In late 2019, the Division of Health Policy and Insurance Research (HPI) opened the call for nominations for the inaugural Aaka Pande and Sumit Majumdar Memorial Award. The award was established in response to the untimely passing of Drs. Pande and Majumdar, as a means of honoring their legacy of dedication to rigorous science for impactful population health benefit. HPI is honored to announce the 2022 winner of the award:

Katy B. Kozhimannil, PhD, MPA, Distinguished McKnight University Professor
Division of Health Policy and Management, University of Minnesota

The review committee received numerous outstanding nominations and finally chose Dr. Kozhimannil based on her exceptional record of advancing rigorous science, policy, practice, and systems in the areas of rural health and maternal and child health in the United States. 
 

Dr. Kozhimannil is a nationally acclaimed scientist, pre-eminent scholar, and policy advisor focusing on maternal health policy and vulnerable populations in rural settings. The ultimate test of health policy research is whether it improves policies and health outcomes in the real world, a challenging task. Dr. Kozhimannil has translated her scientific work in an understandable way for the public and policymakers and has achieved local, state, and national changes in policies to reduce inequities in maternal care. Her work has captured the attention of the White House, U.S. Senate, and the State of Minnesota. Professor Kozhimannil’s work was instrumental in helping pass Senate legislation (the MOMS Act) to provide resources necessary to improve maternal health outcomes in low-income, rural areas.  Among Dr. Kozhimannil’s extensive scholarly and public health policy work, her commissioned commentary “Improving Health Among Rural Residents in the US”, published in the March 16, 2021 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, is but one example of articles informing the health policy priorities of the Federal administration in the US. 

Professor Kozhimannil’s exceptional research and policy work reflect perfectly the dedication to rigorous science for impactful population health benefits that Drs. Aaka Pande and Me2 Majumdar embodied in their much too short lives. They would greatly appreciate Dr. Kozhimannil’s work.

With this award, HPI seeks to annually recognize the talents of outstanding current and former research fellows in the Department of Population Medicine making significant contributions to constructive health policy dialogue through exceptional papers, highly regarded blogs, or op-eds. For more information on the award, please visit the award website.