On Thursday, August 27, the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) held its first-ever Virtual Awards & Recognition Ceremony to celebrate and honor winners of the 2020 Pumphandle Award, Distinguished Leader Award, Distinguished Partner Award, as well as the outgoing members of the Executive Board and others. We'd like to congratulation the following award recipients, who were recognized during the virtual event:

2020 Pumphandle Award Winners

Anne Schuchat, MD (RADM, USPHS, RET)
Principal Deputy Director
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Click HERE to listen to highlights of Dr. Schuchat's acceptance remarks

Tom Safranek, MD
State Epidemiologist
Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services

Click HERE to listen to highlights of Dr. Safranek's acceptance remarks

2020 CSTE Distinguished Leader

Ruth Lynfield, MD
State Epidemiologist and Medical Director
Minnesota Department of Health

Click HERE to listen to highlights of Dr. Lynfield's acceptance remarks

2020 CSTE Distinguished Partner

Tom Leary
Vice President, Government Relations
Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS)

Click HERE to listen to highlights of Tom's acceptance remarks

Opening Remarks

Janet Hamilton, MPH
Executive Director
Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists

Click HERE to listen to highlights of Janet's opening remarks

We would also like to congratulate the 2020 Applied Epidemiology Fellowship award winners. These exceptional individuals were recognized for their achievements this year during CSTE's Applied Epidemiology Fellowship (AEF) Graduation and Awards Ceremony held Monday, July 20. This year's winners are:

CSTE Fellowship Alumnus Award – SamHorwich-Scholefield, MPH, Alameda County Public Health Department
AEF Outstanding Mentor of the Year Award – Kelley Bemis, MPH, Cook County Department of Health
Hillary B. Foulkes Memorial Award – Kayla Bruce, MPH, MCH fellow, Louisiana Department of Health

For more information about CSTE's Applied Epidemiology Fellowship, visit https://cstefellows.org/.

In addition, CSTE recognized outgoing Executive Board members Marci Layton, MD, NYC Department of Health and Hygiene (eight years of service), Sarah Park, MD, FAAP, Hawaii Department of Health (six years of service), Rich Danila, PhD, MPH, Minnesota Department of Health (five years of service), and Barbara Gabella, MSPH, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (three years of service).

Finally, we recognized Senior Director to the COVID-19 Response and former ExecutiveDirector Jeffrey Engel, MD. Jeff retired in March after eight years as executive director, and he has graciously continued in the role of Senior Advisor to assist CSTE in its response to COVID-19. Congratulations to all of our 2020 award winners, outgoing Executive Board members, and Dr. Engel for your commitment and contributions to CSTE and the field of public health!

If you would like to view the 2020 Virtual Awards & Recognition Ceremony in its entirety, click here. For more information on the annual CSTE awards, please visit our website.