For his work with national media outlets, including extensive interviews conducted after the 2014 Report Card on Emergency Medicine release, Howard Mell, MD, MPH, FACEP, has been named ACEP’s Spokesperson of the Year. He received his award at last month’s ACEP Leadership and Advocacy Conference in Washington, DC.

Dr. Mell is an emergency physician in the Cleveland, Ohio area and an outstanding member of ACEP’s Spokespersons’ Network. In the past year, he was quoted multiple times in news organizations such as The Chicago Tribune, New York’s Daily News, San Francisco Chronicle, Minneapolis’ StarTribune, ABC News, and several more on a variety of emergency medicine topics.

Following the publication of a series of articles on energy drinks, attorneys with the beverage industry threatened Dr. Mell with legal action if he didn’t retract his quotes. Dr. Mell stood by his medical experience and did not respond, and the threats never materialized.

As a Report Card spokesperson, Dr. Mell was quoted in multiple media sources, including The Columbus Dispatch, WTVN in Ohio, and CBS Radio in Las Vegas. He also is very active with social media, helping to promote ACEP through Twitter and the Public Relations Committee’s Tweet Team. He is also a member of the sub-group of the Public Relations Committee that evaluates Annals of Emergency Medicine studies for promotion to media.