2022 Community Champion Award

Monica Guerrero Vazquez, BSPH 2018
Monica is the Executive Director of Centro SOL at the Johns Hopkins Center for Salud/Health and Opportunities for Latinos. Mónica Guerrero Vázquez, MPH ‘18 is an advocate for the wellbeing of Baltimore’s Latino community who works to promote equity in both health and opportunities for her community, leading programs that serve families in Baltimore at Centro Sol since its founding in 2014.  Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Guerrero Vázquez has led mental health initiatives and coronavirus education campaigns through Centro SOL for Baltimore’s Latino community. She is committed to the organization’s vision that all Latinos receive culturally appropriate healthcare that acknowledges the diversity of the community and respects the dignity of everyone.  Guerrero Vázquez's work draws on her own experiences as she helps others face pain and adversity. She brings a passion for human development that arose from her personal experience as an immigrant from Ecuador, and personally understands how trauma can inform healthcare outcomes. A member of Baltimore’s Trauma-Informed Care Task Force, she is working on a multi-year strategy to inform city policies and procedures to align with best practices of trauma-informed care. Guerrero Vázquez has also been serving as Commissioner for the Maryland Governor's Commission on Suicide Prevention for two years.  

Adam Milam, A&S 2008, BSPH 2009, 2021
Adam Milam, MD, PhD, graduated from the Krieger School of Arts & Science with a bachelor’s degree in public health studies and the history of science, medicine and technology. He received a Master of Health Science and PhD from the Department of Mental Health at the Bloomberg School of Public Health. While at the Bloomberg School, where he received a Master of Health Sciences and PhD from the Department of Mental Health, Milam served as an epidemiologist with the Baltimore City Health Department. He completed his residency in anesthesiology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, becoming the first Black chief resident in the program’s history. Currently, he’s a cardiothoracic anesthesiology fellow at Cleveland Clinic.   Throughout his career, Milam’s work has focused on mentorship, community outreach, and boosting diversity in medicine. As chief resident, he and a colleague arranged for the hospital to provide financial support for underrepresented minority medical students doing short-term rotations in the department; the stipends helped to offset travel and housing costs in Los Angeles.   Milam holds a part-time faculty appointment at BSPH, where his research is rooted in practices, policies, and interventions to address health disparities and health inequities. Dr. Milam has published over 70 peer-reviewed publications and has more than 75 national and international presentations. His research has been featured in leading public health journals as well as Rolling Stone and US News & World Report. His work has been used to guide local and state legislation that promote health equity.   
 

Abby Wasserman, Med 1970
Dr. Abby Wasserman, B.A. 1967, M.D. 1970, has been the Clinical Director of Westchester County's only Crisis Prevention and Response Team (CPRT) for over a decade. Child and adolescent psychiatrists of Dr. Wasserman's experience and caliber are rare, especially for children and families contending with social determinants of health such as poverty, immigration, incarceration, racism, and housing insecurity. Dr. Wasserman's appreciation of the impact of these forces, combined with her unparalleled clinical acumen, has engendered trust and healing among those she serves. The success and growth of the CPRT under the leadership of Dr. Wasserman has resulted in an exciting new expansion of this service, which will soon handle 911 calls for psychiatric crises, and which will also be assuming local responsibility for a 988 suicide hotline. Dr. Wasserman is also an invaluable resource for consultation by therapists, pediatricians, child welfare workers, probation officers, and first responders. Under her leadership, the CPRT has been on the front lines of disasters such as floods, hurricanes, school stabbings, a train collision, and most recently, a pandemic. Dr. Wasserman's longstanding commitment and dedication to her community is manifest in her active participation at the county's eight Community Networks, which meet monthly. She is an enthusiastic partner and advocate for grassroots initiatives that further the emotional health and well-being of those most in need, and her vision for a comprehensive and resilient healthcare ecosystem continues to improve the well-being of all Westchester County residents.