Meet the 2025 Annual Faculty and Staff Award Recipients
At the end of each academic year, the school recognizes faculty and staff for their excellence in mentoring, teaching and service nominated by the school community and decided upon by the School’s Awards Committee.
Stanley L. Robbins Award for Excellence in Teaching
Christine Phillips, MD – An assistant professor of medicine and primary care physician at Boston Medical Center, Phillips specializes in general internal medicine with a focus on student and resident education and the development of clinical skills. She serves as a co-course director for Doctoring 1 and 2 and is director of the Clinical Skills and Simulation Clinic. In this role, she helped to redesign the preclinical curriculum with emphasis on physical diagnosis, clinical reasoning and communication skills. To ensure medical students receive early and continuous training in these domains, she has incorporated simulation-based learning and hybrid clinical scenarios with the use of skills trainers providing students with a more hands-on approach to mastering physical diagnosis.
Described by a colleague as an exceptional scholar, educator and innovator in medical student education, Phillips has made a lasting impact on medical student education through innovative curriculum development, scholarly dissemination and exceptional teaching. “Dr. Phillips’ invaluable leadership in curriculum development, thoughtful mentorship of students and other educators, demonstrate the significant impact she has had on medical student education at our institution,” they said.
Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine
David Harrison, MD – An assistant professor of obstetrics & gynecology (OB/GYN), Harrison is an attending OB/GYN at Boston Medical Center since 1988. According to a colleague, Harrison best demonstrates The Gold Foundation’s ideals of integrity, excellence, collaboration and compassion, altruism, respect and resilience, empathy, and service as shown by his outstanding compassion in the delivery of care, respect for patients, their families, and healthcare colleagues, serving as a role model for students and other trainees, and demonstrated clinical excellence.
“Dr. Harrison is one of the most dedicated providers, repeatedly showing up for his patients when they need him, patiently guiding learners and new providers as they explore clinical decision making, and leaving an impression on learners, providers, and patients that is memorable and positive.”
Educator of the Year, Pre-Clerkship
Aaron W. Young, PhD – An assistant professor of pharmacology, physiology & biophysics, he serves as assistant director of the MS in Oral Health Sciences program. Prior to coming to BU, he completed his undergraduate (HBMSc) and graduate (PhD) training in Canada; both in physiology & pharmacology. His previous research experience centered on respiratory, cardiovascular and exercise physiology in a clinical setting, working with athletes and chronic lung disease patients.
According to a colleague, his passion for teaching and for being extremely student-centric is impressive and unwavering, and he will go above and beyond to make sure students understand a topic or mechanism. “His ability to use feedback to create better courses is amazing and admirable.”
Educator of the Year, Clinical
Christine Crawford, MD – An adult, child and adolescent psychiatrist who sees patients in the Boston Medical Center Child & Adolescent Outpatient Psychiatry Clinic, she serves as vice chair of education in the department of psychiatry and its director of medical student education. She completed her adult psychiatry residency as well as child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship training at Massachusetts General Hospital/McLean Hospital.
Crawford has received consistent feedback from students that her energy and engagement are infectious, and many students have said that she inspired them to pursue psychiatry as a career. “She often challenges students to think about patients holistically, including pushing them to incorporate social, economic and cultural factors into their assessments of patients,” said her nominator.
Educator of the Year, MA/MS Programs
Elizabeth Duffy, MA – An assistant professor of pathology & laboratory medicine, she is director of the MS in Pathology Laboratory Sciences program and director of the Laboratory and Biorepository Research Services Core at Boston Medical Center.
A colleague who has worked closely with Duffy has witnessed her excellent teaching style, professionalism and connection with the students. “She is thoughtful, generous with her time, engaging and stimulates discussion and welcomes the students to speak up and participate. Professor Duffy always gives constructive feedback which her students clearly enjoy.”
Educator of the Year, PhD Programs
Barbara Schreiber, PhD – An associate professor of biochemistry & cell biology and assistant dean of alumni affairs in Graduate Medical Sciences (GMS), Schreiber directs graduate studies in the department of biochemistry & cell biology and is past director of the PhD Program in Biomedical Sciences (PiBS). She is course director for a professional skills course taught to first year PiBS students and also directs the biochemistry class taught to first-year Goldman School of Dental Medicine DMD and GMS Oral Health Sciences students.
“Schreiber has worked tirelessly in GMS education for years teaching class, serving as the biochemistry program director and director of the Program in Biomedical Sciences. She is more than worthy of this award,” said a nominator.
Resident Educator of the Year
Isa Jacoba, MD – A fourth-year resident in pathology & laboratory medicine at Boston Medical Center, for the past three years, Jacoba has served as the principal liaison for third- and fourth-year medical students coming into the pathology & laboratory medicine for their clerkships.
Described as friendly, kind, effective, efficient and a clear communicator, she is a true role model of professionalism. According to her nominator, “Dr. Jacoba teaches by example as well as in formal settings, at the microscope, in the surgical pathology dissection laboratory, in formal didactics and lectures in the classroom. Her teaching skills shine out with her knowledge and engaging manner, encouraging students to participate in a safe space, ask questions and seek out answers.”
Excellence in Research Mentorship, GMS
Neil J. Ganem, PhD – An associate professor of pharmacology, physiology & biophysics, Ganem received his PhD in biochemistry from the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth where he studied mechanisms of mitotic spindle assembly and chromosome movement in the lab of Duane Compton, PhD. His laboratory uses a combination of high-resolution microscopy, genome-wide RNAi screening, cell biology and bioinformatics to study the causes and consequences of genome instability in human cancer.
Described by a student nominator as a brilliant scientist and leader in the field of genomic instability and cancer biology, one of his most remarkable qualities as a mentor is his ability to connect with trainees and offer personalized guidance to help students achieve their goals. “Dr. Ganem has established a highly collaborative and welcoming lab environment where students of all levels can learn and conduct research. He routinely encourages us to take ownership over our projects, think creatively and ask important questions, while also providing guidance in carrying out rigorous and thoughtful scientific research.”
Excellence in Research Mentorship, MD Program
Charlene Ong, MD, MPHS – An assistant professor of neurology and neurosurgery, and clinical neuro-intensivist at Boston Medical Center, Ong’s research focuses on the development and validation of data-driven tools to support clinical decision making in patients with catastrophic neurologic injury including ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, traumatic brain injury and anoxic brain injury. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania, MD from Columbia University and Master of Population Health Sciences at Washington University School of Medicine.
According to a student nominator, she is an exceptional mentor who has gone above and beyond to guide, support and inspire her mentees. “Her dedication to mentorship, commitment to fostering future physician-scientists and ability to inspire curiosity and critical thinking make her truly deserving of this recognition.”
Excellence in Faculty Mentorship, Early-Career Faculty
Heather Hsu, MD, MPH – An assistant professor of pediatrics and a pediatric hospitalist at BMC, Hsu also serves as the scientific director of BMC’s Clinical Data Warehouse for Research. Her research interests center around the impact of value-based care environments on health outcomes and the financial wellbeing of essential hospitals, particularly in the areas of infectious diseases and substance use.
According to Hsu’s nominator, her mentorship has been invaluable for career growth. “As a research project mentor to me, Heather fostered space for my creativity, was incredibly responsive and made herself available for regular meetings to provide very helpful feedback. She also continues to serve as a peer mentor to me, giving me advice on navigating academia and the challenges of conducting research.”
Excellence in Faculty Mentorship, Senior Faculty
Craig Noronha, MD – A clinical associate professor of medicine and associate chief for education for the section of general internal medicine at Boston Medical Center, Noronha also is associate program director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program and has held key leadership positions in residency education, including director of ambulatory education, director of quality improvement and patient safety education and director of professional development. He currently co-leads a department of medicine initiative aimed at improving feedback across all departmental members.
According to his nominator, Noronha has sought to use his experience and the challenges he has faced in his career to help empower both junior faculty members and his peers. He actively seeks out opportunities to work with colleagues and to help them define and achieve their professional goals.
Community Service & Engagement
Kaku So-Armah, PhD – An associate professor of medicine, So-Armah is an epidemiologist with expertise in cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of cohort studies and use of electronic health record data for research. His lab uses molecular biology coupled with data on health behaviors, risk factors and disease diagnoses to identify and explain novel epidemiological associations and identify novel intervention targets.
He engages with patient populations who have been historically excluded from informed participation in biomedical research and who live in resource-limited settings. So-Armah’s long-term goal is to translate the growing understanding of the mechanisms of excess HIV and substance use-related comorbid disease risk into effective, sustainable interventions.
According to his nominator, So-Armah has worked to increase pathways for underrepresented trainees to enter the field of HIV research through both mentorship and formal programs. “Dr. So-Armah advocates for the recruitment of underrepresented students and ensures the course content is representative of our diverse clinical faculty. He also takes every opportunity to provide mentorship to underrepresented faculty and students.”
Above and Beyond Staff Award
Laura Anastasi – The administrative director of the geriatrics section in the department of medicine, Anastasi joined the section in 1986 and has held various roles including administrative manager (2004-2005), financial manager (2005-2014) and section administrator (2014-2015) before assuming her current role in 2015.
In 2013 she received the inaugural George Rosenthal Award for Service Excellence within the Geriatrics Section. In 2014 she received the department of medicine’s Administration Award for Outstanding Achievement, and in 2023 she won the STARDoM Award for recognition of service, thoughtfulness, extraordinary dedication and overall excellence within the department of medicine.
According to her nominator, Laura’s excellence, passion and dedication to the geriatrics section, and more generally to the department and university, has been apparent year in and year out. “She has an exemplary work ethic and customer service expertise. I consider her a role model in this respect and am proud to have her as a colleague.”
Nicholas J. DiPersio – The executive director of finance, administration & operations for the Framingham Heart Study (FHS), DiPersio oversees all aspects of financial planning and analysis for the FHS Center’s portfolio of sponsored programs and institutional accounts. He also oversees administration—including human resources—and operations for an organization of approximately 75 employees.
His role is centered on strategic decision-making, ensuring the organization remains properly staffed, financially sound and operationally efficient. He collaborates closely with FHS leadership to drive key initiatives, enhance organizational effectiveness and align resources with long-term objectives and urgent priorities. While he provides direct leadership to the administrative and financial teams, he also maintains broad oversight of the entire organization through structured reporting lines.
According to his nominator, through his tireless efforts, thoughtful guidance, skilled management and service leadership, DiPersio is truly an exemplary staff member. “He exemplifies all of the criteria described in this award and consistently exceeds expectations and innovates to the benefit of the entire school and BU community.”