and other medical societies with whom he shared them. He created ACEP’s state legislative office, working closely with state chapters to form political action committees, hire lobbyists, hold legislative days in their state capitols, and transform members into advocates. Mr. Chaney also managed the College’s ethics complaint process and spearheaded 18 successful Leadership and Advocacy Conferences. He also oversaw ACEP’s interaction with the American Medical Association. In 2008, Mr. Chaney was elected president of the American Association of Medical Society Executives.

Outstanding Contribution in EMS Award

James V. Dunford Jr., MD, FACEP
Dr. Dunford is an emeritus professor at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine and the EMS medical director for the city of San Diego—a post he has held since 1997. From 1980 to 1986, he flew aboard the San Diego Life Flight helicopter. He founded the UCSD emergency medicine residency. Dr. Dunford led the development of San Diego’s regional systems of care for sudden cardiac arrest, heart attack, and stroke and helped create the San Diego Serial Inebriate Program. In 2008, he harnessed health information technology and care management to create the San Diego Resource Access Program to better serve frequent 911 callers. He has served as coinvestigator on numerous National Institutes of Health studies. He currently serves as principal investigator for a community paramedic pilot project in collaboration with the California EMS Authority.

John G. Wiegenstein Leadership Award

Angela F. Gardner, MD, FACEP
Dr. Gardner is associate professor and chief of operations and quality for the department of emergency medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas. She has served Texas College of Emergency Physicians in every leadership position. As president in 2003, she led the chapter’s successful fight for professional liability reform in Texas. In recognition, she received its highest honor: the James E. Hayes Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Field of Emergency Medicine. Dr. Gardner has been equally effective for national ACEP. She worked to develop the ACEP Report Card, the Emergency Medicine Action Fund, and the “Give-A-Shift” campaign supporting NEMPAC.

Outstanding Contribution in Education Award

Mel Herbert, MD, FACEP
Dr. Herbert is an internationally recognized and award-winning educator in emergency medicine. He currently serves as an attending physician and associate professor of emergency medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC at the LAC+USC Medical Center in Los Angeles. Dr. Herbert is the owner and editor of EMRAP, a monthly emergency medicine–focused audio-education series with more than 20,000 subscribers worldwide. He’s also the owner and conference chair of Essentials of Emergency Medicine, the largest privately run emergency medicine conference in the world. Dr. Herbert has received honors throughout his career, including the ACEP Honorable Mention Outstanding Speaker of the Year Award and ACEP National Faculty Teaching Award. Dr. Herbert is a cofounder of Hippo Education, a website that combines learning theory, multimedia, and expert teachers to make the study of emergency medicine fun.

Council Meritorious Service Award

Andrew I. Bern, MD, FACEP
Dr. Bern is a full-time emergency physician and independent health care consultant in South Florida. A former member of ACEP’s Board of Directors, Dr. Bern served with the EMS, Critical Care, Air Medical Transport, Wilderness, and Disaster Sections. He was also a founding member of the Disaster, Geriatric, Tactical, Telemedicine, and Disaster Medicine Sections. On the ACEP Council, he served on the Steering Committee, numerous Council sub-committees, and the Reference Committee. Dr. Bern was instrumental in creating ACEP’s Grant Program. He was an active participant in the creation of the Health Policy Grant Program and serves as a Councillor from Florida. Dr. Bern participated in the joint subcommittees of Reimbursement Committee and the State Legislative/Regulatory Committee on the issue of fair reimbursement and model legislation.

Colin C. Rorrie Jr., PhD, Award for Excellence in Health Policy

James C. Mitchiner, MD, MPH, FACEP
Dr. Mitchiner is an attending emergency physician at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and clinical assistant professor of emergency medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School. As medical director at MPRO—Michigan’s federally designated health care quality-improvement organization—he oversees Medicare quality-of-care reviews, quality-improvement activities, and EMTALA-sanctioned reviews. Throughout his career, he has called for single-payer national health insurance—a controversial idea that gains more support every year. Since 2002, Dr. Mitchiner has been a dynamic member of the ACEP Federal Government Affairs Committee and other task forces and work groups. He joins the College’s lobbying effort on Capitol Hill every spring. As a Michigan State Medical Society board member, Dr. Mitchiner supported smoke-free air legislation and continues to fight repeal of the state’s mandatory motorcycle helmet law.

James D. Mills Outstanding Contribution to Emergency Medicine Award

Robert W. Strauss, MD, FACEP
Dr. Strauss is a practicing emergency physician at The Christ Hospital in Cincinnati and Good Samaritan Hospital in Dayton. He’s also TeamHealth’s vice president for program development. Dr. Strauss has served ACEP and the specialty in key leadership positions, including Chair of the Educational Meetings Committee and Director of the Emergency Department Directors Academy. He has led more than 75 national conferences. Dr. Strauss is the recipient of ACEP’s Outstanding Speaker and Outstanding Contribution to Education in Emergency Medicine awards. As an author, his seminal works on ED management have inspired readers to excellence. Dr. Strauss has served with distinction as the chair of the ACGME Residency Review Committee for Emergency Medicine and on the American Board of Emergency Medicine. He’s been a residency program director and medical staff leader.

John A. Rupke Legacy Award

Stephen V. Cantrill, MD, FACEP
Dr. Cantrill is an emergency physician and consultant at Denver Health Medical Center, where he served as the associate director of the department of emergency medicine for nearly two decades. Though “retired,” he’s at Denver Health every day. In the early 1980s, Dr. Cantrill pioneered the use of computers in emergency medicine. He implemented early systems at Denver General and lectured widely. Dr. Cantrill was an early leader in bringing the principles of quality and safety to emergency medicine. Founder of the Denver Health–based Weapons of Mass Destruction Training Center, he is also a nationally recognized expert and leader in the field of disaster preparedness and mass casualty events. Dr. Cantrill has served on the ACEP Council and on countless committees, task forces, and working groups. From his breakthrough 1983 work, “Guidelines for Cost Containment in Emergency Medicine” with Dr. Stephen Karas, to his service as chair of ACEP’s Quality and Performance Committee, Dr. Cantrill’s contributions have advanced the College and the specialty.

Disaster Medical Sciences Award

Carl H. Schultz, MD, FACEP
Dr. Schultz is an internationally recognized expert in the field of disaster medicine. He is a professor of emergency medicine at the University of California (UC), Irvine School of Medicine, director of the EMS and disaster medical sciences fellowship, director of research at the Center for Disaster Medical Sciences, and director of disaster medical services for the department of emergency medicine at UC Irvine Medical Center. He has over 80 publications in the field of disaster medicine. His research has been funded by multiple agencies, including the National Science Foundation. He is the only emergency physician in the United States to serve on the terrorism task forces for both the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine and ACEP, and he chaired ACEP’s Disaster Committee for two years. He served as a consultant to the Department of Defense and other national and international groups, and a grant reviewer for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) on the topic of bioterrorism. He is also co-editor for Koenig and Schultz’s Disaster Medicine: Comprehensive Principles and Practices and first author of two disaster medicine chapters in Rosen’s Emergency Medicine.