Shaida Talebreza, MD
The 2015 Hastings Center Cunniff-Dixon Physician Awards in the early career physician category honor Shaida Talebreza Brandon, MD, FAAHPM, HMDC, a geriatrician and palliative care specialist at the George E. Wahlen Salt Lake City Veterans Affairs Medical Center and medical director of Inspiration Hospice, a hospice and palliative care teaching site for the University of Utah. The selection committee praised her work with home-based primary care of veterans. Dr. Talebreza works closely with the VA National Center for Ethics in Health Care to develop new practices for ensuring that the values, goals, and life-sustaining treatment decisions of seriously ill patients
Laura M. Iglesias Lino, MD
The 2015 Hastings Center Cunniff-Dixon Physician Awards in the early career category honor Laura M. Iglesias Lino, MD, medical director for geriatrics and palliative care at Brightwood Health Center and associate medical director for hospice at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Mass. The selection committee praised her for her leadership and for using her skills in geriatrics and palliative care to help Spanish-speaking and other immigrant populations in Springfield. Since early in her career, Dr. Iglesias Lino has found working with vulnerable populations especially rewarding. Naturally drawn to caring for the elderly, she completed her fellowship in geriatrics and saw
Mary K. Buss, MD, MPH
The 2015 Hastings Center Cunniff-Dixon Physician Awards in the early career category honor Mary K. Buss, MD, MPH, a medical oncologist and palliative medicine specialist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, where she built and directs the outpatient palliative care clinic. The selection committee noted that she has “altered the perception of palliative care within the institution” and cited “her role as an important bridge between oncology and palliative care.” Dr. Buss joined the palliative care service at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in 2007 and in 2013 she launched the outpatient palliative care clinic, staffed by a
David N. Korones, MD
The 2015 Hastings Center Cunniff-Dixon Physician Awards in the senior physician category honor David N. Korones, MD, professor of pediatrics, oncology, and neurology at the University of Rochester Medical Center. The selection committee cited his success in advancing palliative care for children with brain tumors, as well as his work caring for children with cancer in Ethiopia and Russia. “David provides the highest level of biological, psychological, social, and spiritual care available,” the committee wrote. Dr. Korones’s focus on treating children and adults with brain tumors taught him the importance of integrating the principles of palliative care into his practice.
Bruce E. Condit, MD, FHM
The 2015 Hastings Center Cunniff-Dixon Physician Awards in the mid-career category honor Bruce E. Condit, MD, FHM, medical director of palliative care and an attending physician at the Central Maine Medical Center and medical director of Androscoggin Home Care and Hospice, an outpatient hospice team, both in Lewiston . The selection committee commended him for “creating something from nothing” by bringing palliative care to urban and rural Maine. Dr. Condit knew little about palliative care during his residency at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston until he discovered that one of his clinic patients had died at home with
Keith M. Swetz, MD, MA, FACP, FAAHPM
The 2016 Hastings Center Cunniff-Dixon Physician Awards in the early-career physician category honor Keith M. Swetz, MD, MA, FACP, FAAHPM, section chief and medical director of palliative care at the Birmingham VA Medical Center and an associate professor at University of Alabama School of Medicine in the division of gerontology, geriatrics, and palliative care. In the specialties of heart failure and palliative care he is respected by colleagues for his expertise, insights, and compassion, and as a role model and an innovator. The selection committee said that Dr. Swetz “is on a clear trajectory to be a future leader in
Rashmi Sharma, MD, MHS
The 2016 Hastings Center Cunniff-Dixon Physician Awards in the early-career physician category honor Rashmi Sharma, MD, MHS, an attending physician on the palliative care consult service and an assistant professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine at the University of Washington, Seattle. Her commitment to improving the quality of end-of-life communication, in particular with cancer patients, drives her clinical work and her research. “Dr. Sharma is already being recognized as someone who is a role model for the trainees at the University of Washington hospital system,” the selection committee wrote. Dr. Sharma’s research focuses on reducing racial/ethnic disparities in
Ross Albert, MD, PHD
The 2016 Hastings Center Cunniff-Dixon Physician Awards in the early-career physician category honor Ross Albert, MD, PhD, chief of palliative medicine at Hartford Hospital and medical director of the Hartford HealthCare at Home hospice and HOPE palliative care teams in Hartford, Ct. The selection committee wrote that because he has worked as a hospitalist, a physician specializing in the general medical care of hospitalized patients, “he is in a key position to influence the care of many patients and to model comprehensive doctoring to his peers.” The physician who nominated Dr. Albert stressed the respect of his colleagues. He said
