Teaching Awards

Dr. Lutchman is a neuroscientist and cancer biologist at Harvard Medical School. She has spent the last 13 years at Harvard Medical School advancing her research program in cancer genetics, cancer cell signaling, and proteomics. In parallel with her research, Dr. Lutchman has been involved in teaching first- and second-year medical students anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, and human system and behavior. In nominating her for the O’Hara Award, one student lauded her response to the transition to virtual teaching “due to COVID19, this fall our M1 class was unable to do any cadaver dissection… in addition to filming and editing prosection videos late into the night, Mohini went above and beyond to help run a month-long, 4+ hours-per-day June consolidation course where I and my classmates were able to actually see and touch the structures we had only seen in books.” She was praised for being “a truly indispensable part of my medical education.” It was noted, not only was she a dedicated teacher but she also “always asked about our academic interests outside of the anatomy lab and was always an encouraging, warming, and helpful presence.” Overall, “Harvard Medical School is fortunate to have such a dedicated faculty member in Mohini.”

Dr. Saravanan is a primary care internist at Cambridge Health Alliance, co-associate director of the Cambridge Integrated Clerkship (CIC) Program, and the Internal Medicine clerkship director at CHA. In her nomination, she was celebrated for her commitment to teaching “clinical thinking and professional style”. It was noted that “while Dr. Saravanan is a rigorous teacher with high expectations, she is also unfailingly kind, and really takes an interest in her students as people.” She routinely “took the time to select a group of complex patients from her primary care panel who she thought would be educational for me, and importantly, who she thought could use the support that a medical student could provide.” She was praised for dedicating “an additional hour of her time each week to… teach on a clinical topic relevant to patients seen that week… she asks questions skillfully to really push clinical thinking to the next level,” and "provides space…to process experiences and reflect on patients’ lives.” One student stated “Dr. Saravanan's commitment to show up and give 100% to her patients and to my education inspires me to be my best self as well.” Overall, Dr. Saravanan “is the among the best teachers… at Harvard Medical School and a most cherished physician mentor.”

Dr. Chi-Fu Jeffrey Yang is a thoracic surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital and an Assistant Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School.  As a teacher and mentor, one nomination noted, “He is extremely supportive of his students, is always available for help and advice, and pushes his students to reach their potential to the fullest.” Another nomination stated, “my classmates and I have come to appreciate that every opportunity to operate with Dr. Yang is an opportunity to become a better future surgeon…Dr. Yang is extremely patient in the operating room, allows you to grow, gives you clinical insight and instruction, even in the most difficult cases” and that “outside of the operating room, in clinic and on rounds, Dr. Yang is incredibly kind and compassionate.” He was also celebrated for his commitment to service, “He is deeply passionate about giving back.  He teaches underserved communities about the importance of lung cancer screening” and used his experiences “to really help guide me and my peers in our own non-profit work.” Finally, “Dr. Yang’s teaching and mentorship have really shaped my entire experience at Harvard Medical School. He recognizes the abilities of medical students even when they themselves are unsure and encourages them to be clinically excellent. I have no doubt that I will carry his teaching with me for the rest of my career and am extremely grateful for his continued mentorship."

Fariborz Maseeh Award for Innovative Medical Education

The Fariborz Maseeh Award for Innovative Medical Education was established in 2020 with a generous gift from the Massiah Foundation to recognize and support an HMS faculty member who develops and leads innovative courses in the HMS MD curriculum. The award is designed to support the faculty member’s research program and their development and teaching of courses in the MD curriculum, and to encourage dissemination of educational innovations to the broader community.

Dr. Flanagan is a neurobiology researcher who trained at the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge he teaches in the preclerkship Pathways course, Foundations, and leads the entire Post-PCE Advanced Integrated Science Courses (AISC) program. His students hold him in high esteem: “the finest educator I have had the pleasure of working with” who “devotes an incredible amount of attention and emotional and intellectual energy to his students.” Students shared that “he was gifted with a style of leadership that is rare and difficult to master: delicate, caring, and tactful. I think many of us in the society behave the way we do because we hope to model Dr. Flanagan’s example." Students felt that what really exemplifies Dr. Flanagan is “his genuine care and sacrificial love for each and every one of his students. He truly left no one behind, paid special attention to those who are struggling during our transition to med student, and exemplified what a true mentor should be."

Dr. Moyer is a Primary Care Physician in the Department of Medicine at Mount Auburn Hospital. She grew up in a family of educators. After graduating Harvard summa cum laude in physical chemistry in 1969, she chose medicine over "pure" science, obtaining her MD from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1973. Once finishing medical residency, she made her professional home at Mount Auburn Hospital in 1977. For the last 44 years, she has practiced primary and secondary care at Mount Auburn. While practicing full time, she has taught first- and second-year HMS students, and regularly attended on the general medicine wards. In 1998, she founded Waverley Primary Care, and has since mentored generations of residents doing ambulatory rotations there. During that year, she developed and led "Ambulatory Conference", an innovative weekly 3-hour gathering for residents on their outpatient rotations. The format encourages residents’ challenging themselves and each other with ambulatory problem cases, features an interviewing segment in which residents interview patients and receive feedback from peers and herself, and invites guests to speak on a variety of topics. Over the years, Dr. Moyer developed a deep interest in the effects of childhood trauma on patients’ lives and health trajectories, writing an unpublished manuscript on her observations, and bringing her experience to bear, when relevant, in her interactions with students of medicine.

Dr. Kaplan is a neurologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She is the Director of the HMS Neurology Clerkship at BWH and the Course Director for the HMS preclinical neuroscience course, Mind, Brain, and Behavior (MBB). Dr. Kaplan has been dedicated to medical education since she was a resident and taught as a teaching assistant in MBB and received the prestigious resident teaching award.  As a fellow, Dr. Kaplan joined the faculty for the longitudinal course, Practice of Medicine (POM), and has been involved since.  Dr. Kaplan is a dedicated teacher and educational innovator at the Brigham, with demonstrated excellence as judged by the wide range of accolades that she has attained through her contributions to student, resident, and post-graduate teaching.  A current mentee said, “Besides her extensive clinical knowledge, profound teaching skill, and mastery of educational theory and methodology, what makes Dr. Kaplan so special as an educator and mentor is that she cares. She cares deeply about her patients, her students, her mission, and the Brigham’s commitment to excellent teaching. Her pure, enthusiastic, and effective approach to quality improvement in medical education inspires me every day…Dr. Kaplan is a true teacher of medicine: a master educator that inspires us all and makes the Brigham a better place.”

Dr. Kumar is a gastroenterologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital and has been dedicated to medical student education since entering as an internal medicine resident in 2010. As a senior resident, he was awarded the Golden Stethoscope Award for his commitment to student teaching. Following residency, he co-directed the Patient Doctor II clinical skills course at BWH in 2013-14. As a gastroenterology fellow in 2015, the BWH internal medicine housestaff named him the Soma Weiss Award recipient for excellence in teaching by a clinical fellow. Since joining the faculty in 2017, he has served as the associate director of the HMS internal medicine clerkship at BWH. Dr. Kumar is a revered teacher and mentor at the Brigham across the spectrum of learners – from students and residents to fellows.  One student shared “It was clear that Dr. Kumar offered substantial contributions to the warm, approachable, and person-centered tone of the core faculty team in preparing us for our first interactions with patients, gently guiding our development of skills…” His colleague said, “Navin is an impactful and transformative medical educator, who can create a touchpoint not only with the students but with the system of education itself.”

Alexandra Hovaguimian is an assistant professor of Neurology and medical educator at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. She serves as the Harvard Medical School Neurology Clerkship Committee Chair, the director of the HMS BIDMC Neurology Clerkship, and the HMS BIDMC Principal Clinical Experience Associate Director. Her educational focuses are on effective distance learning and advancing undergraduate and graduate neurologic education. Dr. Hovaguimian is described by one student as “passionate, kind, thorough, passionate, kind, thorough, inclusive and organized. She not only is an outstanding educator, she cares deeply about her students’ success and well-being. She’s approachable and genuine. She’s someone everyone truly looks up to.”

Jean was nominated for her role as the Administrative Operations Manager in the Department of Medicine and as the Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA) Site Coordinator for the Practice of Medicine Course. She was nominated by Drs. Katherine Miller, Bonni Stahl, Alon Neidich, Rose Goldman, David Bor and Richard Pels. In their nominations, all mentioned that she is always “going above and beyond to not only orient the students, but help them to feel seen and welcome at CHA.” She was lauded for being an instrumental part of all the CHA education programs from the development of the Cambridge Integrated Clerkship, to the Fellowship Programs, and the Practice of Medicine course. “Jean Terp has been a lynchpin in the CHA/HMS connection for medical student education…she is the organizational center, who helps the teams stay on track, thinks creatively about education, and also keeps an eye on the necessary practical ideas.”  There was “no one more deserving of the Wiczai Award which honors an administrative staff member ‘who has made significant and thoughtful contributions to fostering the educational association between an HMS-affiliated institution and HMS.’ Jean has been that person for the Dept of Medicine at CHA and HMS for 41 years.”

Agnieszka (Aga) Jackson has coordinated the HMS OSCE Program for almost 20 years, most recently contributing to its dramatic growth and alignment with additional HMS education programs, as a robust source of centralized standardized clinical skills assessment and teaching.  Her nomination noted “Aga's expertise is most visible to others in the way that she manages the complex puzzle of scheduling students and faculty for multiple OSCE sessions and her effortless calculations of numbers of students and sessions within the capacity of the Clinical Skills Center space for any particular OSCE session.  However, her tremendous value and impact has been in the successful growth of this program, and this is often unseen by others.” She was celebrated for her response to the pandemic “When COVID caused the closure of much of HMS, Aga was able to expeditiously and patiently work with the IT and PME team to support hundreds of hours of remote telehealth OSCEs for students, coaching many OSCE faculty on how to convert their observations and feedback to Zoom …  Aga does all this with patience, a kind word, and professionalism.  Her work in this program touches every HMS student and she is dedicated to helping ensure that this program is of the highest quality to support students' growth and abilities.”

Rosa was appointed Director of Student Affairs in 2018 bringing more than twenty years of experience at HMS to this new role, having served as Program Director in the Office of Recruitment and Multicultural Affairs (ORMA) since 1995. Prior to joining the ORMA team, she served as an admissions officer and assistant director of admissions at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. In AY94, she served as a Harvard Administrative Fellow. She was the first recipient of the Harold Amos Staff Diversity Award in 1999, and in 2015 she received the HMS Fabric Award in recognition of her commitment to promoting diversity and inclusion at HMS and HSDM. In her nomination, her colleagues noted “Rosa is there for the students throughout their time at HMS and beyond in every possible way…she is consistent in her devotion to our students.” She was celebrated for going “the extra mile to fulfill her myriad of student responsibilities” all “while being warm-hearted, kind, and respectful towards the staff, faculty, and other colleagues across Harvard.” It was noted, “Her many years of experience inform her guidance to students and faculty as to how to make HMS a warm and supportive environment for all our students, regardless of their background, culture, or identities.” It is clear “Rosa’s compassion and personal commitment come through in all that she does” and that “Rosa’s work through ORMA and the Office of Student Affairs has had a powerful impact on the experience of our students, enabling them to maximize their medical education.”