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For more information, contact Bob Beard at 434-982-4490 or Abena Foreman-Trice June 30, 2004 TWO UVa DOCTORS HONORED BY DISCOVERY HEALTH CHANNEL |
| The Discovery Health Channel presented Medical Honors to two physicians at the University of Virginia Health System during a Hollywood-style gala at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. on June 23. The awards celebrate the nation’s premier health and medical pioneers of the 21st century and the best in medical achievement.
Dr. Raghu Mirmira, assistant professor in the division of endocrinology and metabolism at U.Va., was recognized for his diabetes research and his work studying the insulin gene. Dr. John Kattwinkel, professor of pediatrics and head of the division of neonatology, was honored for his work on the back-to-sleep campaign against sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), which has helped to cut the rate of SIDS in half since 1994. The campaign teaches parents to make sure newborns sleep on their backs. Mirmira and Kattwinkel are among 13 honorees nominated by the country’s leading health care organizations. Mirmira was nominated by the American Diabetes Association. Kattwinkel was nominated by the American Academy of Pediatrics. U.Va. was the only institution to have two winners of the award. “I am certainly honored to have been recognized for this award by the Discovery Health Channel,” Kattwinkel said. “But the real recognition belongs to the American Academy of Pediatrics and National Institutes of Health for developing a coalition to educate the public about the hazards of stomach sleeping for young infants. As a result of this campaign, more than 10,000 babies have avoided the tragedy of SIDS. It’s clearly the most gratifying activity that I have been associated with throughout my career.” “I am tremendously honored to receive this award,” said Mirmira. “It reflects the tremendous support and confidence placed in me by the University of Virginia, the Diabetes and Hormone Center of Excellence and the American Diabetes Association.” Both U.Va. doctors will be featured during a two-hour show, Discovery Health Channel Medical Honors, to be shown on the Discovery Health Channel on July 8 at 8 p.m. and again at 11 p.m. The Discovery Health Channel can be found in Charlottesville-Albemarle on Adelphia Cable channel 105. Regis Philbin will host the program. Kattwinkel and Mirmira will also be profiled with other honorees in the July 5 issue of “U.S. News & World Report.” “Our goal is for the Discovery Health Channel Medical Honors to do for the health and medical community what the Kennedy Centers Honors does for the arts,” said Billy Campbell, president of Discovery Networks, U.S. “There is no better place to celebrate the most extraordinary breakthroughs in medicine than in the nation’s capital and on the only network devoted to health and medicine.” Kattwinkel holds the Charles Fuller Chair in Neonatology at U.Va. He is a graduate of Harvard Medical School and is certified in pediatrics and neonatal-perinatal medicine. Mirmira is a graduate of the University of Chicago Medical School and is certified in internal medicine and endocrinology. For more information on all the honorees, go to the Discovery Health website:http://www.health.discovery.com/premiers/medicalhonors/honorees/honorees.html. ### |