Awards Granted
The history of healthcare for the forgotten is highlighted by professionals who inspire their colleagues toward similar service. INMED is pleased to continue this effective tradition by announcing annual recipients of the INMED Awards.
INMED International Medicine Award
This award recognizes those who have made a significant contribution to health in low-resource communities. Award recipients have demonstrated uncommon dedication and endurance in pursuit of this cause.
David Vanderpool
2023
The 2023 INMED International Medicine Award recipient is David Vanderpool. A general surgeon originally from Dallas, Dr. Vanderpool’s early career was punctuated by service during Hurricane Katrina following which he established the Mobile Medical Disaster Relief organization to provide medical clinics, clean water projects, and micro-finance projects to areas hit by disasters. In 2010, an earthquake devastated Haiti. Dr. Vanderpool was a first responder, caring for horrific injuries and witnessing firsthand the desperate needs in Haiti. He and his wife Laurie sold their Tennessee home and moved to Haiti, where for these last 10 years they have led LiveBeyond, as he says, “an organization that chooses to LiveBeyond – live beyond ourselves, our culture, our borders and this life so that others can LiveBeyond – live beyond disease, hunger, poverty and despair.” Today LiveBeyond in Haiti includes a surgical hospital, maternal and child health program, a farm, a church and a school maintained by Haitians for Haitians.
Sam Fabiano
2022
The 2022 INMED International Medicine Award recipient is Sam Fabiano. A native of Angola, Africa, Dr. Fabiano displayed an early interest in healthcare. He studied medicine in St. Petersburg, Russia and then completed a five-year surgery residency with the Pan African Academy of Christian Surgeons at Bongolo Hospital, Gabon. Dr. Fabiano recently returned to Angola with his wife Amanda, and daughter, Bella, where they serve today at CEML Hospital. A general surgeon in the fullest sense, Dr. Fabiano also provides GYN, orthopedic, and even neurosurgical care in a nation where such skills are rare. In Dr. Fabiano’s vision also includes CEML hospital training future surgeons to continue serving the nation of Angola.
Monica Rojas
2021
The 2021 INMED International Medicine Award recipient is Monica Rojas, MD. She assisted in the launch of a medical clinic in Costa Rica – one primarily serving undocumented Nicaraguans. The clinic also provides medical care in homes, worksites, schools, and senior centers. During the pandemic, they expanded their service to include distribution of food bags to needy citizens. Today, Dr. Rojas teaches at Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine, emphasizing opportunities to learn international health and to serve abroad. Says Dr. Rojas, “No matter where you go, every nation in the world is trying to conquer one common goal: quality healthcare available for all. Health is much more than just going to a doctor’s visit. It is all the social support and networks that connect communities with the vital resources they need in order to become healthy.”
Jeff Colyer
2020
The 2020 INMED International Medicine Award recipient is Jeff Colyer. A plastic surgeon and the 47th Governor of Kansas, Dr. Colyer’s international service experience has been both executive and front lines. As a White House Fellow, he worked in international development, including relations with the Societ Union and additional roles at Cambridge University and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. And since 1986, Dr. Colyer served with International Medical Corps in numerous warzones, including Rwanda, Libya, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Iraq, and Kosovo. He also set up surgical clinics for Afghan freedom fighters during their war with the Soviet Union. Writes Dr. Colyer, “We were training Afghan medics on the Pakistan side of the border. It was kind of the first, really big training program. We literally were writing the curriculum while we were there.”
Scott Kujath
2016
Well known in Kansas City as an exceptional vascular surgeon, Dr. Kujath’s service reaches beyond the city’s borders. In cooperation with First Baptist Church of Raytown, Missouri, heeads the Mission of Hope Clinic, providing primary medical care and dental care to the region’s most under resourced people. Dr Kujath also consistently serves in eastern Africa, both in providing direct medical care, as well as, pioneering in the innovative field of hospice and palliative care in connection with The Living Room, who provides quality of life for Kenyans affected by HIV-AIDS and other life-threatening illnesses. Casting an effective vision for others to follow, Dr. Kujath has generously supported student scholarships for the INMED Conference since 2013.
Meredith Jackson
2015
Since 2003 Meredith Jackson, RN, MA, has partnered with Kansas City-based Medical Missions Foundation, and Medical Aid to Children of Latin America (MACLA), to provide surgical specialty care via her twenty-eight trips to Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Mani and Uganda. She brings her special qualifications in human resources, pre-op and post-op care, and vascular access to those in these developing nations, as well as at Children’s Mercy Hospital. To nurses considering similar service, Meredith Jackson advises “Jump in and do it. There is usually a role for a nurse with any background who is open to adapting to whatever skill is needed.”
Hayley Stolzle
2014 INMED HIV Leadership
Hayley Stolzle, MPH, a graduate of the Kansas University School of Public Health, in 2011 took her skills to the southern African nation of Botswana. In concert with the Peace Corp, she began serving the Botswana Ministry of Health in delivering to 12 villages health education on teenage pregnancy, sexual abuse, HIV prevention, and safe male circumcision, and empowerment of women. Her particular passions surround addressing the vulnerability of girls and women to HIV, men as partners in sexual health, safe sex negotiation skills and gender equality. Illustrating her commitment to the Botswana people, she has also become highly proficient in Setswana, that nation’s dominate language.
Abigail Rattin
2014
Abigail Rattin, MD, MPH, is Medical Coordinator of Action International Ministries. A family physician with public health training at University of Massachusetts Amherst, since 2010 Dr. Rattin as been living and serving in the nation of Uganda, eastern Africa. From her particular experience as mother of a special needs child, she provides direct clinical care, consulting and advocacy for vulnerable children and those children with special needs. In this context she consistently brings to light not only the gravity of such disabilities in Africa, but also effective and culturally appropriate means of preventing and optimizing life and functionality for these individuals.
Jen Agee
2013
Since 2009 Jen Agee and her family served in South Africa in the Eastern Cape, both in the townships of Port Elizabeth and the rural region of the Transkei. Jen served as South Africa Director of One Life Child Sponsorship. She brought the tenacity and tough love of a natural mother to her work on behalf of children orphans, particularly through her investment into the Mamas – the local community health care workers. In a country complicated by post-Apartheid policy and incredibly enduring racism, Jen navigated the cultural barriers to equip the Mamas emotionally, socially, and spiritually, to in turn provide exemplary care for these children.
Cathy Hoelzer
2013
Cathy Hoelzer is a Physician Assistant and holds an MPH in International Health and Development from Tulane University. She started overseas medical work in 1991 when she volunteered to help in the Kurdish refugee camps. She has since worked in Kurdistan, Afghanistan, Chad, South Sudan, North Sudan, Tanzania and the Philippines. Cathy and her husband currently serve in the Republic of South Sudan bringing health care and the hope of the Gospel in the midst of the largest refugee camp in South Sudan. Cathy is the SIM Health Program Manager in Doro where she manages a wide variety of health programs and works clinically.
Mark Byler
2012 HIV Leadership
Since 2004, Mark Byler, MD, DIM&PH, along with his wife Angie and son Luke, have lived full-time at Sanyati Baptist Hospital, in Zimbabwe, southern Africa. Zimbabwe, once the most prosperous nation in Africa, is today rated as having the worst quality of life of any nation on our planet. Twenty percent of the Zimbabwe’s people are HIV positive and half of all the patients admitted to Sanyati Baptist Hospital are HIV infected. In spite of these odds, Dr Byler is a leader in providing HIV antiretroviral drug therapy to some 200 citizens at a time. He also manages the complications and opportunistic infections associated with HIV, including profound malnutrition, tuberculosis, and PCP pneumonia. In recent years Zimbabwe is witnessing a decline in HIV infection, thanks in part to exemplary healthcare professionals like Dr. Mark Byler.
Steve Foster
2012
Dr. Foster and his wife Peggy have lived in Angola, southern Africa, since 1975. The first fifteen years he provided surgical care at the famed Kalukembe Hospital in the midst of Angola’s “blood diamonds” civil war. When he recognized the limitations of international healthcare volunteers like himself, Dr. Foster initiated a residency training program for Angolan physicians. Most recently he partnered with Samaritan’s Purse and the Angolan Association of Evangelicals to establish CEML Hospital, which has been serving the nation since 2005. Reflecting on his life, Dr. Foster says, “I envision the day when I’ll stand before God and account for my life. How can I say that I chose self-indulgence while other people, no matter how far removed, are struggling to survive?”
Brad Gautney
2011 HIV Leadership
As a pediatric nurse practitioner and public health specialist, he and his family lived four years in Haiti pioneering low-resource HIV care, with particular attention to prevention of mother-to-child transmission of this infection. He also developed a state-of-the-art electronic medical record based on cellular telephone technology to facilitate application of HIV management protocols for both prevention and treatment. Today he leads Global Health Innovations, multiplying HIV care in Haiti and Africa with an emphasis on saving lives one village at a time.
Rob Cheeley
2011
Dr Cheeley and his wife Noelani have lived in China since 1992, empowering low-resource populations in the southern Yinnan Province by training community health workers. Dr. Cheeley partners with local governments and healthcare institutions to select individuals for these special roles who are committed to providing continuity of care among China’s ethnic minorities. His role is also to enhance cooperation between China’s formal healthcare institutions and these grassroots health promotion efforts. Dr. Cheeley is also recipient of the China Friendship Award – the highest honor China bestows on non-Chinese citizens.
Thor Swanson
2010 HIV Leadership
Dr. Swanson served at Kijabe Hospital in Kenya during 2006-2007 and has also provided volunteer HIV care in Nepal, Tanzania, and Honduras. Currently, Thor offers HIV medical care at Siouxland Community Health Center in Sioux City, Iowa. He also instructs University of Iowa medical students and residents in the field low-resource HIV care, all the while serving as an ordained associate pastor at Friendship Community Church in Sergeant Bluff, Iowa. Dr. Thor inspires us through his contribution of knowledge and expertise in controlling HIV!
Joe LeMaster
2010
Dr. LeMaster is a University of Kansas School of Medicine graduate who went on to later receive a Masters in Public Health in Developing Countries from the London School of Hygiene And Tropical Medicine. Dr. LeMaster and his wife Judy lived in Nepal from 1990-2000, serving at Okhaldhunga Hospital, the only medical care facility for 300,000 people, where they promoted maternal-child health and conducted leprosy research. Presently, Dr. LeMaster is at the University of Missouri-Columbia, teaching family medicine and researching community participation for improving the health of children. Dr. LeMaster is a truly inspiring and devoted man!
Dennis Palmer
2009 HIV Leadership
For 13 years Dr. Palmer has served the people of Cameroon, Africa, through efforts to prevent HIV transmission from infected mothers to their newborn babies and through providing continuity HIV treatment to thousands of Cameroonians. He also engages in ongoing research into HIV management in low-resource communities. Dr. Palmer is active in training both African physicians and INMED students, and is co-author of the Handbook of Medicine in Developing Countries – the most favored resource in the field of international medical service.
Lani Ackerman
2009
This remarkable physician began her career determined to serve people who were most isolated. She honed her skills as a family medicine resident at John Peter Smith Hospital and during a 6-month assignment at Memorial Christian Hospital in Bangladesh. Lani and her husband Tim went on to serve 8 years in the nations of Nepal and Bhutam, just north of India. She taught family medicine in a national university, served in mission hospitals and orphanages in the Himalayas, and created a community development project that advances agriculture and animal husbandry. Dr. Ackerman continues to inspire the next generation of health care professionals through her selfless career path.
Anil Cherian
2008 HIV Leadership
Anil Cherian, MD, MPH, is Director of Community Health and Development for the Emmanuel Hospital Association in northeastern India. A pediatrician at Chatarpur Christian Hospital since 1995, Dr. Cherian today oversees 24 community health centers and 6 HIV/AIDS treatment centers connected with the Emmanuel Hospital Association – a major indigenous medical mission in India. He is a recognized leader in HIV care and continues to guide development of an HIV prevention program in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, primarily focusing on adolescent health education, STD clinics, and whole person care.
Bruce Steffes
2008
Bruce Steffes, MD, is CEO of the Pan African Academy of Christian Surgeons (PAACS), a general surgical training program for African physicians who intend to practice in Africa. Under his leadership, PAACS has expanded the educational curriculum, recruited new program directors, and enlarged the work to include six training sites with twenty-one residents. Prior to assuming the helm of PAACS in 2006, Dr. Steffes served throughout Latin America, Africa, and Asia as a surgical instructor. He also initiated a children’s hospital in Uganda amid enormous obstacles. Dr. Steffes is the author of Medical Missions – Ready, Set, Go.
Patrick Railey
2007 HIV Leadership
Patrick became skilled with the nuances of HIV as he cared for inner city people during his family medicine residency in Grady, Indiana. “Then as I became involved with medical missions,” says Dr. Railey, “I realized the enormity of human suffering from HIV.” Operation Mobilization, one of the world’s largest international missions organizations, recognized Dr. Railey’s passion and devotion. Since 2005 he has lead appointed him to lead the OM’s HIV care interventions in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Angola, India, China, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Russia, and Lebanon.
Cindy Obenhaus
2007
Cindy’s visit to Haiti was in 1987, where she was thrust into the harsh realities of living as most Haitians do: without running water, electricity or security. But Cindy was nevertheless inspired by the vision of caring for some of the most neglected people on earth. For the next fifteen years she continued going back to Haiti for two weeks at a time, assisting in mobile clinics, vaccinating, and teaching neonatal resuscitation and management of obstetrical complications to Haitian nurses and medical students. Struck by the fact that most medical care in Haiti was substandard, Cindy and a coalition of Haitian and Kansas City area churches developed a vision for a new birthing center of first-world quality, free to patients, and located in an underserved area. The Maison de Naissance opened in 2004. Since that time over 1000 mothers have given birth, with outcomes far superior to the national average. Says Cindy, “As a Christian, I’m called to go out into the world to step out of my comfort zone. The result is that I’m hopefully more compassionate and more understanding of people who are different than me. Being uncomfortable is good. That’s where you’ll find opportunities to both serve and to grow as a person. Go ahead: Get uncomfortable!”
INMED National Healthcare Service Award
Many health care professionals within their own nations are sacrificing personal comfort in order to care for their neglected neighbors. The award recipients are role models in providing health care for their own people.
Dale Agner
2023
The 2023 INMED National Healthcare Service Award recipient is Dale Agner. A United States Air Force physician with 25 years of service in Turkey, the Middle East, and Africa, Dr. Agner was Commander of the 1st Special Operations Medical Group. In 2017 Dr. Agner brought his leadership skills to the Open Door Mission Health Clinic – an urban, underserved, gospel–focused ministry in Omaha, Nebraska. Not only does the clinic provide exceptional patient care, but also clinical experience and mentoring for medical students and resident physicians to learn the nuances of care for vulnerable people. Dr. Agner stated, “My time in the Air Force Medical Service provided extensive opportunities to develop the academic, clinical, and administrative expertise needed for excellent and cost-effective healthcare.” What an exceptional blessing for Open Door Mission Health Clinic to develop with Dr. Agner in the lead!
Barry Bacon
2022
The 2022 INMED National Healthcare Service Award recipient is Barry Bacon. After completing medical school and family medicine training, Dr. Bacon worked at a mission hospital in Malawi, southern Africa, and was medical director for 16 remote site clinics for 3 years. Upon returning to the US, he practiced and taught full-spectrum family medicine in rural northeast Washington. Dr. Bacon has continued to stay connected to global health, particularly through teaching physicians in Rwanda, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Malawi. His work also includes creating a peace initiative between two warring tribes in northern Kenya and working with the lost boys of South Sudan to create a medical school to transform health outcomes in that region of the world. In the United States, he especially loves working on health disparities in his local community in Washington state, especially on behalf of those afflicted by addiction, mental health, poverty, and homelessness. Most remarkable of these initiatives is Dr. Bacon’s work to establish Hope Street Project to alleviate homelessness in Colville, WA, and creating a business to employ homeless men to take uninhabited buildings and create beautiful living spaces.
Jordan Crawford
2021
The 2021 INMED National Healthcare Service Award recipient is Jordan Crawford, PA-C. Jordan is a graduate of the Kanakuk Institute and the University of Missouri-Kansas City Master of Medical Science Physician Assistant program, and the INMED Diploma in International Medicine & Public Health. Since 2018, he has served in family medical care at Hope Family Care Center in Kansas City’s urban core, located at 31st Street and Prospect Avenue. When asked about what personally motivates him to promote healthcare for marginalized people, Jordan replies, “My motivation comes directly from my faith in Jesus Christ and obedience to what I believe God calls all Christians to: serving the least of these as Christ did. This includes the orphans, the widows, the poor, the marginalized, and whoever our neighbor happens to be. This isn’t limited to socioeconomic class, but it is that class of individuals who are at greater risk for death, disease, injustice, and inequity.”
Glenn Talboy
2020
The 2020 INMED National Healthcare Service Award recipient is Glenn Talboy. Professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine and Chairman of Surgery at Truman Medical Center, Dr. Talboy has been a tireless advocate for lower income citizens of the Kansas City metro area. In the realm of research, he has lead advances in breast cancer for Hispanic patients. In the field of resident physician education, he’s provided insight into the profound changes taking place with new work hour rules. And regarding the surgical profession as a whole, Dr. Talboy has addressed the problems of burn out and erosion of procedural privileges experienced by surgeons around the nation, which often result in a shortage of general surgeons, especially in rural areas.
Betsy Sutherland
2018
As an elementary school teacher, Betsy became absorbed over the tragedies surrounding human trafficking, including labor, sex and child trafficking. She carried these convictions into medical school at Saint Louis University, where her experience in education was quickly recognized by her peers within the anti-trafficking community. Betsy is connected with the Stop Human Trafficking Network where she leads small group, hands-on trafficking case simulations to help learners to rapidly recognize and respond to abusive situations. Watch for more advocacy and innovation from Betsy Sutherland in the next season of her life as a family physician in South Bend, Indiana.
Juli McGowan
2017
Juli McGowan Boit lives a life of international compassion. This began with a month-long trip to Kenya in 2000 with her nursing school; one that filled her with a calling to serve the people in East Africa. “My eyes were opened to poverty in a new way, and not just the hard things about Africa, but also really beautiful things,” says Juli. In 2004, she moved to Kenya to work as a nurse practitioner, and in 2009 she founded Living Room Ministries – a place that offers dignity and whole person – physical, emotional, spiritual – care to those battling life-threatening illnesses like HIV/AIDS, and an alternative for the sick or dying who are ostracized by their communities and families.
Tom Kettler
2016
Known to hundreds of patients in Stanley, Kansas, as a quality family physician, Dr. Kettler has remained unswerving in his commitment to Kansas City’s most needy populous: those residing in the urban core. There was once no primary care facility available in the immediate neighborhood – a particular obstacle for the numerous patients without transportation. After years of vision casting and overcoming financial challenges, in 2009 Dr. Kettler witnessed the formal opening of Hope Family Care Center at 3027 Prospect Ave. Says Kettler, “My Christian faith was primary in my pursuit of a medical career. I enjoy helping others and the challenge of solving problems. Medicine is a great field for life-long learning and service to others.”
Fred Loper
2015
As a medical student at the University of Oklahoma, Fred Loper was recruited to help start Good Shepherd Clinic in Oklahoma City – a ministry launched after a homeless man had his wound stitched by a bartender in a local tavern because he had no where else to go for treatment. Following graduation, Dr. Loper proceeded to lead the Baptist Medical Dental Fellowship, facilitating healthcare in Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Ghana, and Cuba. Since 2012, Dr. Loper is again at the helm of Good Shepherd Clinic, providing medical and dental care through an exceptional practice that provides prevention, wellness and sick care to low-income, uninsured people throughout central Oklahoma.
Oscar Paulo
2014
Oscar Paulo is a physician in his home nation of Angola, located in southern Africa. Following a forty-year civil war, Angola has the lowest health status on the entire continent. In 1989 in cooperation with the Angola Baptist Convention, Dr. Paulo founded a humble medical clinic caring for the poor in the suburbs of Luanda, Angola’s capital city. Recognizing the shortage of trained healthcare personnel in the northeast region of Angola, Dr. Paulo also established a scholarship program to select and train Angolan medical students, personally mentoring them in professional, spiritual, and personal life skills for the unique challenges of this proud nation.
Jeremy Kirchoff
2012
As a medical student at Kansas University Medical Center Dr. Kirchoff enrolled in the INMED International Medicine Certificate program, studying at the Baptist Medical Center in northern Ghana, West Africa. Today Dr Kirchhoff is the first full-time physician at the new Hope Family Care Center, located in Kansas City’s most vulnerable and underserved neighborhood. Dr. Kirchoff explains, “My experience in Ghana contributed immensely to my desire to care for underserved people wherever they are located. Parallel to Ghana, my practice in Kansas City today utilizes the cross-cultural skills and advanced disease management I learned in Africa.” Dr Kirchoff offers a challenge: “Are you interested in this kind of career? Then find role models who are living the way you want to live. Follow their example.”
John Wilson
2011
John Wilson, MBA, PMP, a native Kenyan, is on the business faculty of Park University and is founder of Hope Kenya International – a not-for-profit organization that collaborates with American institutions to assist African families in breaking the pervasive cycle of poverty. Under his leadership, Hope Kenya provides preschool education, small enterprise development, and basic outpatient medical care – all with an emphasis on sustainability. Mr. Wilson explains, “We revere God by walking alongside people, empowering them to be accountable to self, to community, and to Him.”
Rick Donlon
2010
Dr. Donlon is an internal medicine and pediatrics physician. In 1995, he and three classmates opened Christ Community Health Services, a primary-care health center in Memphis’ most under-served neighborhood. Since then, CCHS has grown to five locations, providing over 95,000 patient visits and delivering 800 babies each year. Dr. Donlon is a role model who uses his tremendous experience both to provide healthcare for the forgotten and to motivate others in this pursuit, including his organizing efforts in formation of the influentual Christian Community Health Foundation.
John Zhangpeng
2009
Dr. Zhangpeng is a 1999 graduate of the Shenyang Medical College in northeastern China. In 2002 he joined forces with Dr. Peter Burgos in founding Liaoning International General Health Trainers, better know by the acronym “LIGHT.” Under Dr. Zhangpeng’s leadership, LIGHT has since become one of the largest charitable organizations in China, providing innovative health care service for orphans and for the elderly – individuals who are often beyond the fringes of medical care. In guiding this organization, Dr. Pengzhang draws upon his deep fund of medical, administrative and linguistic skills, and has become an exemplary humanitarian among his fellow Chinese.
INMED Cross-Cultural Healthcare Service Award
This award recognizes people who demonstrate care and concern for culturally diverse communities and who give selflessly of time and resources for their benefit.
Julie Rosá
2023
The 2023 INMED Cross-Cultural Healthcare Service Award recipient is Julie Rosá. Dr. Rosá and her husband raised four children and practiced family medicine for 24 years in Hiawatha, Kansas – including a very busy obstetrics and newborn care service in that rural community. Three years ago, they began a new career path to do what they had always dreamed: international medical care. Dr. Rosá earned the INMED Master’s Degree in International Health, and then joined the medical education team at Kanad Hospital in the Middle Eastern nation of United Arab Emirates. Always with an eye towards expanding the skills of others, Dr. Rosá is point-person for the development of a new family medicine residency program to train primary care physicians in the UAE.
Allison Judkins
2022
The 2022 INMED Cross-Cultural Healthcare Service Award recipient is Allie Judkins. Dr. Judkins serves as Associate Director for Global Health Research in the Division of Neonatology at the University of Utah. There, she mentors health care professionals in health quality improvement projects overseas. Dr. Judkins works as content expert for neonatal resuscitation for the Global Section of the American Academy of Pediatrics and advises training and implementation teams on several continents. She also works at the Center for Medical Innovation at the University of Utah: This organization works to take ideas from “Bench to Bedside” through its maternal-child health promotion programs in India, Nepal, and Kenya. Dr. Judkins continues to be instrumental in overcoming challenges in such low-income countries that result in improving access and quality of life and health. Throughout her career in global health Dr. Judkins continues to engage in the frontline of global medicine in India and Nepal, directing multiple maternal neonatal programs in collaboration with the government.
Martha Baird
2021
The 2021 INMED Cross-Cultural Healthcare Service Award recipient is Martha B. Baird PhD, APRN/CNS-BC, CTN-A. Dr. Baird recently retired from the University of Kansas Medical Center as an associate clinical professor after 43 years in practice and teaching. She holds advanced certification as a psychiatric mental health nurse specialist and as a transcultural nurse. Dr. Baird’s Journey in cross-cultural healthcare was marked early on with 10 years of service in the Haitian Villages in the Dominican Republic. Building upon that early experience, Dr. Baird’s research has focused on the health of immigrant and refugee populations, including African refugees from South Sudan. In 2013-2014 she participated in the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma: Global Mental Health and in 2018 she was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in Uganda where she taught theory and research methods to graduate nursing students at Uganda Christian University. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of a refugee resettlement program in Kansas City, Missouri, the Jewish Vocational Services,. Dr. Baird continues to share her influence through the Transcultural Nursing Society.
Kimberly Connelly
2020
The 2020 INMED Cross-Cultural Healthcare Leadership Award recipient is Kimberly Connelly. A native of Kansas City, Kimberly Connelly’s formal education prepared her well for her current role. At university, she studied international relations, French, and earned a Master’s degree in TOESL – Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. Since 2013, she has served at Kansas University Medical Center (KUMC) – known worldwide as a hub for research and innovation, and also renowned for its Office of International Programs. Under the directorship of Kimberly Connelly, the office offers inbound opportunities for international researchers and clinicians at KUMC, and international educational experiences for KUMC faculty and students. Among the most visible of these international partnerships is with Vellore Christian Medical College in India, best known for physical and occupational therapy opportunities, and with Gulu University in Uganda, best known for teaching newborn resuscitation and for nursing education.
Judy LeMaster
2019
The 2019 INMED Cross-Cultural Healthcare Leadership Award recipient is Judy LeMaster. Judy LeMaster is a registered nurse raised in London, England, and educated at Westminster Hospital and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. Skilled in midwifery and fluent in the Nepali language, Judy and her husband Joe LeMaster lived in Nepal from 1990-2000, serving at Okhaldhunga Hospital, the only medical care facility for 300,000 people, where they promoted maternal-child health. Judy also served at Nepal’s Amp Pipal Hospital as a nursing supervisor, alongside a newly appointed Nepali nursing superintendent. More recently, Judy aids Bhutanese refugees resettled in the Kansas City area, teaching English as Second Language (ESL) in association with Mission Adelante, and has ledhealthcare teams to Nepal, where her cultural expertise facilities their effective service.
Mary Smith
2018
In 1988 Mary, a master’s degree trained registered nurse, traveled with her Methodist church to Haiti. Motivated through this event, Mary herself lead multiple teams back to Haiti over the coming years. In 1999, while teaching nursing at Johnson Country Community College, she began taking nursing students to Mexico where they provided care to those living in a squatter’s community. That annual college trip continues even today. In 2009, Mary Smith made an exploration trip to Uganda. Thus, began annual visits to that nation as well, where for Ugandan nursing students and faculty she continues teaching Helping Babies Breathe – a skill set she acquired through INMED in 2010. Mary advises, “First just go to walk along side. As you do so, observe, learn, trust, respect, and let them teach you, too.”
Pam Franks
2017
Pam Franks, RN BSN, began serious cross-cultural endeavors when she and her husband moved to Guatemala. During their five-year residency, she helped lead the medical care of a large Christian organization, which included clinics in remote parts of the country. Back home in Omaha, Pam launched Embrace the Nations in 2009, an organization focused on assisting refugees from Somalia, Sudan, Burundi, Bhutan and Burma. Pam and her team provide English language learning, life skills like vehicle maintenance and parenting, and assisting their children with tutoring and school success. Pam’s insight and vision is broadly respected, and she’s consistently called upon to lead cross-cultural skills training for nursing and medical students, churches and businesses, service organizations, and law enforcement officers.
Greg Seager
2017
Greg Seager, RN MSN, and his wife, Candi, first became involved in cross-cultural healthcare when invited by their home church. Moving up quickly in leadership, they were soon overseeing six to eight medical teams to Haiti each year. Later they became full-time staff with Mercy Ships, where part of Greg’s role involved Implementing Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) protocols, and program evaluation. Greg’s critique of international healthcare is best embodied in his book, When Healthcare Hurts: An Evidence Based Guide for Best Practices in Global Health Initiatives. In 2010, Greg and Candi launched a new healthcare sending organization to embody these innovations. Christian Health Service Corps today empowers fifty full-time personnel serving in fifteen developing nations.
Howard Searle
2016
In 1965 this Canadian surgeon was inspired over the unique needs of India. In 1965 the Indian government began rejecting visa requests of US healthcare personnel. But Canadians still enjoyed ready access. In the critical years between 1969 and 74, Dr. Searle was part of the innovative team of Indian leaders who guided Emmanuel Hospital Association (EHA) from reliance on international staff and donors to becoming entirely self-sufficient. Since then, EHA has grown to become the world’s largest indigenous medical mission. Dr. Searle continued serving at their side until 2005, when he retired to become Executive Director of EHA’s United States affiliate, a role in which he continues to serve today.
Ran Poudel
2012
Nominated by the Bhutanese Community in the Greater Kansas City Area, Ran Poudel was the one of the first Bhutanese refugees to arrive in the Metro. He learned for himself all the difficult pathways that refugees must take. He joined Catholic Charities as a refugee community liaison, provided countless hours of volunteer service helping Bhutanese find jobs, learn English, and get driver’s licenses. When asked whom they most trust to help them, repeatedly Bhutanese people respond, “Ran Poudel”. He is constantly stepping into the gap to serve the community – an expression, he says, of the central tenets of his relationship with God.
Carla Gibson
2012
Carla Gibson is Program Officer for the REACH Foundation, and was nominated for this award by Kansas City community directors in recognition of her leadership in reducing health disparities. Since 1991 she has proven her commitment to improving the health of the poor and underserved through her work at Charles Drew Health Center, Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, Swope Health Services, and the Kansas City Free Health Clinic. In 2008, she introduced the Cultural Competency Initiative, providing nearly twenty health and human service organizations with technical assistance to improve their knowledge and skills in this field, and strengthen their services to diverse populations.
Lal Zuali
2011
Lal Zuali received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Yangon, Burma, but was soon was forced to flee her homeland. In 2008 she resettled in the United States from a Burmese refugee camp in Malaysia. Since arriving in the United States Ms. Zuali has volunteered as a case manager and medical interpreter for new Burmese refugees through the Burmese Refugee Community of Southwest Kansas, located in Garden City. Lal Zuali is a particular advocate for refugee rights, based on international laws and treaties that allow for recognition before the law, freedom of movement, and the ability to become self-reliant through work and educational opportunity.
Farah Abdi
2011
Since immigrating to the United States from Somalia in 1999 Farah Abdi has served East African newcomers to the Greater Kansas City area. He is a founder and executive director of the Somali Foundation. The Foundation multiplies Farah Abdi’s personal vision by assisting refugees and other immigrants through provision of advocacy, education, interpretation services, employment opportunities, language acquisition, drivers training, and healthcare writing a paper access while also honoring their people’s home cultures. Farah Abdi also actively trains others interested in sharpening their skills for the benefit of immigrants and refuges in cross-cultural settings.
INMED International Healthcare Preceptor Award
This award recognizes individuals who have made an important impact in training of the next generation of international healthcare volunteers. Through their instruction and their role modeling, award recipients express the value of each individual.
Mark Wardle
2023
The 2023 International Healthcare Preceptor Award recipient is Mark Wardle. Dr. Wardle is an osteopathic family physician and Director of both Global Medicine and Medical Spanish at Rocky Vista University’s Utah campus. He completed the INMED Master’s Degree in International Health (MIH) and today guides his students through service-learning experiences in Latin America and East Africa.
Dr. Wardle shared, “I have always enjoyed teaching and loved having students and residents rotate with me in clinic, but after a medical mission trip to Honduras where I supervised and taught medical students, I decided that was something I wanted to do full-time.” Remarkably, Dr. Wardle has also been contributing to the scholarly literature in this field with his recent research study, Impact of Global Health Outreach Experiences on Medical Student Empathy and Burnout.
Mark Muilenburg
2022
The 2022 International Healthcare Preceptor Award recipient is Mark Muilenburg. And ultrasound technologist originally from the Iowa City area, Mark Muilenburg’s career is largely focused on equipping healthcare professionals with critical ultrasound skills essential for underserved communities. Such teaching has brought him to Africa and Asia, and several times to teach at INMED. Realizing the limits of infrastructure in low-resource communities, he is currently very involved in the product development of a wireless, battery-powered, cell-phone-sized, high-resolution ultrasound scanner. When he’s not abroad teaching ultrasound, Mark Muilenburg shares his skill at a crisis pregnancy center in Naples, Florida.
David Culpepper
2021
The 2021 International Healthcare Preceptor Award recipient is David Culpepper, MD. Dr. Culpepper is an internist and Point of Care Ultrasound Fellow with Ultrasound Leadership Academy. Armed with a professional Degree in Pharmacy, he trained at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, he is certified in echocardiography and internal medicine, holds a Fellowship in the American College of Physicians, and practiced general internal medicine and hospital medicine for three decades. Dr. Culpepper has provided volunteer medical services to marginalized people in Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Romania, Kenya, and refugees on the Greek Island of Lesvos. His professional passion is teaching point of care ultrasound skills to those serving around the world in low-resource communities, and since 20015 Dr. Culpepper has taught ultrasound skill for INMED learners.
Gautam Desai
2020
The 2020 INMED International Healthcare Preceptor Award recipient is Gautam Desai. A professor in the Department of Family & Community Medicine at Kansas City University (KCU), Dr. Desai oversees the Honors Track in Global Medicine. Since 2001, he has been mentoring KCU learners at locations around the globe including Guatemala, while in closer to home serving at Kansas City Free Health Clinic. On a higher level, Dr. Desai has applied his experience as President of DOCARE International, a non-profit medical outreach program that brings health care to isolated people in Guatemala, Peru, India, Malawi, and Nicaragua. His recognitions include the DOCARE International Robert A. Klobnak Award for service, the Ingram’s Magazine Heroes in Healthcare Award for volunteerism, but most importantly the sincere respect and gratitude of KCU students.
Calvin Wilson
2019
The 2019 INMED International Healthcare Preceptor Award recipient is Calvin Wilson. Dr. Wilson served as Director of the Center for Global Health at University of Colorado Denver. His leadership includes collaborations for primary healthcare and health systems development in Ghana, Peru, Indonesia, and Albania. Most significantly, Dr. Wilson guided USAID and CDC collaborative projects to train family physicians in Rwanda and established the first family medicine training program in Ecuador. In the Middle East, Dr. Wilson joined with the Jordan Medical Council to develop a national continuing education program for primary care physicians. In 2003, Dr. Wilson was awarded the Smilkstein Award in International Family Medicine of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, and in 2005, the Humanitarian of the Year Award of the American Academy of Family Physicians.
James
2018
James, a Kansas City native, began his career as a youth pastor in El Salvador. James later qualified as a registered nurse, serving at Saint Luke’s Hospital and North Kansas City Hospital. At the 2012 Humanitarian Health Conference James met representatives from a healthcare organization working in a remote location in Asia. In 2015 James and his wife Rosie moved to that nation with their two pre-school children. James’ main responsibility in Asia continues to be instructing and mentoring national nursing students to give quality care to their own people. James, who was a volunteer at the very first INMED Humanitarian Health Conference in 2006, is also today an INMED International Medicine Fellow.
Vicki Hicks
2017
Vicki Hicks, RN MSN, entered international service via trips through Village Presbyterian Church and Mercy & Truth Medical Missions. Vicki, who has been teaching nursing at Kansas University Medical Center, next became inspired to create similar opportunities for her students, and for some twenty-five years KU nursing students have enjoyed these formative experiences. Just months ago, she facilitated twenty-three students to experience healthcare in Guatemala, Gulu -Uganda, CMC Vellore – India, palliative care in Belgium, and refugee health here in Kansas City through Jewish Vocational Services and Catholic Charities. Throughout, Vicki emphasizes a population-based approach to understanding health needs, as well as a sustainable partnership approach to meeting these needs
Paul Larson
2014
Following formal training in family medicine and tropical diseases, Paul Larson, MD, he practiced for two years at Kapsowar Hospital in Kenya in association with the Africa Inland Church. Returning to the USA, he completed graduate studies in medical education and a fellowship in faculty development. Today Dr. Larson is director of Global Health Education at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s St. Margaret Family Medicine Residency. He also continues to rigorously apply his teaching skills by supervising INMED Diploma students at the Baptist Medical Center in northern Ghana, where by personal example and by instruction he casts a vision for the next generation of globally minded healthcare leaders.
Winston Manimtim
2013
Winston Manimtim is a physician graduate of both the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines and the INMED Professional Diploma in International Medicine & Public Health. Today he is a neonatologist at Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics and is particularly active in teaching the American Academy of Pediatrics Helping Babies Breathe Program both in the United States and in his native Philippines. Helping Babies Breathe is an innovative skill set designed to equip birth attendants to resuscitate newborn babies in low-resource settings, and then to intentionally transfer these skills to others. Hence, Dr. Manimtim has positively impacted lifesaving skills on behalf of thousands of infants worldwide.
Cindy Obenhaus
2012
Cindy Obenhaus began her service to the world’s most marginalized people with a simple mission trip to Haiti in 1987. From this experience grew a dream sustainable health improvement that culminated in 2004 with establishment of Maison de Nassiance. This modern birthing home is staffed entirely by Haitians caring for their own in the Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation. Most recently, Cindy as a neonatal nurse is a lead instructor in Helping Babies Breathe, a newborn resuscitation program that trains health care staff to provide lifesaving care during the critical first minute after birth. Cindy says, “As a Christian, I’m called to go out into the world, to step out of my comfort zone. Being uncomfortable is good. It’s where we best serve and to grow as people. Go ahead: Get uncomfortable!”
John Gibson
2011
Dr. Gibson is Program Director of the International Medicine Fellowship at the University of North Texas Health Sciences Center at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas. He lived in Thailand from 1984-2004 in association with the International Mission Board, training Thai medical personnel and providing care for marginalized citizens. Fluent in the Thai language, Dr. Gibson sat for the Thai medical licensure exam and is fully credentialed in that nation. Dr. Gibson today supervises INMED students and residents at the Baptist Medical Center in Ghana and is an Director of the INMED Professional Certificate Course in Ultrasound for Primary Care.
Nancy Crigger
2010
Dr. Crigger is a family nurse practitioner and associate professor of nursing at William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri, and Graceland University in Kansas City, Missouri. For two decades, she has organized and instructed American nursing students in providing care on location in Central America. Dr Crigger has developed particularly keen insights into training individuals for international service with regard to culture, ethics, and best practice tools, and has made a consistent impact on the international healthcare volunteers of tomorrow.
Todd Stephens
2009
After serving six years in Kenya and Rwanda, Dr. Stephens developed a vision to inspire other healthcare professionals with his passion and skills. Today he directs the Post-Residency International Family Medicine Fellowship at Via Christi Medical Center in Wichita, Kansas. This unique, one-year fellowship incorporates study of global health and supervised service in developing nations. More importantly, Dr. Stephens is instilling vision among younger people to care for those who are least able to care for themselves.
Bruce Banwart
2008
Bruce Banwart, MD, is an intensive care specialist at the Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City and a veteran of medical service in Latin America, Africa, and Asia with Operation Smile. Dr. Banwart has been a regular presenter at the INMED Humanitarian Health Conference, and promotes international medical education by leading pediatric residents on service-learning experiences in developing nations.
INMED Humanitarian Crisis Response Award
This award recognizes individuals and organizations who provide exemplary disaster response services for highly vulnerable communities. In doing so, they accentuate the value of life and provide an exemplary model for us all.
Ted Higgins
2022
The 2022 Humanitarian Crisis Response Award recipient is Ted Higgins. Dr. Higgins is a surgeon who has devoted his career to his patients, and teaching surgery in third world countries, in particular Haiti. He was introduced to third world surgery as a fourth-year surgical resident at Yale when he and his wife spent 3 months in Haiti operating at the Albert Schweitzer Hospital. After Ted finished his vascular surgery fellowship at Baylor, his family moved to Kansas City, his wife’s hometown. Soon Ted was making yearly surgical mission trips with his church to the Dominican Republic helping train their surgeon in general, laparoscopic, and vascular surgical techniques. This lasted until 2010, when the catastrophic Haitian earthquake occurred, and Ted returned to Haiti. He again started working with Haitian surgical residents from the General Hospital in Port Au Prince. The tiny delivery room, though, used for surgery was inadequate, particularly for teaching, so the Higgins Brothers Surgicenter for Hope was constructed in 2016. This contained 2 major operating rooms for teaching and performing surgeries. He soon hired several talented Haitian surgeons he helped train to avoid their leaving Haiti. They established a surgical team and set up a 24/7 trauma and emergency facility that now performs general, vascular, urology, obstetrics, and gynecology procedures. A nearby medical clinic was soon incorporated in to the Surgicenter that included medical, pediatric, HIV, maternity, and dental patients. When Hurricane Matthew struck Haiti in 2016 and Hurricane Laura in 2020, the Surgicenter provided not only emergency medical care but also shelter, food, and water for hundreds of local residents. Even amid the Covid pandemic, in roughly 19,000 patients were cared for at the Surgicenter and clinics in 2021.
Charles Inboriboon
2020
The 2020 INMED Humanitarian Crisis Response Award recipient is Charles Inboriboon. He completed a University of Rochester International Medicine Fellowship and was a Fulbright Scholar Award Thailand. Today, Dr Inboriboon is an Associate Professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine and Associate Residency Program Director for Emergency Medicine at Truman Medical Center. Dr. Inboriboon leads the international emergency medicine tract which provides observerships for emergency medicine physicians from Thailand, and prepares and sends US emergency medicine resident physicians to train and serve in other nations. He has collaborated to develop emergency medicine services in Laos, and to increase emergency medicine residency training capability at Chiang Mai University in Thailand. Dr. Inboriboon himself continues his own service in nations including Thailand, India, Haiti, Kosovo, and Nicaragua.
Haitian Christian Mission
2017
On the morning of October 4, 2016, Hurricane Matthew slammed into Haiti with winds of 145 miles per hour – the first Category 4 storm to strike Haiti since 1964. Haitian Christian Mission’s Hopital Christ Pour Tous opened in 1981, was already in preparation mode. Immediately following the storm, Edwens Prophete, HCM CEO, and Angie Schuber, Chief Development Officer, made a rapid assessment of emergency needs. Clean water sources were flooded, and so a new well was dug and medical services for anticipated cholera treatment were implemented. Meanwhile, HCM’s ongoing CDC-recognized HIV care clinics, and HCM’s peanut butter nutritional assistance were continued. Through it all, medical director Dr. Deiunord prayed with his patients and reminded the entire Haitian staff, “Why we do what we do.”
Richard Randolph
2016
Dr. Randolph is a family physician from the Kansas City area who first distinguished himself as a West Point Military Academy graduate, adding credentials including the INMED Professional Certificate in International Medicine & Public Health and appointed Medical Officer for Joint Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg. In 2015 Dr. Randolph became Chief Medical Officer for Heart to Heart International, and immediately shipped out to Liberia. On location at the Tappita Ebola Treatment Unit he served afflicted people for six months – just one of his extended deployments since 1993 providing healthcare in seven different nations. Today he diligently applies his hard-won insight through scaling up preparedness capability among hundreds of dedicated disaster responders.
Hilarie Cranmer
2015
Dr. Cranmer is a physician in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, and Director of their Global Disaster Response unit. She has served in post-conflict Kosovo, tsunami-affected Indonesia and Sri Lanka, hurricane-impacted Louisiana, earthquake-devastated Haiti and Arab-spring affected Tunisia. With the 2014 emergence of Ebola, Dr. Cranmer was appointed Technical Advisor for Ebola Response for the International Medical Corps, providing high-level training for in-country health care workers, and for coordinating direct patient care in the affected countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea. Throughout, Dr. Cranmer uses her experience in disaster response to help prepare leaders in the fields of emergency medicine and humanitarian crises.
Emmanuel Hospital Association
2012
Emmanuel Hospital Association was founded in 1970 as an indigenous Christian health and development agency serving the people of North India. Since then EHA has grown to a network of twenty-one hospitals, thirty-three community health center, and special programs in community development and HIV care. EHA also describe yourself essay hosts an active Disaster Management & Mitigation Unit (DMMU), which provided emergency assistance in the wake of the 2005 Indian Ocean Tsunami. More recently the EHA Disaster Unit has been responding to massive flooding within India, marooning entire villages for weeks at a time. EHA assistance includes provision of emergency temporary shelters, safe drinking water, sanitation support, cooked meals, medical care, epidemic control, and recovery counseling – all in coordination with Indian authorities to avoid duplication of relief supports and ensuring fair distribution of relief services. Receiving the award on behalf of EHA is Dr. Howard Searle, a veteran of thirteen years service with EHA in India and today Director of EHA’s United States affiliate.
Comninellis Award For Compassionate Service To Humanity
This award was established by the INMED Board of Directors to recognize people who demonstrate care and concern for those in need, who give selflessly of their time and resources, and who inspire others to take similar action.
Rick Donlon
2023
The 2023 Comninellis Award for Compassionate Service to Humanity recipient is Rick Donlon. Dr. Donlon grew up in New Orleans, graduated from TCU, completed medical school at LSU, and did a combined Internal Medicine and Pediatrics residency at the University of Tennessee-Memphis. What happened next marks a remarkable departure from a normal medical career. In 1995, he and three medical school classmates opened a primary-care center for the poor in Memphis’ most medically underserved neighborhood. What’s more, they moved into that neighborhood, where for the next 19 years he led Christ Community Health Services. A remarkable achievement – one often discussed by healthcare professionals, but rarely acted upon. Dr. Donlon also raised seven children and still lives in that neighborhood of Memphis, where he serves as an elder in their house church network.
Tom Kettler
2022
The 2022 Comninellis Award for Compassionate Service to Humanity recipient is Tom Kettler. Dr. Kettler has been a career family physician with College Park Family Care Center in Stanley, Kansas. Deeply concerned about health care in Kansas City’s urban core, Dr. Kettler led a coalition of community leaders to establish the Hope Family Care Center at 31st St. and Prospect Avenue. This faith-based family medical practice provides quality primary healthcare in Kansas City, Missouri’s east side. All patients are welcome including both insured and uninsured. Dr. Kettler attributes his tenacity in establishing and leading Hope Family Care Center to his faith in Christ and commitment to a lifelong journey of learning and service to others.
Micah Flint
2021
The 2021 Comninellis Award For Compassionate Service To Humanity recipient is Micah Flint, MPA, RN, DINPH. Micah completed his MPA in healthcare leadership and disaster management at Park University. He holds a nursing degree and bachelor’s degrees in science and liberal arts. He earned his INMED Diploma in International Nursing & Public Health in 2008, which included two terms of service at Baptist Medical Center in northern Ghana. Micah has created engaging presentations and learning content on Disaster Response, Cross-Cultural Skills, Health Leadership, and Simulation. He is the author of the Disaster Response: Pocketbook for Volunteers and Disaster Management in Limited Resource Settings, 2nd Edition. He is an active member of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and teaches the INMED Self-Care for the Health Professional Course.
Micah first joined INMED as a volunteer in 2004, where his talent and dedication were immediately recognized. The following year Micah was appointed INMED’s first CEO, and has most recently served INMED as Chief Innovation Officer, overseeing development of new INMED programs. The character quality INMED today is largely the result of Micah Flint’s excellence and devotion, for which we are deeply grateful.
James Fyffe
2020
The 2020 Comninellis Award For Compassionate Service To Humanity recipient is James Fyffe and Family. James is a native of Lee’s Summit, Missouri. He lived several years in El Salvador, Central America, serving as a youth pastor. James completed nursing school at St. Luke’s College of Health Sciences and also earned a master’s degree in nursing education. In 2014 at the Humanitarian Health Conference James met personnel from Bach Christian Hospital in Pakistan. The following year, he and wife Rosie, along with their three children, moved to Pakistan where James taught nursing school through 2019 and completed his INMED International Medicine Fellowship. James often speaks of his desire to combine healthcare, his faith, and his Spanish and Urdo language abilities to make a spiritual and physical impact among people in need. Says James, “I love the opportunity to serve and help others, and INMED has given me the chance to use my talents, abilities and education to do just that.”
Don Philgreen
2019
The 2019 Comninellis Award for Compassionate Service to Humanity recipient is Don Philgreen. His healthcare career of over fifty years began at the University of Chicago School of Medicine followed by a rotating internship at St. Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City. Dr. Philgreen’s first service was two years with the Indian Health Service on the Gila River Indian Reservation in Arizona. He served in private practice in Ottawa, Kansas before becoming the medical director for the LIGHT House and Rachel House crisis pregnancy ministries. Dr. Philgreen began sharing his vision and skills in 1996, joining the faculty at Research Medical Center Family Medicine Residency where he continues to teach. In 2004 he was named the Missouri Family Physician of the Year by the Missouri Academy of Family Physicians and was a runner-up in the American Academy of Family Physicians’ Physician of the Year.
Fred Loper
2018
As a medical student at the University of Oklahoma, Fred Loper was recruited to help start Good Shepherd Clinic in Oklahoma City – a ministry launched after a homeless man had his wound stitched by a bartender in a local tavern because he had nowhere else to go for treatment. Following graduation, Dr. Loper proceeded to lead the Baptist Medical Dental Fellowship for twelve years, facilitating healthcare in Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Ghana, and Cuba. 2012 through 2016, Dr. Loper was again at the helm of Good Shepherd Clinic, providing medical and dental care to low-income and uninsured people throughout central Oklahoma. In this context he also mentored students from University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, who enjoyed the inspiring privilege of witnessing Dr. Loper’s excellence in action.
Lawand Talal
2017
Compassion is at the center of Lawand Talal’s professional life. This American-trained Kurdish attorney abandoned a lucrative career to instead join the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees of behalf of Syrians searching for asylum in Iraqi Kurdistan. Refugees include the entire spectrum of humanity. Disabled Syrian refugees are Lawand’s specialty, bringing to bear the principles of international law on behalf of those afflicted by cerebral palsy, learning disorders, schizophrenia, paraplegia; in short, people who are the least capable of defending themselves. “We Kurds are a persecuted people, condemned for centuries by foreign lords,” proclaims Lawand Talal. “So, when Syrians fleeing utter terror from ISIS arrive at our borders how can we not but respond with compassion?”
Ted & Kim Higgins
2016
As a general surgery resident at Yale University, Ted leaped at the opportunity to serve under mentors for six months at Hospital Albert Schweitzer in Haiti. Inspired through that experience, Ted and his wife, Kim, embarked on a twenty-five-year routine of providing surgical care in Haiti and Dominican Republic – a pattern of service that continues even today. With the vision of further expanding continuity care for residents of these nations, the Higgins mastermined and funded establishment of the Higgins Brothers Surgical Center in partnership with Haiti Christian Missions. With a parallel vision of inspiring future international healthcare volunteers, the Higgins have both financed and provided their expertise for the INMED conference event since its inception.
Gary Morsch
2015
“Would serving people in serious need help to fulfill my life?” is a question frequently posed to Gary Morsch. He replies, “People really do want to help one another, but they often don’t know how to do it.” Dr. Morsch has invested his entire life in assisting people discover just how. In 1993 he organized the first Physicians With Heart airlift of goodwill medical supplies to the new Russian Federation. Heart to Heart International grew out of that initiative to become one of today’s leading global humanitarian organizations, providing disaster assistance, healthcare supplies, and primary medical care in Haiti, Nepal, and the United States.
John & Lori Clements
2014
Preventable blindness is common in Angola, where childhood infections and older adult cataracts disable otherwise healthy people. In 2011 John and Lori Clements responded to this crisis and a clear call from God upon their lives. John, a fellowship trained ophthalmologist, became an INMED International Medicine Fellow, serving at the Boa Vista Eye Center. John took the long-range approach, and in addition to caring for patients one-by-one he also organized at training program for Angolan national physicians to multiply these skills. Meanwhile Lori Clements, in addition to raising three boys, took a lead in the Association for the Blind, providing craft training for those with more permanent disabilities.
Tim & Lori Myrick
2013
Tim and Lori Myrick are transplants to Kansas City. Lori is a labor and delivery nurse and Tim is a family physician, and together they left Kansas City in 1992. Following language school for French, they first served in the Comoros Islands near Madagascar, later In Tunisia in North Africa. After Arabic school they served in Jordan at the Annoor Sanatorium, and most recently in Kenya where they focused on the needs of Somali refugees. Tim has been teaching medical school in northern Somalia, and they both model the reality and vitality of marriage and family on the move.
Scott Armistead
2011
Dr. Armistead is a graduate of the University of Missouri-Kansas City Family Medicine Residency Since 2002 he, his wife Joanne, and their three sons have been living in Pakistan, providing medical care through Bach Christian Hospital. Prior to this they also served at Oasis Hospital in the United Arab Emirates. By virtue of his proximity within Pakistan, Dr. Armistead was a first responder to the devastating Pakistani earthquake of 2005. He is fluent in the Urdo language, an accomplished pianist, avid music teacher, and exemplary medical instructor Pakistani nationals, American healthcare personnel, and INMED international medicine & public health students.
Richard Bransford
2009
Joining the Africa Inland Mission in 1975, Dr. Bransford served in the Congo, the Comoro Islands and at Kijabe Hospital in Kenya. As his career progressed, Dr. Bransford became particularly passionate about the needs of disabled children – an aspect of care frequently overlooked in developing nations. Today Dr Bransford is medical director and pediatric rehabilitation surgeon at Bethany Crippled Children’s Centre in Kijabe, Kenya, providing not only hope for children but also clearly communicating the precious value of these youngsters.
Nicholas Comninellis
2008
This award was established by the Institute for International Medicine Board of Directors and is named after the Founder of INMED. Dr. Nicholas Comninellis throughout his entire career has demonstrated care and concern for the needy of the world, giving selflessly of his time and resources, and inspiring others to take similar action in the care of those who are most neglected. He demonstrates the power of exemplary role models in action.