2012 GOLDEN APPLE Honorees

Eugenio Beltrán-Aguilar, DMD, MPH, MS, DrPH, Diplomate ABDPH

Dr. Beltrán-Aguilar has been instrumental in the development and oversight of HVO's dental training programs worldwide and he has been particularly effective in introducing the public health model, with an emphasis on preventive care. An active member of HVO since 1995, he has served on 27 assignments, volunteering in Cambodia, Laos PDR, Vietnam, China, Tanzania, Nicaragua, and Guyana, and serving in program leadership roles. His passion and commitment to teaching were recognized with a Golden Apple Award in 2008 and since then he has committed himself to the work in Southeast Asia.

In Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam Dr. Beltrán-Aguilar initiated, established, and maintained graduate level certificate and masters training courses in dental public health, where over 110 students have been trained. His vision and leadership have contributed to the development of enhanced dental public health research and educational capacity in those three countries. Those trained at both the diploma and masters level are now assuming leadership positions in their country and enhancing the capacity of the oral health infrastructure of Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam.

Dr. Beltrán-Aguilar received his dental degree from Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Lima, Peru and his DrPH from the University of Michigan, and is on staff at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Division of Oral Health. He is a member of the American Dental Association, American Association of Public Health Dentistry – where he served on its Executive Council, International Association for Dental Research, and a Diplomate of the American Board of Dental Public Health, where he is currently serving as Director of the Board.

T. Desmond Brown, MD

Since 2005, Dr. Brown has focused his efforts on the Angkor Hospital for Children in Siem Reap, Cambodia, returning each year for extended visits. He initiated a pediatric orthopaedic service and has patiently mentored the surgeons and pediatricians in procedures for a wide variety of orthopaedic pathology, both congenital and acquired. His teaching has had a great impact on the surgical staff, and they now have a better base for dealing with orthopaedic problems. They have also been able to use their skills to train surgeons from other Cambodian hospitals. Dr. Brown's commitment to teaching led him to sponsor one of the senior surgeons to give a presentation at an orthopaedic conference in the US, which allowed for connections to a much broader international medical community.

Dr. Brown, an HVO member since 1991, received his medical degree from Tulane University, his MPHTM from the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, and his MS from Dartmouth's Center for the Evaluative Clinical Sciences. Dr. Brown is an Assistant Professor of Orthopaedics at Boston University's School of Medicine. He is a member of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America, Massachusetts Medical Society, American Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine, and the Scoliosis Research Society.

Linus T. Chuang, MD, MPH, MS

Dr. Chuang has been instrumental in bringing gynecologic oncology treatment to the cancer center in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. He has been a positive force for recruitment, curriculum development, and mentoring for the surgical oncology service. He has organized a bi-monthly telemedicine tumor board conference with the residents in Honduras and has mentored them in their research projects, which will be presented at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology meeting.

A member of HVO since 2010, Dr. Chuang recently traveled to Hue, Vietnam to work with the oncology unit there to develop their gynecologic oncology training.

Dr. Chuang received his medical degree from Kaohsiung Medical College in Taiwan, his MPH from the University of Texas School of Public Health and his MS from the University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Science. He is an Associate Professor in the Division of Gynecologic Oncology at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York. He is a Fellow in the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, a member of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology, the New York Gynecologic Oncology Group, the Felix Rutledge Society, and an associate member of the American Association of Cancer Research and the Society of Gynecologic Investigators.

Lawrence Gordon, MD

Dr. Gordon was responsible for teaching and developing a curriculum for residents in orthopaedics at Uganda's Makerere University. This program has been successful in training orthopaedic surgeons from Uganda, as well as from many other African nations. These surgeons are now practicing in their home countries of Kenya, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, and Ghana and improving the health care provided to those affected by diseases, trauma, and congenital problems.

Dr. Gordon, an HVO member since 1991, graduated (1951) and obtained his Medical Degree (1955) and orthopaedic training (1959) at Stanford University and its School of Medicine. He then spent a year as a Fellow of the National Foundation (March of Dimes) at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital (1960) in London, England. He served on active duty as a LCDR (MC) USNR in 1960-'62. He is a member of the American Orthopaedic Association, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, and the Hawaii Orthopaedic Association. Before retiring from clinical practice he was Professor and Chair of the Division of Orthopaedics at the John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii-Manoa.

Martin Hobdell, BDS, PhD, MA

Dr. Hobdell has participated in 57 volunteer assignments and has dedicated more than three decades to improving the oral health care of countries in need. An internationally-known expert in oral health, he has developed, in consultation with local faculty, a dental public health curriculum to be taught over a two-year period, primarily by visiting faculty. His leadership in creating and implementing graduate-level certificate and masters training programs in dental public health in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam has increased the capacity of the health infrastructure of these countries. In Vietnam, where the program is now complete, 64 students completed the course and 22 of those went on to complete a Master's of Specialist degree. In Cambodia, 36 students have been trained, many of whom now occupy senior positions in Cambodia and in the provision of primary oral health care services to many disadvantaged adults and children through the outreach of the Cambodian Dental Association. In Laos, 10 students are currently participating in the Master's degree course.

Dr. Hobdell's passionate commitment to improving global oral health care was recognized in 2007 with a Golden Apple Award. Since then, his selfless dedication and passion has continued, and he has served as a role model for the dental profession, as his contributions will effect countless generations for years to come.

A member of HVO since 2000, Dr. Hobdell is a member of HVO's Oral Health Steering Committee and has served as Program Director for Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, coordinating assignments of more than 20 HVO volunteer faculty, evaluating student progress, and participating in the training of the dentistry faculty and provincial dental officers.

He is currently a visiting professor with the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University College London. He is a member of the American Dental Association, the British Dental Association, the British Association for the Study of Community Dentistry, the International Association for Dental Research, and the Organization for Safety and Asepsis Procedures.

Jared Hubbell, MD

Since becoming an HVO member in 2010, Dr. Hubbell has made two trips to Bhutan, where he has had a significant impact on improving the emergency care provided at the Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Referral Hospital in Thimphu and the Eastern Regional Referral Hospital in Mongar. In his quiet, unassuming manner, he developed protocols and trained staff on the treatment of sepsis in the emergency setting, has focused on improved understanding and interpretation of ECGs, and has worked closely with junior physicians and hospital consultants to improve patient assessment and quality of care. His service will continue with an upcoming return visit.

Dr. Hubbell received his medical degree from University of California at Davis School of Medicine and completed his residency at the Ventura County Medical Center Family Residency, a program designed for practicing a broad spectrum of medicine in rural and international locations. He is Board Certified in Family Medicine. Dr. Hubbell is currently Medical Director of Sonoma Valley Hospital Emergency Department. He is a member of the American Board of Family Medicine.

Mark Makumbi Kayanja, MBchB, M.Med (Surg), M.Med (Ortho), PhD

Since becoming an HVO member in 2006, Dr. Kayanja has made seven visits to Uganda where he initiated the Uganda Charitable Spine Surgery mission. Through his efforts, over 20 Ugandan residents have been trained and more than one hundred patients have received the surgical care they needed.

Dr. Kayanja was one of the first recipients of advanced education provided through HVO. A devoted humanitarian, he saw the great need for spinal care and traveled to the US to receive further training, so that he could meet the needs of Ugandans. Through his commitment to the Uganda Charitable Spine Surgery mission, he has been involved in the organization and presentation of a lecture series on spinal surgery. He has worked together with the Department of Orthopaedics at Mulago Hospital to further the education of orthopaedic residents. Through the spinal surgical missions they have gained exposure to and experience with the surgical management of spinal trauma, spinal infection, spinal deformity surgery, and surgical treatment of degenerative spinal disorders. His commitment and interest have been instrumental in convincing many of the residents to pursue spinal orthopaedics as a sub-specialty.

Dr. Kayanja received his medical degree from Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda. He completed residencies in general surgery and orthopaedics at Mulago Hospital, and a PhD from Mbarara University. He is currently doing an orthopaedic residency at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio that he will complete in June 2012. Dr. Kayanja is a member of the North American Spine Society.

Pfizer's Global Health Fellows-India

The Global Health Fellows (GHF) program is the pharmaceutical company, Pfizer's, signature high-impact, international corporate volunteerism program. Since 2004, fourteen Pfizer employees have consecutively volunteered more than 14,000 service hours with the Christian Medical College (CMC) Hospital in Vellore, India through the GHF program's partnership with Health Volunteers Overseas.

The CMC is a major multi-specialty teaching and research hospital. With a staff of over 7,000, the CMC provides both in-patient and extensive outreach services to over 2.5 million patients. It is widely credited with improving health indicators in the region.

Pfizer Global Health Fellowships were designed in collaboration with CMC to set in place quality management standards and systems which would help it enhance its services to patients – and set it on a path to achieve official international recognition for high quality hospital and laboratory management.

In 2010 and 2011, with the long-term support of Pfizer's Global Health Fellows, the CMC received two important recognitions – accreditation of its hospital standards from the NABH (National Accreditation Board for Hospitals) and accreditation of its laboratories via the NABL (National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories). The latter recognition was a first for a lab in India. Accreditation is evidence that CMC is meeting international standards of excellence in its governance, ethical research and treatment standards, management and commitment to caring for patients in the wider community. It is also a reflection of CMC's commitment to continuously evaluate and improve upon how care is delivered to patients.

With these accreditations, the CMC has become a preferred hospital by patients and insurance companies who seek out institutions certified as meeting high quality standards. As such, the CMC also stands out as a model for other institutions in India.

The fourteen Global Health Fellows honored for their involvement in the support for CMC are: Mary Racho, MS; Jacqueline Atallah, DESS; Roy Gomez, MSc, MBA; Mark Tibbetts, MS; Anja Guntermann, PhD; Solveig Haupt, MBA; Rathna Iyer, MS; Frank Lobeck, PharmD; Puthocode Rajamani, MS; Tammy Evans, PharmD; Malin Gylvik, MS; Dinesh Modh, MS; Terra Robles, PharmD; and Tsuneo Tsubaki, PharmD, PhD.

Nine Fellows, with expertise on both the pharmacy and business management side, worked with the CMC's dispensary and administrative departments. The Fellows helped to speed implementation of key structural changes the CMC needed to meet standards required for hospital accreditation. Fellows in the pharmacy helped CMC staff to optimize its supply chain of essential medicines by evaluating stocks, quality and costs, and developing inventory tracking mechanisms and strategies for procuring specific product groups. As a result, CMC has ensured a record of reliable delivery of cost-effective medicines to meet patient needs. Fellow contributions to the administrative departments have enhanced business services by establishing new information and personnel management systems.

Five Fellows worked directly with CMC's Microbiology and Clinical Virology Departments to implement the standards required for laboratory accreditation. They designed a premier manual on virology which serves as a training tool for CMC students and young microbiology faculty covering viral diagnostic methods, including how to understand lab data and ensure quality in clinical labs. The manual has become recommended reading for microbiology students across India. Fellows also developed a blueprint for the CMC to begin organizing and maintaining quality assurance documentation.

Robert Stein, MD

Dr. Stein initiated HVO's orthopaedic project in Bhutan in 1990 with a small hospital teaching program for clinical staff in Thimphu, Bhutan. The need for orthopaedic care was great so he developed a curriculum for training orthopaedic technicians and helped establish an orthopaedic department. Twenty-two years later, where there had been no orthopaedic care, there are now five Bhutanese orthopaedic surgeons and orthopaedic technicians are sent to remote regions in the country to provide care. They are able to refer patients for more advanced surgery, such as spinal and arthroplasty, to the fully-functioning orthopaedic department in Thimphu.

Based on the success of the orthopaedics program Dr. Stein initiated, the Bhutanese Ministry of Health requested HVO assistance in physical therapy, nurse anesthesia, pediatrics, emergency medicine, internal medicine, and mental health and over the last fifteen years, those programs have been established and continue to improve health care in the kingdom of Bhutan.

An HVO member since 1988, Dr. Stein served as Program Director for Bhutan for nineteen years and was a Board member for Orthopaedics Overseas. For his dedication and commitment to orthopaedic care in Bhutan, he received the Orthopaedics Overseas Leadership Award in 2009.

Dr. Stein received his medical degree from the State University of New York in Brooklyn and did his orthopaedic residency at Duke University Medical Center. He is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga.

Dr. Stein is a member of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, American Board of Orthopaedic Surgeons, American Medical Association, American Association of Hip & Knee Surgeons, American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society, Arthroscopy Association of North America, Clinical Orthopaedic Society, Mid-American Orthopaedic Society, Nashville Academy of Medicine, Piedmont Orthopaedic Society, Southern Orthopaedic Association, Tennessee Medical Association, and the Tennessee Orthopaedic Society.