AIMBE Professional Impact Award

The nomination period for the AIMBE Professional Impact Awards has ended.
Submissions will reopen for the 2027 cycle in Fall 2026.

AIMBE will present up to one award for each Professional Impact Award category annually at the AIMBE Annual Event, recognizing Fellows that have significantly contributed to improving the professional environment of the medical and biological engineering fields. Nominations for the Professional Impact Awards will be solicited by AIMBE in the following categories:

Mentoring: including supporting the growth and development of students, post-docs, and early career faculty; motivating and empowering mentees to pursue and achieve their goals, and helping mentees build a network of professional relationships to strengthen their careers.

Social Impact: including broadening participation in careers in medical and biological engineering; fostering accessibility and a sense of belonging within the biomedical sciences and biomedical engineering workforce; and promoting programs and initiatives that deliver lasting societal benefit through improved health outcomes and positive community impact.

Leadership: including serving the medical and biological engineering field over a sustained period of time to solve one or more problems that impact patients, serving on committees, boards of directors, or other governance positions; participating on peer review panels, advisory commissions, or study groups.

Education: including advancing new teaching methods, curriculum, or training techniques; contributing to changes and improvements on campus, academic life, and/or relationships of students and faculty; promoting and/or advancing STEM.

Nomination Procedures

Both nominators and nominees must be AIMBE Fellows and in good standing with the organization. Nominators shall provide the name, contact details, maximum 30-word citation, and 500-word description of the candidate’s contributions meriting the award, as well as a letter of support. Citations, as well as the 500-word statement, must specially address accomplishments pertinent ONLY to the impact of the award for which the candidate is nominated. Nominations should provide specific metrics to support the candidate’s impact (personal anecdotes will not be considered). The letter of support must be from an individual with direct knowledge of the impact for which the candidate is nominated. Nominators should also submit a CV (10 pages max) that highlights the nominee’s accomplishments that are relevant to the award category.

Professional Impact Award nominations are sought in these categories: Mentoring, Social Impact, Education, and Leadership. Nominees will be considered on the basis of their impact to the field in these areas, engagement with AIMBE and professional societies, strength of endorsement from recommendation letters, and efforts to diversify/expand the field.

Individual recipients receiving an award will be recognized at the Awards Banquet during AIMBE’s Annual Meeting and must be present to accept their award.

BinHe
Bin He, Ph.D.
PROFESSIONAL IMPACT AWARD – LEADERSHIP (2026)
Karen-Burg
Karen Burg, Ph.D.
PROFESSIONAL IMPACT AWARD – DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION (2026)
ke-cheng
Ke Cheng, Ph.D.
PROFESSIONAL IMPACT AWARD – MENTORING (2026)
michele_grimm
Michele Grimm, Ph.D.
PROFESSIONAL IMPACT AWARD – EDUCATION (2026)
Susan-Margulies
Susan S. Margulies, Ph.D.
2025 PROFESSIONAL IMPACT AWARD – LEADERSHIP
Churchwell
Andre L. Churchwell, MD
2025 PROFESSIONAL IMPACT AWARD – DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION
weibocai
Weibo Cai, Ph.D.
2025 PROFESSIONAL IMPACT AWARD – MENTORING
oden
Maria Oden, Ph.D.
2025 PROFESSIONAL IMPACT AWARD – EDUCATION
fredshoen
Frederick J. Schoen, M.D., Ph.D
2024 PROFESSIONAL IMPACT AWARD – LEADERSHIP
Princess
Princess Imoukhuede, M.D., Ph.D
2024 PROFESSIONAL IMPACT AWARD – DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION
BillBentley
William E. Bentley, Ph.D.
2024 PROFESSIONAL IMPACT AWARD – MENTORING
Joseph Tranquillo
Joseph Tranquillo, Ph.D.
2024 PROFESSIONAL IMPACT AWARD – EDUCATION
Guillermo Ameer
Guillermo Ameer, Sc.D.
2023 PROFESSIONAL IMPACT AWARD – LEADERSHIP
Karen L. Christman
Karen L. Christman, Ph.D.
2023 PROFESSIONAL IMPACT AWARD – DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION
Nicholas A. Peppas
Nicholas A. Peppas,
2023 PROFESSIONAL IMPACT AWARD – MENTORING
Maribel Vazquez
Maribel Vazquez, Sc.D.
2023 PROFESSIONAL IMPACT AWARD – EDUCATION
James Anderson
James M. Anderson, MD, Ph.D.
2022 PROFESSIONAL IMPACT AWARD – LEADERSHIP
Lola Eniola-Adefeso
Lola Eniola-Adefeso, Ph.D.
2022 PROFESSIONAL IMPACT AWARD – DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION
Michele Marcolongo
Michele Marcolongo, Ph.D., P.E.
2022 PROFESSIONAL IMPACT AWARD – MENTORING
Ann Saterbak
Ann Saterbak,
2022 PROFESSIONAL IMPACT AWARD – EDUCATION
Rashid Bashir
Rashid Bashir, Ph.D.
2021 Professional Impact Award – Education
Naomi C. Chesler
Naomi C. Chesler, Ph.D.
2021 Professional Impact Award – Mentoring
Cato T. Laurencin
Cato T. Laurencin, MD, Ph.D.
2021 Professional Impact Award – Leadership
Manu O. Platt
Manu O. Platt, Ph.D.
2021 Professional Impact Award – Diversity
Walt Baxter
Walt Baxter, Ph.D.
2020 Professional Impact Award – Leadership
Sam Sanjiv Gambhir
Sam Sanjiv Gambhir, M.D., Ph.D.
2020 Professional Impact Award – Advocacy
Ajit P. Yoganathan
Ajit P. Yoganathan, Ph.D.
2020 Professional Impact Award – Education