2019 Distinguished Alumna/us Recipients

Hareb Al-Darmaki, SAIS B’75, ’76
He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Economics and Political Science from Bristol University in the United Kingdom, and a Master's Degree in International Studies from Johns Hopkins University – SAIS in 1976, after spending his first year in Bologna and the second one in Washington, DC.  Hareb Al-Darmaki has been with the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) since 1976, joining as the Director of the Bond & Equity Department. His current responsibilities include portfolio management, asset allocation, strategic decisions and broad financial analysis. He is currently the Advisor - Managing Director's office at ADIA. On July 16, 2018, he received the CFA Institute Prize for “Outstanding Leadership, Service, and Professional Excellence.” (The awards, bestowed by the CFA Institute Board of Governors, recognize individuals in the CFA Institute community for their exemplary leadership, impactful contributions, longstanding service, and commitment to ethics.) This award underscores his exemplary achievements, excellence of practice and leadership, which have inspired and reflected honor upon the profession in which he serves.

Ruth Barnard, Nurs ’58
In 2001 after retiring from a successful career in nursing research and nursing education, Ruth decided to lead the effort to start a school of nursing in Haiti, where the Presbyterian Church USA has been involved in a medical mission. The M.D. head of the hospital had asked for help in doing this. Ruth shared her experience with classmates during her 60th class reunion, “I told my Pastor that I would try. I traveled a lot and sought help and advice from many, including the M.D. hospital director, the Episcopal Bishop, and the Episcopal University Rector.” She knew Haiti needed nurses when she found out there were four doctors per nurse. The FSIL opened in 2005 as a school in the Episcopal University of Haiti. While there was funding for the buildings, there was no money for program expenses so the Haiti Nursing Foundation was started. The first class graduated in 2009. As of fall 2017, there have been 170 BSN graduates and 16 Masters as nurse practitioners, the first graduate program in the school.

Colleen T. Cutcliffe, BSPH ’04
Colleen Cutcliffe (formerly Colleen Tsui) is a rising star in the biotechnology sector with over 15 years of experience leading and managing biology teams in academia, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. Colleen was a graduate student in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in the School of Public Health from 1998-2003. Her PhD thesis focused on the molecular mechanisms of ubiquitin signaling and was completed with the late Cecile Pickart. She subsequently completed postdoctoral studies in cancer biology with Elizabeth Perlman at the Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago. Following postdoctoral studies, Colleen worked as a Scientist in the Parkinson's Disease Discovery Group at Elan Pharmaceuticals before serving as Senior Manager of Biology at Pacific Biosciences. Colleen is currently CEO and Director of Whole Biome, a biotech startup located in San Francisco that has received funding from the Mayo Clinic, Sequoia, Khosla Ventures and others. Whole Biome, which Colleen co-founded, is focused on developing novel classes of interventions, therapeutics and diagnostics that target the human microbiome to treat disease and improve lives. Whole Biome has been listed in the “Top 20 Companies to Watch” in Biotech SF and in the “Top 10 AI companies in Biology” in the Bloomberg Report. In addition to her position at Whole Biome, Colleen is the Chair of the Jeanie Ritchie Grant Foundation and serves on the Board of Directors of the Menlo Park-Atherton Education Foundation. Lastly, Colleen is an advocate for women in scienctific careers. She participated at a Women in Bio alumni meetup event sponsored by Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures and can be seen speaking on the topic on the Career Girls YouTube channel.

Alan Hofmann, A&S ’52, Med ’55
Alan F. Hofmann, M.D., is a gastrointestinal physiologist, biochemist, and clinical investigator, notable for his extensive research on bile acids and lipid digestion. Since 1977, he has been in the Division of Gastroenterology at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) where he is currently professor emeritus of medicine.  As one of the most important GI investigators, he has been instrumental in defining the chemical nature of bile acids and their structures, and how bile acids form micelles to initiate fat digestion. He identified multiple functions of the entero-hepatic circulation of bile acids, discovered the mechanism of post-ileal resection or ileal disease related diarrhea and developed a therapy. He aided in the development of the bile acid sequestrant colesevelam that is used to treat primary and secondary bile acid diarrhea, as well as to lower plasma cholesterol levels. In addition, he is credited with starting translational studies in the GI divisions at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota and at UCSD.  He has been inspirational as a teacher and helped many young GI investigators initiate successful research careers. He has received every major research prize in gastroenterology including the Friedenwald Medal and the Beaumont Prize of the American Gastroenterological Association, both given for outstanding contributions to gastroenterology. He has also received an honorary degree from the University of Bologna in Italy as well as held many visiting lectureships. He has influenced and mentored many researchers with his ideas, knowledge, and support. The high point each year in the Johns Hopkins Medicine GI Division is a day of science supported by the Hofmann Lectureship, which
he endowed.
 
Shalon Irving, BSPH ’09  (posthumous)        
Shalon Irving (MPH ’09) was a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, working as an epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Epidemic Intelligence Service. She dedicated her life to understanding how structural inequality, trauma, and violence affect health over a lifetime. Her specific focus was on the elimination of racial disparities in health through the development and implementation of community-based participatory approaches to health improvement, with specific emphasis on improving health outcomes for urban African–American women from their adolescence to middle-adulthood.  Dr. Irving earned a dual doctorate in sociology and gerontology from Purdue University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Kellogg Health Scholars Program at Morgan State University. After receiving her M.P.H. at Johns Hopkins, she worked on the front lines helping at-risk infants, teenage girls, and mothers with HIV/AIDS. She was passionate about improving food and housing security to reduce people's risk for high blood pressure and other cardiovascular problems. Dr. Irving then joined the CDC's Division of Violence Prevention, refocusing on issues around trauma and domestic abuse — a mission she saw as "liberating" for African-American women. She also started a coaching business called Inclusivity Standard to advise young people from disadvantaged backgrounds who wanted to get into college or graduate school and organizations seeking to become more diverse.  Devastatingly, she passed away unexpectedly in 2017, just three weeks after giving birth; calling attention to one of the widest of all racial disparities in women’s health, disproportionately high rates of maternal mortality among black women in the U.S.  Her shocking story was featured by NPR.  In February 2019, the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Equity and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Alumni Office, along with friends and family of Dr. Irving, are planning a Maternal Health Disparity Symposium to bring to light the continued work needed in this area.

Kevin Kenner, Peab ’86, ’89
Kevin Kenner (BM ’86, MM ’89, AD ’89, Piano) studied at Peabody with Leon Fleisher, and has been praised by The Chicago Tribune as "one of the finest American pianists to come along in years” and by the Washington post as "a major talent... an artist whose intellect, imagination and pianism speak powerfully and eloquently." Kenner has won numerous prestigious awards, including the top prize at the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw, the International Terrence Judd Award in London, and third prize at the Tchaikovsky International Competition in Moscow. Other awards include those from the Van Cliburn International Competition and the Gina Bachauer International Competition. Kenner has served on the juries of some of the most celebrated international piano competitions, including the Chopin and the Busoni international competitions. Kenner performs both as a soloist and with the world’s leading chamber musicians. He has gained a reputation as a superlative performer on period instruments, recording and appearing in concert with the Orchestra of the 18th Century. His recording of Chopin’s works on an 1848 Pleyel earned him praise from the French classical music magazine Diapason. His recent CD "Chopin Resonances" was Gramophone Magazine’s Editor’s Choice and was nominated for the International Classical Music Awards in France.  His recordings of Piazzolla concert works (2006) and later Paderewski concert works (2011) earned him CD of the Year by the Polish Phonographic Society, and his most recent CD of Paderewski’s solo piano works (2018) was featured as CD of the Month by Gramophone. Kenner has been teaching at the Frost School of Music since 2015.  Previously, he taught for 11 years at the Royal College of Music in London, and has served as Visiting Professor at the Academy of Music in Łódź, Poland, where he was recently awarded an honorary doctorate.

Eunice S.  King, Nurs ’87
In fall 2018, Eunice celebrated her 50th class reunion.  During Alumni Weekend, Eunice described that to her, being a Hopkins nurse means, “constantly striving to deliver the highest quality of evidence-based health care, questioning the ‘status quo’ and looking for better solutions, and being an assertive member of the health care team.”  Eunice exemplifies these values of Hopkins nurse.  Throughout her career, Eunice has spent time as a psychiatric nursing clinical specialist, a faculty member, and behavioral researcher.  She is currently a Senior Program Officer & Director of Research and Evaluation at the Independence Foundation in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Eunice has always been an advocate of advanced practice nursing. After graduating, she received an alumni scholarship from the school and made a promise to “pay it back some day.”  Giving back is a passion of Eunice and her family.  As a celebration of her birthday and class reunion, her family established a scholarship in her name and the Eunice King Student Nurse award given out at its annual gala, Evening with the Stars. Eunice exudes integrity, hard work and respect.  She is described by classmates as a, “role model to all nurses” and during Alumni Weekend, she was recognized by her fellow classmates to receive the Class of 1968 Award.

Beth McCord Kobett, Ed ’92, EdD ’16
An outstanding teacher as well as an accomplished author, Beth McCord Kobett has received numerous awards for teaching, including the Rose Dawson Excellence in Teaching Award at Stevenson University (2003 & 2013); the Mathematics Educator of the Year Award from the Maryland Council of Teachers of Mathematics (2000); and the Johns Hopkins University Excellence in Teaching Award (1997). She is currently associate professor in the School of Education at Stevenson University, where she works with pre-service teachers and leads professional learning efforts in mathematics education, both regionally and nationally. Her publications include The Mathematics Lesson Planning Handbook and Mathematics Coaching: Resources and Tools for Coaches and Leaders. She is also the lead consultant for the Elementary Mathematics Specialists and Teacher Leaders Project. Beth serves on the Board of Directors for the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and is the former president of the Association for Maryland Mathematics Teacher Educators, where she continues to co-chair the association’s annual conference.

Andrew Lees, A&S ’84, Med PGF ’88
Andrew Lees, Ph.D., is founder and scientific director of Fina Biosolutions, LLC (Rockville, Md.), a company focused on promoting affordable conjugate vaccines by making the technology available to emerging market vaccine manufacturers. Among his contributions in the field, Lees developed an efficient linking chemistry, which is widely used in conjugate vaccines, a class that includes vaccines for S. pneumoniae and meningococcal disease. The chemistry has helped to reduce the cost of these vaccines.  Prior to starting Fina Biosolutions in 2006, he was director of vaccine development at biotech companies Virion Systems (1993-1999) and Biosynexus (1999-2006). He was also an associate research professor at the Uniformed Services University (1993-1999). Lees is now an associate professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine Center for Vaccine Development (part-time), an adjunct professor at the Uniformed Services University’s Department of Medicine, and at the University of Toledo’s Department of Chemistry.  He has over 70 publications and 25 patents, mainly in the area of conjugate vaccines. He received his B.S. in chemistry from Harvey Mudd College in chemistry (1976) and his Ph.D. in biophysics from The Johns Hopkins University (1984). Honors include the Uniformed Services Meritorious Service Award and Harvey Mudd College Outstanding Alumni Award. On graduating from Hopkins, he was on the cover of Baltimore Magazine as one of “84 people to watch in ’84,” due to his role as a leading Baltimore area magician.
 
Brett D. Nelson, BSPH ’04, Med ’05
Brett Nelson, M.D., M.P.H., D.T.M.&H. is committed to a life of improving the health of newborns, children, and mothers worldwide through research, innovation, and advocacy for vulnerable populations, particularly newborns and children in settings affected by poverty, conflict, or disaster.  Since the early 1990s, Nelson has been involved in clinical care, academic research, program management, and global health consultancy in dozens of disrupted and resource-limited areas while working for organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control, Médecins Sans Frontières, UNICEF, International Rescue Committee, International Red Cross and Red Crescent, Johns Hopkins University, and Harvard University. He helped establish the United States’ first Pediatric Global Health Fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital and was its first fellow. Recently in Liberia, Nelson served as the country’s senior pediatrician and as the chair of pediatrics and newborn medicine for the country’s sole teaching hospital. He currently leads newborn and child health programs in several countries in East and West Africa.  Nelson works clinically as a newborn hospitalist, he leads several global health initiatives, and he directs a popular course at Harvard Medical School on global health and tropical medicine. In addition to his degrees from the Johns Hopkins University, he holds a diploma degree in tropical medicine from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Nelson has published two textbooks, including the new Wiley-Blackwell medical textbook, Essential Clinical Global Health, and over 80 peer-reviewed articles.

Krishnan Rajagopalan, Engr ’82, ’83
Mr. Krishnan Rajagopalan is a well-respected and highly influential executive recruiter who is currently serving as president and CEO for Heidrick & Struggles, an international recruitment firm, which in addition to its executive search practice has a consulting practice focused on leadership and shaping corporate culture. Business Week has recognized him as one of the “100 Most Influential Executive Recruiters in the World.”  Mr. Rajagopalan formerly led Heidrick & Struggles’ global Executive Search business unit. Earlier, he led the firm’s Global Technology & Services practice. Mr. Rajagopalan’s personal practice focuses on global searches at the C-suite and board levels. He works across a variety of industries including technology, services, software and private equity. Prior to joining Heidrick & Struggles, Mr. Rajagopalan was a vice president and partner with A.T. Kearney Consulting.  During Mr. Rajagopalan’s tenure with A.T. Kearney, he focused on strategy, operations, procurement, and e-business across a wide array of industries, including technology services and manufacturing.  Prior to joining A.T. Kearney, Mr. Rajagopalan was a consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers in its strategic management-consulting group.  Before embarking on his consulting career, Mr. Rajagopalan was a lead engineer with Harris Corporation in the commercial satellite communications arena. Mr. Rajagopalan received a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree, both in Electrical Engineering, from Johns Hopkins University and a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Chicago. In addition to his exemplary career, Mr. Rajagopalan is a dedicated supporter of Johns Hopkins and the Whiting School of Engineering. He has contributed significantly to the Dean’s Leadership Fund. Mr. Rajagopalan is also member of the Whiting School of Engineering Advisory Board where he has served as a trusted advisor to the dean and an international ambassador for the School, having connected with alumni in several countries.  

Linda Rosenstock, Med ’77, BSPH ’77
Linda Rosenstock, M.D., M.P.H., is former Dean of the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health (2000-2012) where she currently holds appointments as professor in the departments of Medicine, Health Policy & Management, and Environmental Health Sciences. She is a recognized authority in occupational and environmental health as well as global public health and science policy.  Previously, Rosenstock served as the director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, where she led a staff of 1,500 at the only federal agency mandated to undertake research and prevention activities in occupational safety and health. She was instrumental in creating the National Occupational Research Agenda, a framework for guiding occupational safety and health research. She expanded the agency’s responsibilities, staff size, and budget – doubling the Institute’s annual appropriations. In recognition of her efforts, Rosenstock received the Presidential Distinguished Executive Rank Award, the highest executive service award in the government.  Rosenstock has been active in teaching and research in many developing countries and has served as an advisor to the World Health Organization. Rosenstock chaired the United Auto Workers/General Motors Occupational Health Advisory Board, is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine. Rosenstock is past Chair of the Association of Schools of Public Health and past President of the Society of Medical Administrators. In 2011, President Barack Obama appointed her to the Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion and Integrative and Public Health.

Marschall Runge, Med ’84, PGF ’85
Marschall S. Runge, M.D., Ph.D., is executive vice president for Medical Affairs at the University of Michigan, dean of the Medical School, and CEO of Michigan Medicine. Prior to joining the University of Michigan in March 2015, he was executive dean and chair of the Department of Medicine at the UNC School of Medicine, where he was instrumental in guiding the academic and clinical leadership of the School of Medicine and the UNC Health Care System. He was also principal investigator and director of the North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences (NC TraCS) Institute at UNC-Chapel Hill. He was elected to the board of directors of Eli Lilly and Company in 2013.  Before joining the UNC faculty in 2000, Runge held the John Sealy Distinguished Chair in Internal Medicine and was director of the Division of Cardiology and the Sealy Center for Molecular Cardiology at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.  Runge earned his doctorate in molecular biology at Vanderbilt University and his medical degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he also completed a residency in internal medicine. He was a cardiology fellow and faculty member at Harvard’s Massachusetts General Hospital before joining Emory University as an associate professor of medicine in 1989. Runge has been a physician-scientist for his entire career, combining basic and translational research with the care of patients with cardiovascular diseases and education. He is the author of over 200 publications in the field and holds five patents for novel approaches to health care.
 
Rita Thapa, BSPH ’65
Dr. Rita Thapa’s career spans 56 years now of distinguished leadership in maternal and child health, primary health care, and community health in Nepal and internationally. She earned her MPH from Johns Hopkins in 1965, and is widely known as the visionary and founder of Nepal’s primary health care system, which has been responsible for making Nepal a global leader in reducing maternal and child mortality in spite of the political turmoil that Nepal has experienced for the past 3 decades. Heading the Community Integration Project in 1975, she created a countrywide network of District Health Offices, Health Posts, Village Health Workers, Mothers’ Groups, and Female Community Health Workers. She is one of the few people still living who attended the famous 1978 International Conference on Primary Health Care at Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan, representing Nepal and signing the Declaration of Alma-Ata, which is now considered the “gold standard” for primary health care programs around the world.  After serving in Nepal’s Ministry of Health for nearly 20 years, she joined in 1986 the World Health Organization in Manila, Geneva and New Delhi, retiring in 2001 as the Director of the Department of Health Systems and Community Health. After retirement, working as Senior Health Policy Advisor, Dr. Rita has contributed to various public health policies, recently in restructuring health services into Federal, Province and Local Municipality levels in 2017, including to Nepal’s Public Health Act 2018. She has been working on non-communicable disease control and research, and many other high-level activities nationally and internationally.  In 2014, she was awarded Honor Plaque by Minister of Health and Population, at a public function for initiating and expanding the Government’s Family Planning-Maternal & Child Health services up to rural areas of Nepal. In 2016 she received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Nepal Public Health Foundation in recognition of her “years of dedicated service in the field of public health and her personal example of leadership and competence of the highest standards of excellence and inspiration to all.” In 2018, Dr. Rita Thapa received Life Time Achievement Award from Perinatal Society of Nepal in recognition of her outstanding contribution and service to Perinatal Health in Nepal. She delivered a keynote speech on the 40th anniversary of the Alma-Ata Declaration at the invitation of Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in September 2018.  

Paul U. Unschuld, BSPH ’74
Dr. Paul U. Unschuld was trained at the Munich University School of Pharmacy. He has a PhD in Chinese studies, and an MPH from JHU (’74). In 1975, Dr. Unschuld was Assistant Professor in the Department of Behavioral Sciences at the School of Hygiene and Public Health of Johns Hopkins University. In 1986 he became Director and Professor at the Research Institute for the History of Medicine at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet in Munich, Germany. He was a Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Berlin 1998. Dr. Unschuld was named Founding Director and Professor of the newly established Horst-Goertz-Institute for the Theory, History, and Ethics of Chinese Life Sciences at Charité-Universitaetsmedizin Berlin in 2006. In 2008 he was elected President of the International Society for the History of East Asian Science, Technology and Medicine. His research focusses on the comparative history of medicine and related life sciences in China and Europe, with a focus on the history of ideas. As a leading Sinologist and expert in ancient medicine, he has published on the history of Chinese medicine, pharmaceutics, and medical ethics. Among his recent publications are Huang Di Nei Jing Ling Shu - The Ancient Classic on Needle Therapy, published by the University of California Press; and The Fall and Rise of China: Healing the Trauma of History, distributed in the USA by Chicago University Press.  He has published over 30 books on these subjects and is the world’s leading expert in ancient Chinese medicine.

Andrea Willis, BSPH ’99
Andrea Willis (MPH ’99) is dedicated to the health of Tennessee’s families. As Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at BlueCross BlueShield Tennessee, she is the standard bearer for clinical excellence and positive health outcomes, ensuring that all clinical initiatives and quality endeavors support members’ needs and contribute to the overall health and well-being of their communities. She is currently overseeing the company’s initiative to combat the opioid crisis in the state and also leads efforts to partner with churches to develop a series of health screening events.  Dr. Willis’ passion for better health and a better health care system stems from her early professional experience as a pediatrician. Within BlueCross, she has served as medical director, advising on care structures for many successful programs, including the CHOICES Long-Term Services and Support program for the state’s Medicaid population, and CoverTennessee, a low-cost insurance plan for uninsured, low-income small business workers and self-employed individuals.  Before joining BlueCross BlueShield, she served the State of Tennessee as director of CoverKids, helping develop Tennessee’s federally approved State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), and served as deputy commissioner for the Tennessee Department of Health.  In 2018, she was recognized by Modern Healthcare as one of 2018’s Top 25 Minority Executives in Healthcare and was also named one of Nashville Business Journal’s 2018 Women of Influence. Dr. Willis, who earned a Doctor of Medicine from Georgetown University School of Medicine, is a fellow with the American Academy of Pediatrics and a member of the Tennessee Medical Association

Jun Wu, Engr ’98, ’03
Dr. Jun Wu is currently a founding partner of Amino Capital, a distinguished visiting professor of Shanghai Jiaotong University, an advisor of China Source, and a member of the Board of Directors at CITIC Press. In the past, Dr. Wu has also served as a senior staff research scientist at Google and a VP of Tencent Technologies. A renowned expert in speech recognition, natural language processing, and web search, Dr. Wu started his career at Google as an engineer and research scientist in 2002. Shortly after joining Google, Dr. Wu received the Google Engineering Award for his contributions to anti-spam in web search. He was the original author of the Chinese/Japanese/Korean search algorithms and later founded the department of Search in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean in 2003.  From 2010-2012, Dr. Wu joined Tencent Technologies as the VP of Search, Infrastructure, Map, and Search Ads. Within merely two years, he boosted the company’s search traffic and revenue six-fold. Dr. Wu rejoined Google in 2012 to initiate projects in automatic question-answering. He launched the first online service for automatic answering of contextual questions. In 2014, Dr. Wu set off on his own to co-found Amino Capital, which has invested in over 100 startup companies to date.  Dr. Wu is a member of the National Advisory Board of the Whiting School of Engineering at Johns Hopkins University and an advisor of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in China. Beyond his engineering accomplishments, Dr. Wu has also authored 10 books, many of which have won prestigious awards. He has published tens of papers and was granted around twenty US and international patents. Dr. Wu obtained a Ph.D. in computer science from Johns Hopkins University, and a B.S.E. in computer science and M.S.E. degree in electronic engineering from Tsinghua University.

Charles Yeo, Med ’79
Charles J. Yeo, M.D., F.A.C.S., received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University and his medical degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. After completing a general surgery residency at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, he joined the faculty as an instructor and assistant chief of service in 1985 and was promoted to professor of surgery in 1996. In 2001, Yeo received the Alumni Association Excellence in Teaching Award. In 2002, he was named the inaugural John L. Cameron, M.D., Professor for Alimentary Tract Diseases.  In 2005, Yeo became the eighth Samuel D. Gross Professor and assumed the chair of the Department of Surgery at Sidney Kimmel Medical College. He currently serves on the board of trustees of Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals, and as senior vice president and chair of Enterprise Surgery for Jefferson Health.  Yeo is the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Pancreatic Cancer and Shackelford’s Surgery of the Alimentary Tract. He has authored over 580 peer-reviewed scientific papers, 115 book chapters, and 25 books. In 2013 he was recognized as one of the top 400 most influential biomedical researchers internationally. He has been the president of the Halsted Society and the vice-president of the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract.  He has performed over 1600 Whipple procedures, and cared for thousands of patients with pancreatic tumors. Yeo’s design and completion of numerous randomized clinical trials have dramatically impacted the field of pancreatic surgery—particularly the pancreaticoduodenectomy. Yeo’s portrait was commissioned and presented to Thomas Jefferson University in 2015, and he was the recipient of the Achievement Award in Medicine in 2017, the highest honor awarded by Thomas Jefferson University.