Social Justice and Health Equity Award

Established in 2021, the SAGES Social Justice and Health Equity Award was created to recognize individuals who have worked to personally address healthcare inequities due to longstanding systemic racism and/or social injustice.
The purpose of this service award is to recognize individuals who have strived to lessen the burden of differentially poor health outcomes in impacted communities/regions. Nominees should have a track record of creating significant impact or have a history of consistent effort over a sustained period. Some examples of these actions may include educational opportunities for Underrepresented minorities in Medicine (URiM), addressing barriers to patient screening or treatments, improving access to advanced technologies, and actions that address healthcare inequities.
Past winners include: Shaneeta Johnson, MD (2021); Karole Collier, MD & Joseph Sakran, MD (2022); Donn Spight, MD (2023); Brian Williams, MD (2024)

The award is available to current SAGES members and, in special cases, non-members who interface with surgeons and contribute to their teams or the communities where they live.
Nominees should have a track record of creating significant impact or have a history of consistent effort over a sustained period of time. This is a service award rather than an award for academic achievement.
The winner will receive:
- Complimentary registration for SAGES 2025.
- Complimentary economy airfare to SAGES 2025 via our travel agent.
- 2 Complimentary nights in an official event hotel.