Bernard Lo, MD Award in Bioethics 2024 Request for Nominations

Introduction

The Greenwall Foundation invites nominations for the 2024 Bernard Lo, MD Award in Bioethics (Lo Award), a $25,000 prize that is given annually to recognize significant contributions to bioethics. This Award honors Dr. Lo’s service to The Greenwall Foundation as its President & CEO (2012-2020) and founding Director of the Faculty Scholars Program.

The Lo Award recognizes one area of accomplishment in bioethics each year. The 2024 Lo Award will be presented for shaping the public discussion or policy debate about bioethics and equity in healthcare or research. Public awareness and attention to health equity has grown rapidly in recent years, with the recognition that equity – broadly construed along many axes – is critical to the ethical conduct of healthcare and research. This year’s Award will be given to a recipient or recipients who, through their work, have propelled the public discussion or policy debate forward. The recipient’s work will have influenced public perception or understanding, or have impacted the relevant public policy landscape.

Nominees may be individuals, collaborative teams, or organizations that are US 501(c)(3) public charities. The Foundation encourages nominees from all sectors including academic, non-profit, government, industry, and others.

We understand equity broadly and welcome nominations from a wide range of specific areas in healthcare and research. For illustrative purposes, examples of shaping the public discussion or policy debate about bioethics and equity in healthcare or research may include, but are not limited to:

• Generating significant breakthroughs in public understanding of inequities in patient-provider communication, including the impact of such inequities, through organizational activities or a corpus of bioethics work;
• Successfully leveraging evidence-based research to influence policy (institutional, local, state, or federal level) on the equitable provision of mental health services;
• Fostering new collaborations among organizations, such as public interest groups, private corporations, nonprofits, or government entities, to further the public discussion about bioethics and equity in care for or research with incarcerated individuals; and
• Communicating with the public through innovative means to relay information and generate interest and awareness of equity in healthcare or research, leading to meaningful public discourse.

Nominations are due by Monday, March 25, 2024 at 11:59pm ET.

Award Criteria

The Lo Award Committee will consider:

• The centrality and relevance of bioethics to the work described;
• The nominee’s role as researcher, practitioner, communicator, or other leader in shaping the public discussion or policy debate on equity in healthcare or research;
• The direct impact of the discussion or debate generated about equity in healthcare or research;
• The novelty of the approach taken to engage with various stakeholders (for example, legislators, clinicians, academics, members of the public, etc.); and
• The nominee’s track record of work in this area and enduring commitment to the advancement of public discussion or policy debate on equity in healthcare or research.

Nominations

Nominations may be submitted by those who can speak to the excellence of the nominee’s work to shape the public discussion or policy debate about bioethics and equity in healthcare or research and the impact achieved. Self-nominations will not be accepted. If the nominee is an organization, nominators may not be organizational leaders or current members of the organizational team involved in the work.

Nominations should include the following materials:

• Letter of nomination, no longer than three single-spaced pages, that specifically addresses the award criteria listed above and provides concrete illustrative examples. This letter may be cowritten by more than one individual. Among other things, the letter should address:
  
• How is bioethics central to the nominee’s work, or how does the work directly relate to bioethics?
• How was the public discussion or policy debate about equity in healthcare or research shaped by the nominee’s work?
• What role did the nominee play in shaping public discussion or policy debate?
• What constituencies did the nominee engage with to shape the public discussion or policy debate (e.g., organizational leadership, the general public, local government officials, policymakers, or others), and by what means?
• What evidence demonstrates the nominee’s success in creating lasting impact?
  
  This letter may include input or information from the nominee(s).
• Relevant Work Product that demonstrates the nominee’s relevant work (document(s) or document excerpt(s) up to a 20-page total maximum). This might include, for example, academic articles or abstracts, op-eds, blog posts, press coverage, interview transcripts, website excerpts, policies or other organizational statements, or descriptions of programs developed.
• Evidence showing a shift in public discussion or policy debate influenced by the nominee’s work (document(s) or document excerpt(s) up to a five-page total maximum). This might include, for example, academic articles or abstracts, op-eds, blog posts, press coverage, interview transcripts, website excerpts, or policies or other organizational statements. This item is meant to illustrate the way the discourse was shaped by the nominee’s work, not the nominee’s work product itself (which is illustrated by the previous bulleted item).
• One letter of support, no longer than three single-spaced pages, that specifically addresses the award criteria listed above and provides an additional perspective on the nominee’s success and impact in shaping the public discussion or policy debate about bioethics and equity in healthcare or research. The letter should come from someone in a different organization or working in a different capacity than the nominator, and who has substantial knowledge of the nominee’s work in this area. Among other things, this letter should answer:
  
• What is/was your relationship with the nominee?
• In your view, what has the nominee done differently than others to shape the public discussion or policy debate about equity in healthcare or research?
• How was the public discussion or policy debate about equity in healthcare or research shaped by the nominee’s work?
• What role did the nominee play in shaping public discussion or policy debate?
• What constituencies did the nominee engage with to shape the public discussion or policy debate (e.g., organizational leadership, the general public, local government officials, or policymakers), and by what means?
• What evidence demonstrates the nominee’s success in creating lasting impact? Please provide specific examples of this impact.
• Nominee’s current CV(s), no more than five single-spaced pages each. If the nominee is an organization, please submit a comparable document or document excerpt that describes the organization such as promotional materials, an annual report, or webpage.

The Lo Award Committee may reach out to letter-writers with follow-up questions. The Lo Award recipient will be announced later this year.

Submission of Nominations

Nomination packets should be submitted via the Foundation’s online system by Monday, March 25, 2024 at 11:59pm ET.

Go to https://www.grantinterface.com/Home/Logon?urlkey=greenwall. Once there, please bookmark the site, create an account, and complete your nomination. If online submission presents a hardship, please contact Kyle Ruempler at [email protected] in advance of the nomination deadline.