Schaffner received the award at Cornell’s commencement. At the awards dinner on the previous night, he was introduced by former Vanderbilt colleague Bruce Gellin, M.D., MPH, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health and Director of the National Vaccine Program Office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
“It is gratifying to be recognized by one’s alma mater,” Schaffner said. “The work on which the award was based was made possible by my many successful collaborations with Vanderbilt colleagues and those at the Tennessee Department of Health over the years.”
Schaffner is the new president of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases and is a member of the Executive Committee of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. He is a 1962 graduate of Weill Cornell Medical College and served his residency training and a fellowship in infectious diseases at Vanderbilt.