Dr. Daniel S. Blumenthal, MD, MPH, FACPM, was a trailblazer and inspiration for many seeking to improve health equity and social justice. From his time as a physician in 1960’s Arkansas to his career at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and as an educator at the Morehouse School of Medicine, Dr. Blumenthal sought to use his influence, experience and skills as a physician, to advance the health of all people, particularly those historically excluded and marginalized. ACPM honors the legacy of Dr. Daniel S. Blumenthal, MD, MPH, FACPM through an annual award and seminar addressing topics of addressing barriers to accessing healthcare across populations.
Equal access to nutrition-based food is a cornerstone of any prevention-first health system. Yet preventive medicine only works if the basic building blocks of health are within reach: when whole foods, fresh produce, and balanced nutrition are inaccessible or unaffordable, the entire premise of “prevention” breaks down, and the system defaults to treating illness after it’s already taken hold.
A truly prevention-first approach treats food access as a medical issue, not just a social one. That means integrating nutrition screening into routine care, connecting patients to food resources the same way they’d be referred to a specialist, and addressing food deserts and affordability gaps as seriously as we address gaps in insurance or provider access. Equal access to nutritious food isn’t a peripheral wellness add-on — it’s upstream medicine. Investing in it reduces downstream costs, eases strain on healthcare infrastructure, and shifts the entire system from reactive treatment to proactive, sustained health.
Stacy Dean is Carbonell Family Executive Director at the Global Food Institute, George Washington University, where she champions the institute’s mission to change the world through the power of food. She is a renowned national food-policy leader with more than 30 years of experience in the government and non-profit sectors, dedicated to improving nutrition assistance for struggling Americans and tackling barriers ingrained within nutrition programs. Her distinguished career includes her most recent role as the Deputy Under Secretary for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services, where she led the administration’s work on federal nutrition programs. In this role, Dean was instrumental in strengthening the agency’s efforts on food and nutrition security as well as local food systems and resilience. Prior to her role at USDA, Dean served as the Vice President for Food Assistance Policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, where she led their research and advocacy work on federal nutrition programs as well as other safety-net programs. She has authored scores of papers and analyses on federal nutrition programs, testified before Congress and has been frequently quoted in the media, including the NYTimes, Politico, and other publications.
Daphene Altema-Johnson, MPH, MBA, RDN, LD is Senior Program Officer for Food Communities & Public Health at The Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future. Daphene completed her BA in nutrition and fitness at Florida State University followed by an MPH in health policy at George Washington University. After working in academia and public service for 15 years, Daphene changed career directions to focus on solutions to diet-related illnesses among vulnerable and low-income populations. She obtained a second bachelor’s degree in dietetics from the University of Northern Colorado before going on to work at the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future.
Kofi Essel, MD, MPH, FAAP is the inaugural Food as Medicine Program Director at Elevance Health. As a core member of the Health Outcomes Organization team, he works to coordinate with the broader social impact strategy, whole health, and medical policy initiatives throughout the enterprise. He leads efforts in designing innovative approaches to address diet related chronic diseases and social risk using novel food interventions. Dr. Essel sits on the National Academy of Sciences Roundtable on Obesity Solutions Lived Experience Innovation Collaborative and co-authored a national toolkit for pediatric providers to address food insecurity in their clinical settings with the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Food Research & Action Center.
Dr. Essel is a Community Pediatrician and Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics at George Washington University School of Medicine where he previously served as the Director of Culinary Medicine and Founding Director & Principal Investigator of a Food as Medicine research and innovation lab in Washington, D.C.
Anne Utech, PhD, RDN is National Executive Director (SES EQV), Nutrition and Food Services for the Veterans Health Administration, US Department of Veterans Affairs. Dr. Utech serves as the Nutrition Field Advisory Committee executive manager and oversees all NFS policies and programs, strategic planning, national external & internal partnerships, and serves as the VA’s primary subject matter expert for nutrition & food services.
Prior to her appointment, Dr. Utech served as Acting Chief Officer for Specialty Care Services, Veterans Health Administration – Central Office (VHA-CO), Washington, DC. In this capacity, she led 26 medical specialties, national program directors, and programs in an interim capacity. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Her professional interests are environmental sustainability in procurement/waste streams, promoting and conducting nutrition research, expanding strategic partnerships for greater impacts, and data analytics to improve Veteran outcomes. Recent awards include being the 2015 Commencement Speaker and Hallmark Alumni Awardee at Texas Woman’s University. Recent peer-reviewed publications have been on the topics of nutrition support, nutrition education and diabetes.
Michael Parkinson, MD, MPH, FACPM is Principal at P3 Health (Prevention, Performance, Productivity) and Past President of the American College of Preventive Medicine. Dr. Parkinson strives to improve health, reduce excessive medical costs and optimize business competitiveness. He most recently was Senior Medical Director for UPMC Health Plan and lead the 2019 National Lifestyle Medicine Research Summit. He was Vice President of Lumenos, a pioneer of consumer-directed health plans acquired by Anthem. A retired Air Force Colonel, he served as Chief, Preventive Medicine and Associate Director, Programs and Resources in the Office of the Surgeon General. While assigned to the US Public Health Service, he oversaw public health, geriatrics and preventive medicine training programs. He was a member of the IOM Committee evaluating NASA health programs, faculty for the 14-cities Robert Wood Johnson Foundation “Aligning Forces for Quality”, board member of the American Heart Association Great Rivers Affiliate and the American Board and RRC of Preventive Medicine. He has served as AMA Delegate, member of (DoD) Defense Health Board and currently as Advisor to the University of Iowa NIOSH Center for Worker Health.
He received his AB from Cornell, MD from George Washington, family practice training at UCLA and MPH, preventive medicine and chief residency at Johns Hopkins.
Camara Phyllis Jones, MD, MPH, PhD, Past President, American Public Health Association
Daniel E. Dawes, J.D., Executive Director, Satcher Health Leadership Institute, Morehouse School of Medicine
Marcella Nunez-Smith, MD, MHS, Associate Dean for Health Equity Research, Yale School of Medicine