Purpose

The Public Health Trailblazer Award recognizes individuals who have made a significant contribution in advancing public health care and injury prevention measures locally, statewide, or nationally.

2023 Recipient

Debra E. Houry, MD, FACEP

Award

The award features the recipient’s name and the ACEP logo. The recipient’s name is inscribed on a master plaque at ACEP Headquarters.

Eligibility

Any member of the College, or any chapter, section, or committee may nominate a member for this award. Nominees must be an ACEP member for at least five years and not received a national ACEP award in the past five years or a Public Health Trailblazer Award previously.

Criteria

The Public Health & Injury Prevention Committee will evaluate all nominations submitted by the deadline. Nominees should have made an outstanding contribution in at least one of these areas:

• Significantly helped to advance the science and/or implementation of public health and injury prevention measures within their community, statewide or nationally.
• Developed or supported a sustainable program that addresses public health and injury prevention within the context of emergency medicine, primary or secondary health care within the community.
• Examples of significant contributions to the specialty and community may include but are not limited to sustainable community outreach regarding public health initiatives or injury prevention programs, rigorous evaluation and/or dissemination of effective initiatives or established programs.

Past Recipients

2022    Harrison Alter, MD, FACEP
2023    Debra E. Houry, MD, FACEP

Entry Procedures

Any ACEP member, chapter, section, or committee who wishes to nominate a candidate should complete a nomination form. Submit the nomination form, nominee’s curriculum vitae, and up to three letters of support through the online nomination form located on the ACEP website. Letters of support are greatly encouraged and are at the discretion of the nominator. Additionally, a nominee should have only one nomination whether from an individual or from a chapter, section, or committee. All entries must be submitted for consideration no later than the publicized deadline. Receipt of each nomination will be confirmed by email. Please follow up if you do not receive a confirmation.

Judging

The Public Health & Injury Prevention Committee will judge the entries, with its recommendation subject to review by the ACEP Board of Directors. The decision of the Board is final, and the Board reserves the right to make no award if there are no nominees of sufficient merit. The Board may also decide to grant the award to more than one individual.