Awards and History

The Virginia Apgar Award in Neonatal Medicine

The Virginia Apgar Award is given annually by the Section on Neonatal -Perinatal Medicine of the American Academy of Pediatrics to an individual whose career has had a continual influence on the well-being of newborn infants. The Virginia Apgar Award is made possible by a continuing grant from Abbott Nutrition.

Virginia Apgar, MD

Though not a pediatrician, Dr. Virginia Apgar influenced pediatrics as have physicians. All are familiar with the Apgar Score, which first allowed statistical comparisons among resuscitative techniques for the newborn infant and forced attention to their needs in the delivery room as at least competitive with those of the mother. But few are aware that Dr. Apgar was among the very first to catheterize the umbilical artery, and fewer still realize that her life of 65 years spanned three professional careers—surgery, obstetric anesthesiology., and public health. The first she deserted in order to found the second, which led her into the third through her interest in birth defects. 

Born in Westfield, New Jersey, Dr. Apgar was educated at Mt. Holyoke College, and despite the practice of discouraging women in the field at the time, entered a prestigious surgical residency following her graduation from Columbia’s College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1933. This, however, was short-lived and she became the first physician of either sex to enter the field of anesthesia at Columbia in 1935. Within three years, she was appointed full processor (the first woman so recognized) and later, Director of the Division of Anesthesiology. In the process, her research and teaching helped to develop the entire field of anesthesiology into a scientific medical specialty, deserving of the full-time attention of physicians especially knowledgeable in neuropharmacology and cardiopulmonary physiology. 

These considerations perhaps led her to become interested in the effects of anesthesia upon the fetus and newborn to the extent that, in 1949, she relinquished the Directorship of Anesthesiology to establish the field of obstetrical anesthesia through her full-time devotion to it, as marked by development and establishment of the Apgar Score. This completed, she left the field in the capable hands of many of her former students to join the National Foundation of the March of Dimes, after earning the MPH degree at Johns Hopkins in 1959. 

During the next 14 years until her death in 1974, Dr. Apgar led the National Foundation’s effort in structural and nonstructural birth defects, following the conquest of polio, and encouraged the Foundation’s developing interest in perinatal problems. These efforts, aided by Dr. Apgar’s enduring and endearing talents as gadfly and diplomat, have largely been responsible for the converging interests of obstetricians and pediatricians in mounting cooperative assaults upon perinatal morbidity and mortality. 

This remarkable record was achieved by a multi talented human being whose ebullience encompassed participant sports (including aviation in her later years) and whose special love was playing chamber music with friends, as well as crafting four of the instruments upon which they played. The AAP Perinatal Section purchased her violins, viola and cello, which she constructed under the tutelage of Carleen Mayley Hutchings and donated them to the College of P&S in 1996 as The Apgar Memorial String Quartet. Her love of stringed instruments was expressed as Secretary/Treasure of the Catgut Acoustical Society. Her energy was such that everything was accelerated. With determination softened by tact, and humility leavened with humor, she was ideally equipped for her several missionary roles. Her religion was idealistic rather than spiritual and her chief goal was to satisfy her own curiosity rather than to impose her views. But her enthusiasm was a lifelong student inevitably reinforced the power of her teaching and devotion of many students to whom she always remained friend and counselor. 

Those students and their colleagues in the American Academy of Pediatrics find it most fitting to establish in her memory the Virginia Apgar Award for distinguished contributions to perinatal medicine.

2022 Award Recipient - Dr. Wanda Barfield

She is the director of the Division of Reproductive Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and has been dedicated to the improvement of maternal and infant health outcomes for over 30 years. Dr. Barfield is a retired assistant surgeon general in the U.S. Public Health Service.

Past Apgar Recipients:

• 1975 Clement A. Smith, MD
• 1976 Richard L. Day, MD
• 1977 Donald H. Barron, PhD
• 1978 Nicholas S. Assali, MD
• 1979 William A. Silverman, MD
• 1980 Geoffrey S. Dawes, FRS MD
• 1981 Louis K. Diamond, MD
• 1982 Lula O Lubchenco, MD
• 1983 Edward Hon. MD
• 1984 Giacomo Meschia, MD
• 1985 L. Stanley James, MD
• 1986 Graham C. Liggins, MD, ChB
• 1987 Mildred T. Stahlman, MD
• 1988 Murdina M. Desmond, MD
• 1989 William H. Tooley, MD
• 1990 Petter Karlberg, MD
• 1991 Mary Ellen Avery, MD
• 1992 L. Joseph Butterfield, MD
• 1993 Jerrold F. Lucey, MD
• 1994 John A. Clements, MD
• 1995 William Oh, MD
• 1996 Frederick C. Battaglia, MD
• 1997 Maria Delivoria-Papadopoulos, MD
• 1998 Kurt Benirschke, MD
• 1999 Joan Hodgman, MD
• 2000 Robert H. Usher, MD
• 2001 Philip Sunshine, MD
• 2002 Avroy Fanaroff, MD
• 2003 Eduardo H. Bancalari, MD
• 2004 Tetsuro Fujiwara, MD
• 2005 Stanley Graven, MD
• 2006 David K. Stevenson, MD
• 2007 M. Jeffrey Maisels, MD
• 2008 John Kattwinkel, MD
• 2009 John C. Sinclair, MD
• 2010 William Keenan, MD
• 2011 Alan H. Jobe, Md, PhD
• 2012 Waldemar A. Carlo, MD, FAAP
• 2013 George Gregory, MD
• 2014 Jon Tyson, MD, MPH
• 2015 Jeffrey A. Whitsett, MD
• 2016 George A. Little, MD
• 2017 Richard J. Martin, MD
• 2018 Saroj Saigal, MD
• 2019 Barbara Schmidt, MD, MSc, CM
• 2020 Betty Vohr, MD
• 2021 Rich Polin, MD
• 2022 Wanda Barfield, M.D., M.P.H., FAAP, RADM USPHS

Avroy Fanaroff Education Award

The Avroy Fanaroff Neonatal Education Award is given annually by the Section on Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine of the American Academy of Pediatrics to an individual for recognition of outstanding contributions in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine for health care students, professionals or the lay public. The Avroy Fanaroff Neonatal Education Award is supported by a grant from Reckitt

2022 Award Recipient - Dr. Louis Halamek

He has been called the father of neonatal simulation for his work on the Neonatal Resuscitation Program. Dr. Halamek is the founding director of the Center for Advanced Pediatric & Perinatal Education at Lucile Salter Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford, the first simulation based training and research center for neonatal, pediatric and obstetric sciences. The AAP Section on Simulation and Innovative Learning Methods issues an award in his name.

Past Recipients:

• 2022 Louis Halamek, MD, FAAP
• 2021 Dara Brodsky, MD, FAAP
• 2020 Bill Benitz, MD, FAAP
• 2019 Edward Lawson, MD, FAAP
• 2018 David Adamkin, MD, FAAP
• 2017 Susan Niermeyer, MD, FAAP
• 2016 Jay Greenspan, MD, FAAP
• 2015 Alan Spitzer, MD, FAAP
• 2014 Carl Bose, MD, FAAP
• 2013 Ann R. Stark, MD, FAAP
• 2012 Richard J. Martin, MD, FAAP
• 2011 John V. Hartline, MD, FAAP
• 2010 Georg Simbruner, MD
• 2009 Ron Ariagno, MD, FAAP
• 2008 Jeffrey Gould, MD, MPH, FAAP
• 2007 Gerald Merenstein, MD, FAAP
• 2006 Richard A. Polin, MD, FAAP
• 2005 Gilbert I. Martin, MD, FAAP
• 2004 David K Stevenson, MD, FAAP
• 2003 Marilyn B. Escobedo, MD, FAAP
• 2002 John C. Sinclair, MD, FAAP
• 2001 Ronald Bloom, MD, FAAP
• 2000 John Kattwinkel, MD, FAAP
• 1999 Avroy Fanaroff, MD, FAAP
• 1998 Dharmapuri Vidyasagar, MD, FAAP
• 1997 Jerold F. Lucey, MD, FAAP
• 1996 William Keenan, MD, FAAP

The Neonatal Landmark Award

The Neonatal Landmark Award is given annually by the Section on Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) to an individual for recognition of a landmark contribution in a specific area of neonatology.  The Landmark Award is supported by a grant from Reckitt.

2022 Award Recipient - Dr. Jacob Aranda

He is director of neonatology and professor of pediatrics and ophthalmology at the State University of New York Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn. Dr. Aranda, a neonatologist and clinical and translational pharmacologist, is a pioneer in neonatal pharmacology.

Past Recipients:

• 2022 Jacob Aranda, MD, PhD, FRCPC, FAAP
• 2021 Seetha Shankaran, MD, FAAP
• 2020 Tom Wiswell
• 2019 Ronld Clyman
• 2018 Carol Baker, MD
• 2018 Anne Schuchat, MD
• 2017 William Northway Jr., MD
• 2016 T. Michael O’Shea, MD
• 2015 Diana Bianchi, MD
• 2014 Betty Vohr, MD, FAAP
• 2013 Vinod Bhutani, MD, FAAP
• 2012 Antony F. McDonagh, PhD, FRSC
• 2011 Ola Saugstad, MD, PhD, PRCPE
• 2010 Dale Phelps, MD, FAAP

Thomas E. Cone, Jr., MD Lecture

The Thomas E. Cone, Jr., MD Lecture in Perinatal History is presented annually by the Section on Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine to honor Dr Thomas E. Cone, Jr., for his contribution to perinatal history and for his example in the research and teaching of perinatal history. The Thomas E. Cone, Jr., MD, Lecture is made possible by an educational grant from Abbott Nutrition.

2022 Award Recipient - Dr. Anne Schuchat

Past Recipients:

• 2022 Anne Schuchat, MD
• 2021 Joan Akers, MD
• 2020 Rich Polin MD Seventy -five Years of Progress in Neonatal Sepsis: The Cha-Cha Hypothesis
• 2019 Robert White, MD, FAAP How Nature, Nurture, and Neurophysiology Have Informed the NICU Environment of Care
• 2018 Marilyn Escobedo, MD, FAAP Triumphs and Tragedies– Perspectives on 50 Years of Neonatology
• 2017 Jeffrey Whitsett, MD Surfactant,: Past, Present, Future
• 2016 Maria Delivoria‐Papadopoulos, MD, FAAP Those Exciting Times‐ The Very Early Days of RDS
• 2015 Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD Sam Berns & Progeria: What a Rare Disease Teaches Us About a Universal Condition
• 2014 Jeffrey Whitsett, MD Surfactant,: Past, Present, Future
• 2013 M. Jeffrey Maisels, MB, BCh, DSc, FAAP Sister Jean Ward, Phototherapy and Jaundice: A Unique Human and
• Photochemical Relationship
• 2012 Michael F. Greene, MD Two Hundred Years of Obstetrical Practice
• 2011 Eduardo Bancalari, MD, FAAP The Evolution of BPD and Mechanical Ventilation
• 2010 Jacqueline A. Noonan, MD, FAAP The History of Neonatal/Pediatric Cardiology
• 2009 Robert Bartlett, MD ECMO: 50 Years in the History of Life Support Research
• 2008 Lawrence Longo, MD Antenatal Pediatrics: The Gravid Uterus and its Contents, Fifteenth to Nineteenth Centuries
• 2007 Tonse Raju, MD, FAAP William Little, Perinatal Asphyxia and the Etiology of Cerebral Palsy: 160 Years of Misunderstanding
• 2006 Alistair G. S. Philip, MD, FAAP Neonatal Bacterial Sepsis through the Ages
• 2005 Robert Resnik, MD, FACOG An Historical Perspective on the Prevention of Prematurity
• 2004 Harvey L. Levy, MD, FAAP Pediatrics and Public Health: The Story of Newborn Screening
• 2003 Abraham Rudolph, MD, FAAP Congenital Heart Disease
• 2002 Larry Gartner, MD, FAAP Tetanus of the Newborn: What the Chinese Knew 2,000 Years Ago
• 2001 William Silverman, MD, FAAP From Oxygen to Retrolental Fibroplasia (RLF) to the Present Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP)
• 2000 Paul Toubas, MD Dr Pierre Budin
• 1999 Jeffery Baker, MD, FAAP The Incubator: The Icon of the NICU
• 1998 Philip Sunshine, MD, FAAP Pediatric Surgery from a Neonatologist’s Perspective
• 1997 Peter M. Dunn, MD Neonatology in the UK: From V. Mary Crosse Forward
• 1996 Maria McCormick, MD MPH, FAAP The Transition of Regional Perinatal Care in a Changing Economic Landscape George
• Ryan, MD Sprague Gardiner, MD, A Pioneer in the Regionalization of Perinatal Care
• 1995 William A. Silverman, MD Proto-Neonatology: The Children’s Bureau and Ethyl Dunham, MD
• 1994 Joan Beck I Remember Virginia Apgar
• 1993 Leonore Ballowitz, MD The Life of Arvo Ylpp

Pioneer Award

2021 Award Recipient - Gil Martin, MD

Past Recipients:

• 2021 Gil Martin, MD
• 2020 Augusto Sola, MD
• 2013 Tore Laerdal, MD
• 2010: Forest Bird, MD
• 2009: David Bartlett, MD
• 2008: Osmund Reynolds, MD
• 2006: Albert and Renate Huch, MD
• 2004: Marvin Cornblath, MD
• 2003: S. Gorham Babson, MD
• 1999: Nicholas Nelson, MD

Merenstein Lecture

2021 Award Recipient - Dr. John Zupancic

Past Recipients:

• 2021 John Zupancic
• 2020 Mark Mercurio, MD The Moral Status of the Newborn: Before, During and After the Pandemic
• 2019 Seetha Shankaran Update and Knowledge Gaps in Hypothermia for Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy
• 2018 Carl Bose, MD. The Health of Newborns in Low Resource Settings: What Can Be Done?
• 2017 Lou Halamek Human Performance & Simulation
• 2016 Jeff Reese, MD The Future of Prematurity: New Approaches for Detection and Prevention of Preterm Labor
• 2015 Diana Bianchi Prenatal Diagnosis and Therapies
• 2014 Judy Aschner, MD Seeking New Therapies for Neonatal Lung Disease
• 2013 Linda Van Marter, MD Neonatal Cardiopulmonary Epidemiology in the New Millennium
• 2010 Michael Harrison, MD Fetal Surgery – Promise Fulfilled?

Silverman Lecture

2022 Award Recipient - Dr. Haresh Kirpalani

Past Recipients:

• 2006 San Francisco Avroy Fanaroff, MD, FAAP
• 2007 Toronto Jon Tyson, MD, FAAP
• 2008 Honolulu Brian S. Carter, MD, FAAP
• 2009 Baltimore Alan H. Jobe, MD, FAAP
• 2010 Vancouver Roger F. Soll, MD, FAAP
• 2011 Denver Lois Smith, MD, PhD
• 2012 Boston Joseph Volpe, MD
• 2013 Washington, DC David Stevenson, MD, FAAP
• 2014 Vancouver, BD John Lantos, MD
• 2015 Baltimore Jeff Horbar
• 2016 San Diego Saroj Saigal, MD
• 2017 Barbara Schmidt
• 2018 Toronto Wanda Barfield
• 2019 Baltimore Norman Fost
• 2021 James Collins
• 2022 Haresh Kirpalani