On September 30, 2022 the Milken Institute School of Public Health celebrated the sixth annual 950 Awards Ceremony and awarded five alumni in honor of their contributions to the school. Named after the address of the building and established in 2017, this ceremony recognizes our remarkable alumni community, which includes nearly 14,000 individuals spread across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the US Virgin Islands and 48 other countries.
Dean Lynn R. Goldman presented the awards to five outstanding alumni for their service to the school, their professional achievements, and the impact they have made in the field of public health.
The Sixth Annual 950 Awardees are listed below:
Ayman El-Mohandes, MPH‘91
Ayman El-Mohandes is the Dean of the City University of New York Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy. He is a neonatologist and perinatal epidemiologist with a longstanding reputation as a researcher, educator and academic administrator with a commitment to public service, community engagement and social equity. He has served as a Co-Lead of the NYC Pandemic Response Institute, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Association of Schools and Programs in Public Health, a member of the Board of Directors of Public Health Solutions and Research America, part of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s Advisory Council, an elected member of the American Pediatric Society, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. El-Mohandes was one of the founding faculty of the Milken Institute School of Public Health and served as Associate Dean of Research and Chair of Prevention and Community Health from 1997 to 2009.
Regina Davis Moss, MPH’00
Regina Davis Moss is the Associate Executive Director of Public Health Policy and Practice for the American Public Health Association where she oversees a broad portfolio of programs that address social determinants of health. She has nearly 20 years of experience managing national health promotion initiatives centered around women’s health, health equity and public health system capacity building. Davis Moss has previously held senior roles at the National Institutes of Health, and the Kaiser Family Foundation, where she launched the Kaiser Health News service. She has fought to empower women, adolescents and young girls to make health decisions regarding the challenges they face in today’s world.
Rex Holloway, MHA’87
Rex Holloway is a partner and Senior Vice President with Hammes Healthcare, where he leads the company’s Advisory Services practice. For 30 years, he has provided strategic consulting for leading healthcare systems nationwide. Additionally, he was a Development Executive at Health Inventures, a leading ASC management company where he led ASC feasibility and syndication efforts. In March, Holloway was given the 2022 Alumni Service Award in recognition of the countless hours he has spent volunteering with and mentoring students of the MHA program.
Joelle Simpson, MD’05 MPH’05
Joelle Simpson is the Chief of Emergency Medicine and Medical Director for Emergency Preparedness at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C. where she provides strategic leadership for disaster preparedness, response and community outreach. She is also an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine at the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Simpson serves as a member of the National Biodefense Science Board providing expert advice and guidance to the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response on scientific, technical and other matters related to public health emergency response. Additionally, she is an appointed executive committee member and Chair of the subcommittee on education for the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Children and Disasters. In June 2022, she was awarded a $29 million grant to be distributed over four years from the Health Resources and Services Administration to build a Regional Pediatric Pandemic Network. The purpose of this network is to coordinate among children’s hospitals across the nation in preparing for and responding to global health threats, including the dissemination of research-informed pediatric care for future pandemics.
Nsedu Obot. Witherspoon, MPH’00
Nsedu Obot. Witherspoon is the Executive Director of the Children’s Environmental Health Network (CEHN), a national multidisciplinary organization whose mission is to protect developing children from environmental health hazards and promote healthier environments. For the past 23 years, she has been a passionate advocate for the protection of children, conducting presentations and lectures around the country. She has served on the External Science Board for the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes with the NIH. She is also the Board Chair of the Pesticide Action Network of North America, a Board Member of the Environmental Integrity Project Healthy Building Network as well as the Jennifer Altman Foundation, and was appointed by the Governor of Maryland to serve on the Maryland Children’s Environmental Health Advisory Council.. Witherspoon is the past recipient of the William R. Reilly Award in Environmental Leadership from the Center for Environmental Policy at American University and the Snowy Egret Award from the Eastern Queens Alliance. In honor of her commitment to children’s health, CEHN established the Nsedu Obot Witherspoon Youth Leadership Award.
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