D3b Co-director Jay Storm Receives HealthCare Heroes Award
To read the entire announcement, visit http://www.libertymuseum.org/awards/healthcare-heroes/honorees/
THE NATIONAL LIBERTY MUSEUM CELEBRATES OUTSTANDING PHYSICIANS AND RESEARCHERS AT THE FIRST ANNUAL HEALTHCARE HEROES AWARD ON NOVEMBER 19, 2018
The National Liberty Museum hosted the first Healthcare Heroes Awards sponsored by TEVA Pharmaceuticals on Monday, November 19, 2018 with the presentation of four awards. The international awards program recognized inspirational heroes in healthcare research and treatment whose accomplishments have profoundly benefitted their patients, their field, and the global community. The Healthcare Heroes Awards are dedicated to the life and legacy of Richard S. Egosi, former Teva Group Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer who recently lost his battle with Cancer.
The Healthcare Hero in the field of Cancer, awarded to a researcher or practitioner for pioneering work that has propelled forward cancer research and patient health and treatment, was awarded to Dr. Phillip Storm, Chief of the Division of Neurosurgery and Co-Director of the Center for Data Driven Discovery in Biomedicine at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for his transformative work in pediatric brain tumor research and care. The Healthcare Hero in the field of Crohn’s Disease, awarded to a research or practitioner in the field of Crohn’s Disease for pioneering work that has propelled forward Crohn’s disease research and patient health and treatment, will be given to Dr. R. Baltour Sartor, a gastroenterologist at University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, for his unparalleled commitment to finding cures for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases and improving the quality of life for patients. The Healthcare Community Hero Award, awarded to someone whose efforts, particularly in underserved communities, have profoundly impacted the health and well-being of others on a local or global scale, will be given to Dr. Loretta Finnegan for her pediatric efforts in patient care and research in the field of drug dependence. The Healthcare Hero of Israel, given to an Israeli whose life’s work has resulted in breakthroughs in healthcare research, technology, and treatment, will be given to Dr. Michael Joel Bayme, a surgeon at Soroka University Medical Center for his integrity, unwavering moral compass and passion for his job treating trauma patients in Gaza.
“We are honored to support the Teva Pharmaceuticals Healthcare Heroes Awards program which showcases qualities emblematic of the heroes celebrated by the National Liberty Museum. The four honorees not only have demonstrated innovation, entrepreneurial brilliance, and impact in healthcare research and/or treatment; but, have also earned respect and admiration of their professional colleagues, patients and the greater community,” said Brendan O’Grady, EVP and Head of North America Commercial, Teva.
“The Teva Pharmaceuticals Healthcare Heroes Awards honor outstanding individuals who have exhibited the virtues of liberty that are core to the National Liberty Museum’s mission: integrity, empathy, curiosity, creativity, passion, perseverance, innovation and courage,” said Gwen Borowsky, CEO of the National Liberty Museum.
In 2009, alongside fellow, surgeons, oncologists, pathologists and other academics, Dr. Phillip Storm partnered with patients, foundations, and their families to launch a new “open science” collaborative at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, called the Children’s Brain Tumor Network (CBTN), a collaborative, multi-institutional research program dedicated to the study and treatments of childhood brain tumors. Expanding research efforts beyond surgery, the CBTN has developed a network of informatics and “big data” applications which allow researchers from across the world to work together to discover cures. Over the past eight years, the CBTN has created the world largest pediatric brain tumor atlas, which is free and available to access by researchers all over the world. Building on the model of the CBTN, Dr. Storm looked for ways to bridge discovery across adult and pediatric cancer care and research, and in 2017, led the launch of the Philadelphia Coalition for a Cure (PC4C), a first-in-kind cooperative clinical diagnostics and research initiative focused on assessing and developing leading-edge technologies and diagnostic platforms with the goal of streamlining research and precision medicine efforts.
A Crohn’s Disease patient himself, Dr. Balfour Sartor is a physician scientist who has made breakthrough discoveries involving the role played by the bacteria that inhabit the human gut in the onset and progression of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis (together, known as inflammatory bowel diseases, or IBD). Early in his career when IBD was considered an autoimmune disorder, and despite widespread skepticism, Dr. Sartor hypothesized that gut bacteria must have some involvement in causing Crohn’s disease. Today, bacteria’s role in IBD is acknowledged worldwide, and Dr. Sartor’s research continues to unravel how the trillions of bacteria, viruses and fungi that inhabit the human gut (i.e., our “microbiome”) act together with genetic susceptibility and environmental triggers as key links to the onset and progression of IBD. Dr. Sartor is a passionate advocate for supporting research with the greatest potential to improve the health and enhance the quality of life of patients, and is a compassionate and empathetic IBD specialist physician who has been listed among America’s Top Doctors 15 times.
For the past four decades, Dr. Loretta Finnegan’s efforts in patient care and research in the field of drug dependence in underserved communities have profoundly impacted the health and well-being of this special population not only on a local scale but also throughout the world. Beginning her career in a municipal hospital for the poor of Philadelphia, she realized that there were no services for opioid addicted pregnant women in the city and, observing that there was a growing epidemic, she developed a multidisciplinary team of doctors (obstetricians, psychiatrists, pediatricians), social workers, nurses, a nutritionist and a pharmacist to open the Family Center clinic. There she developed the Finnegan Neonatal Abstinence (Withdrawal) Scoring System for the assessment and treatment of the babies which is now used internationally. As she went on to make a greater impact by working at our nation’s premiere research agency, the National Institutes of Health in the Office on Research on Women’s Health, Dr. Finnegan’s innovative, clinical recommendations and her research serve as a foundation for the current clinicians and researchers to learn more about perinatal addiction.
For nearly two decades, Dr. Michael Joel Bayme has honed his skills as a trauma surgeon at Soroka Medical Center, the sole major medical center for the south of the country, merely 20 miles from Gaza at an institution that is the first line hospital receiving wounded IDF and Arab soldiers evacuated by helicopter from Gaza. In addition, Dr. Bayme pursues his career as a breast surgeon, delivering state-of-the-art treatments to a very complex population reflecting the profoundly diverse population of the Negev. Dr. Bayme’s courage as an IDF officer serving on Naval ships during times of peace and war, his commitment to excellence and ongoing innovation and optimization in all aspects of his professional activities, is an inspiration to all his colleagues, student and patients alike.
Richard, S. Egosi, to whom the Healthcare Heroes Awards are dedicated, had a 21-year career with Teva Pharmaceuticals as the Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer, and Company Secretary. Additionally, Mr. Egosi was a member of the Teva Executive Committee and oversaw the legal, compliance, intellectual property, and public policy functions for Teva. The international award was developed to honor Mr. Egosi in a manner that reflects and pays tribute to his life, leadership, and legacy.