The Olaf S. Andersen Physician-Scientist Award was created to honor the legacy of Dr. Olaf S. Andersen, Program Director of the Tri-Institutional MD-PhD Program from 1996 - 2021. The award will be given annually, starting this year, to an MD-PhD student finishing their 3rd year of medical school.
There are seven criteria for the award:
- Character defined by compassion, empathy, and understanding
- Desire to integrate biological and quantitative systems
- Commitment to mentorship
- Commitment to the development of creative or personal endeavors
- Commitment to integrity and accountability
- Commitment to diversity and inclusion
- Commitment to improving the MD-PhD community
The multi-faceted nature of this award—and the strength of this year’s nominees—made it very difficult to select one awardee. Thus, for the inaugural award, we actually have three recipients who will split the monies equally.
The recipients of the 2021 Olaf S. Andersen Physician Award are: Sanjee Baksh, Meg Fabiszak, and Phil Nussenzweig.
We include a brief selection from the nominations for each of these outstanding students, though, as superlative as they are, they fall short of conveying the many ways in which all three of them embody the seven pillars of the OSA Award.
“If I had to pick just one person in the world from whom I could get scientific feedback, it would be Sanjee. Not another PI, not a “leader” in the field. It would be Sanjee. I’d pick him because I know he would listen carefully with an open mind, think deeply, become intently curious and do his best to draw on his current knowledge—or expand his knowledge as necessary—in order to get to the heart of the matter, no matter the subject…He is a fountain of ideas and all of his projects leave a trail of tantalizing research directions in his wake—new directions which he instantly and generously shares with or credits to those around him.”
“Meg is completely fearless; she is endlessly curious; she works incredibly hard; she thinks in solutions, not problems; she is extremely capable; and she possesses a cheerful optimism that gets her through even the most difficult of circumstances. Simply put: Meg, I have learned, can do anything…Her ambitious scientific goals required [Meg] to function as a group leader and organize multiple collaborations with other scientists and laboratories. [She was able to] balance the demands of her collaborators while maintaining the scientific integrity of her project.”
“Phil demonstrated an incredible maturity to conduct science. He was always focused on the big picture, something most students struggle with, and worked independently to find experimental alternatives to approach the different questions that emerged along the course of the project. He was also extremely resilient and hard-working.”
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- Awards