Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha Receives Axelrod Prize in Public Health

Mona Hanna-Attisha in a chair next to Mary Gallant as she speaks about her work on the Flint water crisis.
Photo by Patrick Dodson
A portrait of Mary Gallant, Mona Hanna-Attisha, Jonathan Axelrod, and Janet Axelrod.
Mary Gallant, Mona Hanna-Attisha, Janet Axelrod, and Jonathan Axelrod. Photo by Patrick Dodson.

ALBANY, N.Y. (April 5, 2023) - On April 3 at UAlbany’s Health Sciences Campus, Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha was presented with the Axelrod Prize in Public Health to recognize her significant accomplishments in the public health field through work at the intersection of academia and government. The award is named in honor of Dr. David Axelrod, former Health Commissioner of New York State, who created the UAlbany School of Public Health in 1985 with SUNY leadership.

In 2014, the city of Flint changed its municipal water supply source to the Flint River. This shift caused the contamination of the city’s drinking water, which exposed residents to dangerous levels of lead. Dr. Hanna-Attisha was instrumental in publicly documenting increases in blood lead levels among children, which prompted a federal public health emergency.

Dr. Hanna-Attisha is the Associate Dean for Public Health and C.S. Mott Endowed Professor of Public Health at Michigan State University (MSU) College of Human Medicine and founding director of the Pediatric Public Health Initiative, an innovative program of MSU and Hurley Children’s Hospital in Flint, Michigan. A pediatrician, scientist, activist and author, she was named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World and recognized as one of USA Today’s Women of the Century for her role in uncovering the Flint water crisis and leading recovery efforts. She has testified multiple times before the United States Congress, lectures at dozens of colleges and universities, and frequently contributes to national media outlets championing the cause of children in Flint and beyond.

Acting Commissioner of Health James V. McDonald in the audience for the Axelrod Prize Lecture
Acting Commissioner of Health James V. McDonald at the Axelrod Prize lecture on April 3, 2023. Photo courtesy Patrick Dodson.

Members of Dr. David Axelrod’s family and former colleagues, students, faculty, alumni, public health professionals, non-profit organizations and community members gathered at the Health Sciences Campus for the Axelrod medal presentation and to hear Dr. Hanna-Attisha speak about her work. Through a “fireside chat” format, she answered questions posed by School of Public Health Interim Dean Mary Gallant on the Flint water crisis, speaking science to power, and environmental injustice and racism.

"What happened in Flint was not just a horrible instance of lead exposure due to first a policy decision and then made worse by neglect and inaction on the part of government, but it is also one of the worst examples of environmental injustice, even environmental racism, of our time,” says Gallant. “Similarly to Dr. David Axelrod, Dr. Hanna-Attisha went beyond her everyday responsibilities to ensure her work led to the greater good, and she continues to do so in her work to enhance the health of children in Flint. We are truly thrilled to recognize her as this year’s Axelrod Prize recipient.”

Nominations for the 2024 Axelrod Prize in Public Health will open in July 2023, and public health colleagues from across the nation are invited to submit a nomination as we continue to honor Dr. David Axelrod’s legacy.