Dr. David Satcher Community Health Improvement Awards
Dr. David Satcher Community Health Improvement Awards
17th annual Dr. David Satcher Community Health Improvement Event
Congratulations to Our 2026 Awardees!
AnaPaula Cupertino, PhD, Senior Faculty Awardee
AnaPaula Cupertino, PhD, a professor of Surgery, Environmental Medicine and Public Health Sciences, and Oncology, works to ensure that community voices meaningfully inform research priorities, program development, and institutional strategy. She elevates community voices in decision-making and ensures that results are returned to the community in meaningful and accessible ways.
Cupertino chose Common Ground Health-Rochester RHIO as her primary community partner.
Melissa Heatly, PhD, Early-Stage Faculty Awardee
Melissa Heatly, PhD, a clinical child and adolescent psychologist and assistant professor of Psychiatry, is dedicated to designing, implementing, and scaling accessible school mental health systems. Through her work with the Rochester City School District (RCSD), she has dramatically improved access to mental healthcare for children and youth who are among our most vulnerable because of poverty and social drivers of health.
Heatly chose RCSD as her primary community partner.
URochester Medicine Food Pantry, Team Awardee
The URochester Medicine Food Pantry, the first hospital-based emergency food pantry of its kind in the Finger Lakes region, has successfully scaled a small pilot project into a sustainable program serving patients across URochester Medicine. The pantry has provided critical food supply to patients and their households more than 7,600 times since its launch.
Foodlink is the food pantry's primary community partner.
Team members include:
- Taylor Harrison, manager of programs and projects, HEPSO
- Aldwin O. Perez, guest services specialist
- Sarah Goodenough, department program specialist, HEPSO
- Colin Lemke, stockkeeper, Food & Nutrition Services
- Meichelene “Shelley” Barker, manager, Food & Nutrition Services
Tanisha Gamble-Snead, LMSW, Staff Awardee
Tanisha Gamble-Snead, LMSW, senior project manager at the Health Equity Program Support Office, coordinates the Navigating Health Care Equitably program. Under her guidance, the program focuses on three essential pillars: Digital Health Education and Navigation Training, Primary Care Accessibility, and Language Accessibility.
Gamble-Snead chose the Community Health Workers Association of Rochester as her primary community partner.
Read more about each awardee and their impactful work.
Special Public Health Grand Rounds
Keynote Speaker: Daniel E. Dawes, JD, senior vice president of Global Health and founding dean of the School of Global Health at Meharry Medical College
Presentation: "Too Close to Fail: An Examination of the Political Determinants of Health"
It has been more than two decades since the National Academy of Medicine released its groundbreaking report, Unequal Treatment, which highlighted striking disparities in health status and care, and over 25 years since Surgeon General David Satcher, MD, PhD, issued several reports calling for the elimination as opposed to reduction, of health disparities. Yet today we have realized limited success in developing effective interventions at multiple levels to advance population health.
As we strive to realize a healthier society and move forward with transforming our health systems to become more equitable and inclusive, healthcare providers and leaders must understand how the social and political determinants of health have worked overtime in the United States and the current and future trends that will hinder or advance population health.Dawes is a widely respected healthcare and public health leader, health policy expert, educator, and researcher who serves as senior vice president of Global Health and founding dean of the School of Global Health at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. Prior to this, he served as professor of health law, policy, and management, vice president, and executive director of the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia. He is the author of two groundbreaking health policy books, 150 Years of ObamaCare and The Political Determinants of Health, both published by Johns Hopkins University Press.
Established in 2010, the Satcher Community Health Improvement Awards recognizes University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) faculty and staff for significant contributions to the health of our communities through research, teaching, practice, and/or service programs.
The awards reflect the mission of the Center for Community Health & Prevention and the URMC to develop and expand community-university partnerships that support community-engaged research and interventions that reduce health inequities and improve communities' health. Awards are made based on work done in the greater Rochester area and Finger Lakes region.
Efforts to improve the health of the Rochester community are deeply rooted in the history of the University of Rochester. It started in the 1920s, when the Medical Center’s original benefactor, George Eastman agreed to fund a medical school with the caveat that the school use its skills and talents “to make Rochester one of the healthiest communities in the world.” His vision has shaped an enduring legacy of commitment to improve the health of the Rochester community.
The CCHP appreciates the support of our partners in the UR Clinical and Translational Science Institute and the Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health Sciences.
Past Events
The 16th annual Dr. David Satcher Community Health Improvement Awards took place May 9. The event honored URMC faculty and staff for their contributions to advancing community health and health equity in our region.
The keynote address, titled "Engaging Community and Health Partners in Designing and Delivering Large-Scale Health Interventions for Increased Reach, Influence and Impact," was presented by Jannette Berkley-Patton, PhD, professor in the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) School of Medicine Biomedical and Health Informatics Department and director of the UMKC Health Equity Institute.
Her expertise is in engaging African American communities and health agencies in testing and disseminating large-scale prevention, health screening, and linkage to care interventions. These culturally tailored, community-engaged interventions have focused on diabetes, COVID-19, HIV/STI, mental health, dementia, and more in socially vulnerable Kansas City communities with multi-sectoral community partnerships, particularly in African American faith-based settings.
Watch the full award event and special Public Health Grand Rounds.
Awardees
Charles Kamen, PhD, MPH, Senior Faculty Awardee
Charles Kamen, PhD, MPH, is an associate professor in the Department of Surgery and Psychiatry in the Division of Cancer Control at the University of Rochester Medical Center. He also serves as associate director for Community Outreach and Engagement at the Wilmot Cancer Institute and chair of Health Equity Research for the University of Rochester Cancer Center NCI Community Oncology Research Program Research Base.
He is a clinical psychologist by training, and his program of research focuses on cancer-related health disparities affecting sexual and gender minority and other minoritized cancer survivors. He has also contributed to the development of a range of behavioral interventions with the goal of improving the health and well-being of cancer patients, survivors, and their caregivers.
Wyatte C. Hall, PhD, Early-Stage Faculty Awardee
Wyatte Hall, MA, PhD, is an assistant professor of Public Health Sciences at the University of Rochester Medical Center. He directs the NIH-funded Visual Language Access and Acquisition Lab which explores the relationship between early childhood language experiences and quality of life outcomes across the lifespan in deaf populations.
Dr. Hall also co-directs the NIH-funded Future Deaf Scientists program, a STEM internship for Deaf high school students. Finally, he directs the Language Deprivation track of the Deaf Child Resilience Center at Gallaudet University.
Dr. Hall has over 30 publications and book chapters, has given over 150 public presentations, and is co-editor of the volume “Language Deprivation and Deaf Mental Health.”
Past Recipients
See a full list of former Dr. David Satcher Community Health Improvement awardees.
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