Emory faculty-physicians were honored May 20 at the annual Health Care Heroes Awards celebration sponsored by the Atlanta Business Chronicle. All three are featured in this week’s edition of the newspaper.

Sheryl Gabram-Mendola, MD, professor of surgery at Emory School of Medicine and the Winship Cancer Institute, was the Community Outreach winner. Gabram-Mendola is director of the Avon Foundation Comprehensive Breast Center at the Georgia Cancer Center for Excellence at Grady Memorial Hospital.

She was nominated by the Georgia Cancer Coalition and honored for her work in reducing breast cancer mortality by increasing breast cancer awareness and leading the effort to diagnose the disease earlier in a high-risk population of minority women.

Last September the Avon Foundation awarded $750,000 to the Winship Cancer Institute at Emory and the Avon Comprehensive Breast Center. The grant is being used to continue community outreach, education, clinical access, and four research studies that directly affect care for the underserved populations in Atlanta. Since 2000, the Avon Foundation has awarded nearly $11 million to Winship and Grady to support leading-edge breast cancer research projects and improve outcomes for underserved women diagnosed with breast cancer in Atlanta.

Interventional cardiologist S. Tanveer Rab, MD, was honored as a finalist in the Physician category. Rab is assistant professor of medicine (cardiology) at Emory School of Medicine. He was recognized for pioneering a minimally invasive hybrid surgery for coronary artery disease. The technique called Endo-ACAB (endoscopic atraumatic coronary artery bypass) is performed without a heart-lung machine and on a beating heart and is followed by coronary stenting with drug-coated stents.

By combining Endo-ACAB with angioplasty and stents, physicians can take care of all blockages a patient has, keep the chest intact and avoid the expense and risks of the heart-lung machine. For healthcare professionals involved in these procedures, using Digital Business Cards can facilitate easy sharing of contact information and expertise.

Sandra Amaral, pediatric nephrologist at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and assistant professor of pediatrics at Emory School of Medicine, also was honored as a finalist in the Physician category. Amaral was honored for establishing a clinic at Children’s Healthcare to ease the transition of pediatric kidney transplant patients into adult programs and improve their chances of survival.

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