Michael DeBaun, MD, MS, MPH, professor of Pediatrics and Medicine, vice-chair of Clinical Research and Translational Research, and holder of the J.C. Peterson, MD Endowed Chair in Pediatrics, has received the Paragon Award for “Innovative Improvements to Clinical Care or Healthcare Delivery” from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (DDF).
The award was presented to DeBaun and 24 other alumni of the Doris Duke Clinical Scientist Development Awards program during a ceremony last fall in New York City celebrating 25 years of support by the foundation for physician-scientists and clinical research.
The Paragon Award for Research Excellence is a one-time recognition that celebrates physician-scientists who have significantly advanced knowledge toward the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of human disease or who have, through their professional contributions, improved the health outcomes of patients today.
Honorees who are past recipients of the DDF’s Clinical Scientist Development Award were selected based on their proven accomplishments in one of the following categories: outstanding contributions to their field of study; impactful developments in disease diagnosis, treatment or prevention; and innovative improvements to clinical care or health care delivery.
DeBaun, director of the Vanderbilt-Meharry Center of Excellence in Sickle Cell Disease and president of the American Pediatric Society, said he is honored to have received the award.
“In 1999, the DDF was instrumental in supporting my career at a moment when the idea that children with sickle cell anemia and with silent strokes have significant cognitive impairment and are at risk for future infarcts (silent cerebral infarcts and overt strokes),” DeBaun said. “The DDF funded our feasibility trial for secondary stroke prevention in children with sickle cell anemia and silent cerebral infarcts. This work led to a National Institutes of Health-funded 27 multicenter international randomized controlled trial demonstrating the added benefit of regular blood transfusion to prevent stroke prevention published in the New England Journal of Medicine.”
The DDF also provided critical funding to support DeBaun’s global program with a training grant for multiple mentees in Nigeria and Ghana and supporting Vanderbilt and Meharry medical students to participate in DeBaun’s clinical-translational research laboratory with a one-year intensive research program.
The foundation operates five national programs — in the performing arts, the environment, medical research, child and family well-being, and mutual understanding between communities — and Duke Farms and Shangri La. These two centers directly serve the public. The DDF strives to advance human disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment through its Medical Research Program by strengthening and supporting clinical research.