The Gold Foundation to bring its message of humanism to 2023 AAMC Annual Meeting in Seattle

The Arnold P. Gold Foundation will again be hosting multiple sessions at the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC)’s 2023 Annual Meeting, illuminating the message of humanism in Seattle at a gathering of thousands of medical education leaders and students.

The Gold Foundation sessions include the conference’s signature humanism talk, the Jordan J. Cohen Humanism in Medicine Lecture, as well as a Gold Humanism Honor Society workshop and a Voices of Medicine lecture presented by the 2023 Vilcek-Gold Award for Humanism in Healthcare recipient.

The popular conference, known as Learn Serve Lead, will run from Friday, November 3, to Tuesday, November 7, 2023, with motivating plenary sessions, powerful talks, practical workshops, and many opportunities for connections.

The Gold Foundation counts the AAMC as one its strongest partners.

“We are delighted to be hosting several sessions again at Learn Serve Lead, a phenomenal conference that gathers so many medical education leaders who are passionate about humanism in healthcare,” said Dr. Kathleen A. Reeves, President and CEO of the Gold Foundation. “AAMC has been an invaluable partner of the Gold Foundation in elevating the importance of humanism in healthcare. We look forward to learning from the sessions and sharing insights in Seattle. I hope to see you there!”

The 2023 Gold sessions at the AAMC LSL are:

Voices of Medicine Series
“Combining Science, Cultural Intelligence and Diplomacy to Achieve Global Health Equity”

Nov. 4th at 3 p.m. PT | SCC Summit Flex Hall A

2023 Vilcek-Gold Award for Humanism in Healthcare recipient Dr. Maria Elena Bottazzi will be giving a talk titled “Combining Science, Cultural Intelligence and Diplomacy to Achieve Global Health Equity,” and receiving her honor.

Dr. Bottazzi is the Senior Associate Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, Co-Director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, and Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology and Microbiology at the Baylor College of Medicine. Born in Italy and raised in Honduras, Dr. Bottazzi was inspired by her family’s entrepreneurial and diplomatic spirit, which she credits as having a profound impact on her character and career.

The Vilcek-Gold Award for Humanism in Healthcare was created jointly by the Gold Foundation and The Vilcek Foundation in 2019 to recognize a foreign-born individual who has had an extraordinary impact on humanism in healthcare through their professional achievements in the United States.

Dr. Bottazzi has been selected for the award for her leadership in the development of a patent-free open-source vaccine for COVID-19, and for her career-long work to support healthcare education and access in vulnerable populations globally.

To learn more about Dr. Bottazzi’s work, read the announcement of her award.


2023 Jordan J. Cohen Humanism in Medicine Lecture
November 5th at 1:15 p.m. PT SCC Summit 327-329

This beloved lecture, a long-time partnership with AAMC, features prominent speakers on topics related to humanism and medicine. This year, Dr. Reed Tuckson, Managing Director of Tuckson Health Connections, LLC, and former Gold Foundation Trustee, will be presenting the lecture “Confronting Misinformation and Mistrust.” Dr. Tuckson is the co-founder of the Coalition for Trust in Health & Science, of which the Gold Foundation and the Gold Corporate Council, a group of leading healthcare companies that work to elevate humanism in healthcare, are members. He has served as President of Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, co-founder of Black Coalition Against COVID, and Executive Vice President and Chief of Medical Affairs for UnitedHealth Group.

Dr. Kathleen Reeves, President and CEO of the Gold Foundation, will be introducing Dr. Tuckson. The lecture is named after Dr. Jordan J. Cohen, an icon in humanism in medicine who is a former President and CEO of the AAMC and Trustee and Chair Emeritus at the Gold Foundation.

Past Jordan J. Cohen Lecturers have included Dr. Rana Awdish, author of the critically acclaimed bestselling memoir In Shock, and Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, award-winning physician, researcher and advocate, and California’s first-ever surgeon general.

Learn more about the Jordan J. Cohen Humanism in Medicine Lecture at the AAMC.


GHHS Panel: Partnering with Community to Build Trust and Create Healthier Neighborhoods
Nov. 5th at 3 p.m. PT | SCC Summit 323-325

During this Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS) panel session, healthcare leaders who are the true experts in the inner-workings of the communities around their medical institutions will discuss strategies that they have identified to cultivate trusting relationships.

The conversation will include President and CEO of the Gold Foundation Dr. Kathleen Reeves, whose community work supported North Philadelphia; Dr. Erica Harris, 2022-2023 Gold Humanism Scholar at the Harvard Macy Institute and Emergency Physician at Einstein Healthcare Network, Medical Director, Trauma Intervention Program; Dr. Theodore J. Corbin, Chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Rush University Medical Center; and Waltkeem Jenkins, Community Health Worker Peer, Healing Hurt People program – Philadelphia.


In addition to these public sessions, the Gold Foundation will be celebrating the recipient of the 2023 Arnold P. Gold Foundation Humanism in Medicine Award, Dr. Jaclyn D. Nunziato at a private luncheon and lecture with the AAMC Organization of Student Representatives. Administered by the AAMC Organization of Student Representatives, this annual award honors caring and compassionate mentors in medical school education. Read more about Dr. Nunziato.

Several Gold staff leaders and Board members will be attending the AAMC, including our co-founder Dr. Sandra Gold and Board Chair Dr. Richard C. Sheerr.

We hope to see you at the 2023 AAMC Annual Meeting!

For more information, and to register, visit the AAMC Annual Meeting website.

Irene Zampetoulas, MPA