Meet the recipients of the 2026 Alumni Awards
Every year during Alumni Weekend, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health community celebrates alumni who are making their mark in public health around the world. Alumni Weekend is September 25-26.
The Alumni Award of Merit—the highest honor presented by the School’s Alumni Association—recognizes alumni whose careers reflect a lifetime of impact.
This year’s Award of Merit winners:
- Lorraine Dean, SD ’10, is a social epidemiologist and associate professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where she co-leads the national Guaranteed Income & Health Consortium
- Felix Gutzwiller, MPH ‘75, built the University of Zurich’s Institute of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention into the country’s largest academic public health center; founded the Swiss School of Public Health and served as its first president; and established one of Europe’s first community-based cardiovascular disease prevention programs
Three additional awards honor alumni who are exploring meaningful solutions to climate change, infectious disease, and healthcare accessibility through their work:
- Abraar Karan, MPH ’17, recipient of the Emerging Public Health Professional Award, is an adjunct professor at Stanford University, infectious disease physician, epidemiologist, and entrepreneur whose work spans clinical medicine, public health, and emerging infectious disease preparedness
- Qudsia Huda, MPH ’02, recipient of the Leadership Award in Public Health Practice, is currently leading the World Health Organization’s work on disaster risk management, resilience, and climate-related health risks at WHO headquarters in Geneva
- Amber Nigam, SM ’23, recipient of the Public Health Innovator Award, is co-founder and CEO of Basys.ai, a healthcare artificial intelligence company developing explainable AI solutions that help improve the affordability, efficiency, and transparency of healthcare
The 2026 award recipients reflect the vastness of public health, as well as the School’s mission to improve health and promote equity so everyone can thrive.
Read more about these individuals: https://hsph.harvard.edu/alumni-friends/alumni-home/alumni-association/awards/.
