Welcome to Center for Advancing Health

CFAH Media Contact: Kafi Grigsby kgrigsby@cfah.org 202-387-2829

WASHINGTON — May 28, 2009, The Center for Advancing Health (CFAH) announced today that its founder and president, Dr. Jessie Gruman, was recognized earlier this month by four of the nation’s most prestigious universities: Brown University, Georgetown University, New York University and Tulane University, for work advocating for informed and engaged patients. During this month’s commencement ceremonies, Dr. Gruman was awarded the following honorary degrees:

Brown University awarded her an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters for " helping us understand the psychological burdens of devastating diagnoses, the risks and treatments of disease and the need for sound health policies and effective clinical care."

Georgetown University awarded her an Honorary Doctorate of Science in “recognition of her research, her advocacy work, and her concern and compassion for all of us who will be patients -- and thus partners in our own well-being”;

New York University awarded her an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters for “empowering Americans to be wiser health care consumers even as you have fought to eliminate health disparities”;

Tulane University awarded her an Honorary Doctorate of Science as “one of the truly independent voices speaking on behalf of patients about the challenges of finding and using effective health care in the 21st Century”.

“To be honored in a given year by four distinguished universities is an extraordinary tribute,” said Douglas Kamerow, MD, Chair of the CFAH Board of Governors. “We are very proud of the latest honors received by Dr. Gruman and CFAH. This national recognition is a testament to the outstanding contributions of CFAH’s work and its outstanding leader. It is also a validation of our non-profit’s mission to ensure that all Americans are prepared to make informed choices about their health and health care.”

Dr. Gruman has also received honorary degrees from Carnegie Mellon University, Northeastern University and Salve Regina University. She is a recipient of the Presidential Medal of The George Washington University, where she serves as a Presidential Lecturer. Since it’s founding, CFAH has relied primarily on contributions from foundations and individual philanthropists to carry out its mission: to conduct research, communicate findings, and advocate for policies that support everyone’s ability to benefit from advances in health science. For more information about Dr. Gruman and the Center for Advancing Health, visit www.CFAH.org.

About the Center for Advancing Health (CFAH)
The Center for Advancing Health (CFAH) is committed to creating an America where everyone is equipped to live a healthy life and make good choices about health and health care. Since 1992, CFAH has worked to translate complex scientific evidence into information, policies and programs that will ensure that each person can make good decisions about their health and interact effectively with their health care providers. CFAH is an independent non-profit organization that is supported by a number of foundations (principally the Annenberg Foundation and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation) and individuals. For additional information visit: www.cfah.org.

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