David L. Katz, MD, Director of the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center based at Griffin Hospital, received the Dr. Katharine Boucot Sturgis Lectureship award from the American College of Preventive Medicine (ACPM) at the Preventive Medicine 2011 annual conference in San Antonio, Texas.
The award is presented by invitation of the ACPM President to someone who has distinguished themselves by their remarkable contributions to preventive medicine. It is considered the highest award that ACPM confers.
The award was established by the ACPM in 1979 with an endowment in honor of Dr. Katharine Boucot Sturgis who was considered a pioneer in pulmonary research, with approximately one hundred publications to her credit including important work on the correlation between smoking and lung cancer. Her experience and research provoked an early interest in the new area of preventive medicine.
The American College of Preventive Medicine was founded in 1954 and is the professional organization of physician specialists who practice preventive medicine. ACPM advances the science and practice of disease prevention and health promotion and provides leadership in research, professional education, development of public policy and enhancement of standards for preventive medicine.
Dr. Katz is an internationally renowned authority on nutrition, weight management, and the prevention of chronic disease, and an internationally recognized leader in integrative medicine and patient-centered care. He has served on the governing board of ACPM. Katz founded and became director of the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center in 1998.
He is the principal inventor of the Overall Nutritional Quality Index utilized in the NuVal™ nutrition guidance program the development of which was funded by Griffin Hospital. NuVal is currently offered in over 1,100 supermarkets throughout the United States including Big Y and Price Chopper in Connecticut. The NuVal system makes healthy nutrition easy by providing comprehensive nutritional information in a single number from 1 to 100; the higher the score, the higher the nutrition allowing consumers to make healthier food choices at their purchase point.
Dr. Katz joins a prestigious list of previous recipients of the award including: Dr. David Kessler, former director of the Federal Drug Administration, David Lawrence, former chairman and CEO of the Kaiser Foundation, Drs. David Satcher and M Jocelyn Elders, former Surgeon Generals, Dr. Jonas Salk, founder Salk Institute and Dr. Kevin Cooper, Chairman, Cooper Aerobics Center.
