Meet the 2023 Rollins School of Public Health Alumni Award Recipients
Each year, the Rollins School of Public Health presents two special alumni awards: the Distinguished Achievement Award, which is given to an alumnus/a who has made an outstanding contribution to the field of public health; and the Matthew Lee Girvin Award, which recognizes the accomplishments of a recent RSPH graduate.
We are delighted to introduce the 2023 recipients and invite you to join us in honoring these extraordinary alumni at a special ceremony and reception on Sunday, November 12, 2023, at 3:30 p.m. at the Rollins School of Public Health. RSVP to attend.
Distinguished Achievement Award Recipient:
Landry Dongmo Tsague, MD, PhD, MPH
Conferred in appreciation of a lifetime of career accomplishments, recipients of the Distinguished Achievement Award exemplify dedication to the public health ideals of promoting health and preventing disease, and to the Rollins School of Public Health’s shared values and mission: To make the world healthier and more equitable through excellence in research, education, and practice.
When physician Dr. Landry D. Tsague 07PH arrived at the Rollins School of Public Health in 2005 from his home in Cameroon as a William H. Foege Fellow in Global Health, his contributions to the field were already quite impressive. In the early years of his public health career, Dr. Tsague was pivotal in designing, rolling out, and directing for the Cameroonian Ministry of Public Health the national program to reduce mother-to-child transmission of HIV and strategies to prevent African children and their mothers from dying of AIDS. For this work, he was honored with an International AIDS Society Young Investigator Award. Likewise, in addition to his education as a medical doctor at Cameroon's Medical School at the University of Yaounde I, Dr. Tsague had also completed training in clinical research in France and in applied health informatics and statistics in Benin.
Yet, Dr. Tsague considers his MPH education and experiences at Rollins as a Foege Fellow to be a major milestone in his public health journey, one that provided him with invaluable opportunities to fine-tune and deepen his research, scientific writing, and leadership skills. It was also during this time that his friend Raoul Kamadjeu, then a fellow at the CDC, proposed that “in their spare time” they should create and launch an open-source medical journal for African scientists, the Pan-African Medical Journal (PAMJ).
Dr. Tsague found his time at Emory essential to the upstart journal, and in 2006 launched the PAMJ. Dr. Tsague noted, "Even as an African medical student, I could see the missed opportunities that our generation and the generation before us had faced to make our work known by the global health community and to make our work used for global health." In less than 20 years, Dr. Tsague’s unwavering dedication, visionary leadership, innovative solutions, and service as a managing editor have helped establish the Pan-African Medical Journal as one of the leading open-access journals in global health, and according to Google Scholar, it is one of the most influential open-access medical journals in Africa.
Following his MPH program at Rollins, Dr. Tsague continued his groundbreaking work on HIV/AIDS, maternal, newborn, and child health, immunization, and health system strengthening, and earned his doctorate degree in public health from the University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa. Renowned as a passionate advocate for adopting more efficacious solutions to end pediatric HIV and AIDS in Africa, he has served communities in Zambia, Rwanda, Burkina Faso, Congo, Senegal, and Equatorial Guinea.
Dr. Tsague's achievements extend beyond his professional roles, and his deep commitment to volunteering his expertise is evident from his involvement in numerous scientific committees such as the International Conference on Public Health in Africa, the Experts’ Committee for the International Conference on AIDS and STI in Africa, and the WHO HIV/AIDS Guidelines Development. His dedication to knowledge dissemination and collaboration continues to positively impact the future of public health in Africa and beyond.
Dr. Tsague has co-authored over 18 manuscripts and received awards for his contributions to global public health including the New Investigator in Global Health Award from the Global Health Council, the Social Innovation for Public Health Impulse Fellowship award, and the Jakes Gerwel Award in Public Health from the University of Western Cape, South Africa.
"Making a significant contribution toward ending the AIDS epidemic in Africa during my lifetime has remained my personal aspiration —a commitment that was nurtured during my time at Rollins," remarked Dr. Tsague. It is evident that Dr. Tsague has already significantly contributed to this aspiration and continues to nurture this commitment. From leveraging strategic partnerships to fostering innovation for change in knowledge sharing and improving health outcomes to building coalitions with civil society and community actors to engaging adolescents and young people in his innovative approaches to HIV/AIDS prevention, Dr. Tsague exemplifies dedication to the public health ideals of making the world healthier and more equitable through excellence in research, education, and practice. It is an honor to present Dr. Landry Dongmo Tsague with our 2023 Distinguished Achievement Award.
Matthew Lee Girvin Award Recipient:
Megan A. Cohen, MD, MPH
Presented annually to a recent Rollins graduate who has made significant contributions toward improving the lives and health of others, the Matthew Lee Girvin Award honors the memory of Matthew Girvin, 94PH, who died in January 2001 while working on a United Nations surveying mission. This award exemplifies Girvin’s selfless dedication to the field of public health and is bestowed upon an alumnus/a whose early career accomplishments are positively impacting the lives of others.
At a time when the increasingly uncertain, highly politicized context of reproductive healthcare in the U.S. has become even more precarious and challenging, Dr. Megan Cohen 14M 14PH, exemplifies the spirit of Matthew Lee Girvin through her unwavering courage and dedication to ensuring that access to family planning services is viewed as an essential component of public health.
Dr. Cohen received her Bachelor of Science degree from Brown University, was a recipient of the Bangla Critical Language Scholarship from the US Department of State for studies in Dhaka, Bangladesh, earned her Doctor of Medicine and MPH degrees in 2014 from the Emory School of Medicine and the Rollins School of Public Health, and served as a Resident Physician in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Oregon Health & Science University from 2014-2018.
Renowned as a leader and vocal advocate for safe and accessible reproductive healthcare, Dr. Cohen has committed her career to advancing women’s health, improving health equity, promoting reproductive justice, and providing reproductive services in settings around the world. In August 2022, just two months after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision overturned the constitutionally protected right to abortion, Dr. Cohen began her current position as Medical Director of Planned Parenthood Southeast. “Dr. Cohen does not just talk about her support for reproductive health and rights, she lives it each day,” expressed Kathleen Wiggs-Stayner, Interim VP of Operations, Planned Parenthood Southeast. She further emphasized, “To be clear, Dr. Cohen put her own personal safety at risk when she accepted the role of Planned Parenthood Southeast Medical Director in a part of the country where supporting and performing abortions has made doctors a target.”
Cognizant that it would be even more difficult to provide leadership and assure safe access to abortion care in this climate, Dr. Cohen not only rose to the challenges—she continues to exceed them. In addition to directing reproductive health services at six centers in three states, leading clinical teams of physicians, nurses, ultrasound techs, and support staff, and expanding access to quality reproductive care in the Southeast, Dr. Cohen is also a dedicated practitioner who provides nuanced, compassionate treatment to her patients. Likewise, Dr. Cohen holds an Assistant Professor position in the Division of Complex Family Planning, Department of Gynecology & Obstetrics, at the Emory University School of Medicine, where she works with residents, medical students, and complex family planning fellows at Grady Memorial Hospital and independent clinics.
As a nationally recognized expert in contraception and complex family planning, Dr. Cohen serves as a Guest Researcher with the CDC’s Division of Reproductive Health and provides technical assistance to the CDC and WHO for improving family planning guidelines. Aware that access to contraception and reproductive healthcare is secured not only by providing patients with experienced practitioners but also through legislation and policy, Dr. Cohen is a leader and vocal advocate for reproductive rights, working tirelessly on the local, national, and global arenas for safe and accessible reproductive healthcare. She has served as a speaker, organizer, panelist, and volunteer OB/GYN physician, articulating the overwhelming evidence affirming that women's health improves when reproductive services are safe and accessible, and when such access is denied, the effects on women are detrimental.
Although still relatively early in her career, there is no doubt that Dr. Cohen’s accomplishments will continue to play a pivotal role in advancing women’s healthcare and reproductive justice, and positively impact the lives of others in the spirit of Matthew Lee Girvin.
Congratulations to Dr. Landry Tsague and Dr. Megan Cohen, the recipients of our 2023 Rollins Alumni Awards! Your achievements and dedication to promoting health and preventing disease exemplify the extraordinary impact Rollins’ alumni are having locally and globally by making the world healthier and more equitable for all people.
