Award for Achievement
The Distinguished Alumni Award for Achievement is granted to alumni for significant professional accomplishments in science, medicine, and education.
Paul McCray Jr., MD
81MD, 84R, 88F
At the start of Paul McCray’s career as an assistant professor at Iowa in 1991, the field of cystic fibrosis research was experiencing a boom in response to the discovery of the genetic cause that underlies CF pathology. He began working on potential gene therapies using viral vectors to deliver working copies of the gene to a patient’s cells.
“That work has continued to the present day,” McCray says. “We’re still tweaking those vectors to make them more efficient. We’ve also begun to think about how these tools could be applied to other disease states that involve the cells that line the respiratory tract."
McCray’s research has advanced understanding of SARS, MERS, and COVID-19. A mouse model of coronavirus infection that McCray developed during his work with SARS—known as the K18 mouse—became one of the most scientifically useful vehicles for studying COVID-19 and testing vaccines and treatments. His knowledge of host defenses and virus entry mechanisms has helped advance basic science on airway epithelia, especially a class of antimicrobial peptides called defensins.
McCray discovered and characterized the human and mouse beta-defensin gene clusters that protect the lung, a body of work that has formed a foundation for better understanding innate immunity in the lungs and in diseases of the kidney, gastrointestinal tract, and skin.
AWARD FOR EARLY CAREER ACHIEVEMENT
The Distinguished Alumni Award for Early Career Achievement is granted to alumni who have made notable contributions since graduating within the past 20 years.
Amber K. Brooks, MD
05MD
Amber Brooks’ career is guided by two passions: serving patients living with chronic and complex pain and advocating for compassionate, quality care for all.
As an associate professor of anesthesiology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Brooks specializes in the outpatient treatment of chronic pain. She specializes in outpatient treatment of chronic pain. Through her relationships with her patients, she has gained firsthand experience with the national opioid crisis.
“When I first started at Wake Forest, the evidence was mounting that physicians were part of the issue in terms of the supply of prescription opioids," says Brooks, who also serves as vice dean for strategic initiatives at Wake Forest. She also observed that older adults with chronic pain had more limited options for pain management due to health factors and higher susceptibility to side effects.
Through her clinical research, Brooks has cast light on bias and stigma in pain medicine and the healing power of alternative pain modalities such as movement, acupuncture, and massage. She also emphasizes listening to the lived experiences of patients to her mentees and trainees and teaches them to recognize and mitigate unconscious bias. Her next goal is to establish a training to boost innovation in the field of addiction medicine through modern data science methods.
AWARD FOR SERVICE
The Distinguished Alumni Award for Service is granted to alumni for meritorious leadership and service in a professional capacity or in the broader community.
Barbara L. McAneny, MD, MACP, FASCO
77MD, 80R
Barbara McAneny’s dedication to health advocacy began when a colleague heard her discussing a young patient with metastatic lung cancer caused by smoking. This colleague happened to be the president of the state medical society, and he encouraged McAneny to join a committee of doctors working on clean indoor air legislation for New Mexico.
“I was hooked,” McAneny says. “It was a wealth of information, expertise, and activism. It showed me that when doctors work together for the good of patients, we can accomplish some pretty remarkable things.”
Elected president of the American Medical Association in 2017, McAneny focused on empowering patients and providers alike as she worked to prevent large health corporation mergers, which she says disempowers patients and providers while driving up health care costs.
As an oncologist, McAneny created the New Mexico Cancer Center and its nonprofit foundation, focused on reducing nonmedical expenses for underserved patients undergoing treatment for serious illness. She also pioneered the Community Oncology Medical Home model, known as COME HOME, which helps oncology practices create efficiencies in health care delivery that reduce hospitalizations. Her company, Innovative Oncology Business Solutions, has developed the COME HOME model into a system that can be used by other oncology practices. The model is now being considered for adoption by independent practices across the country, forming the ONCare Alliance.
Nominate an Alum
Do you know an alum who deserves recognition for their outstanding contributions to the field of medicine?