ASTDA Awards

ASTDA Awards recognize individuals who epitomize the Association’s mission to foster scientific knowledge, develop leadership, and champion practice in the field of sexually transmitted infections. Individuals may be recognized for significant scholarship in medical, epidemiologic, laboratory, or behavioral research; for the development of high-impact programs in partnership with key communities; for exemplary teaching or mentorship of developing leaders; or for other distinctive service to the field.

We are pleased to announce that the CDC has asked ASTDA to henceforth manage the Jack N. Spencer Award. The Jack N. Spencer Award is given to honor individuals for a career of exceptional contributions to excellence in STD prevention characterized by outstanding commitment to science-based programs, continuous innovation, and profound commitment to helping people. This prestigious award is presented every other year at the STD Prevention Conference. Because the ASTDA Distinguished Career Award and the Jack N. Spencer Award both honor the entire careers of exceptional individuals, henceforth, individuals who receive either award will not be eligible to receive the other award. However, in the spirit of fairness, prior recipients of either award (i.e., prior to 2022) may be selected to receive the other award. The list of prior recipients of all ASTDA Awards including the Jack N. Spencer award can be found below.

Up to four (4) awards may be presented annually:

  1. The ASTDA Distinguished Career Award is presented to a person with a long and extraordinary career in the field of sexually transmitted diseases. Individuals whose career focus has primarily been program science should be nominated for the Jack N. Spencer Award.
  2. The Jack N. Spencer Award is presented to a person with a long and extraordinary career in sexually transmitted diseases prevention characterized primarily by outstanding commitment to program science (this award is presented every other year).
  3. The ASTDA Achievement Award is presented to a person at mid-career to acknowledge an outstanding body of work in sexually transmitted diseases or to an individual for a single major achievement in the field.
  4. The ASTDA Young Investigator Award is presented to a person engaged in outstanding work in the field of sexually transmitted diseases who is no more than seven years from completion of training.

Congratulations to our 2021 Award Winners

Cornelis (Kees) Rietmeijer
Cornelis (Kees) RietmeijerDistinguished Career Award
“Most of my career was spent in local STI public health practice. Inspired by the insights and the passion of my colleagues, I developed my own passions for medical care in the STI clinics I worked in, and for STI workforce development through my work in the STD Prevention Training Centers. I worked to support STI prevention nationally through my involvement with the American STD Association (ASTDA), and internationally through the International Union Against STI (IUSTI) and my work for the STD journal. My work as a trainer and researcher in Southern Africa was a special highlight in recent years, as was my participation in the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine in developing the recently released report: “Sexually Transmitted Infections: Adopting a Sexual Health Paradigm” that charts the course for the control and prevention of STIs in the U.S. and, for me personally, a path forward in my continued involvement with the field. My deepest thanks to ASTDA for giving me this honor.”
—Cornelis (Kees) Rietmeijer, PhD, MD, MSPH
William Miller
William MillerAchievement Award
Bill Miller, MD, PhD, MPH is Senior Associate Dean for Research and Professor of Epidemiology in the College of Public Health at The Ohio State University. He is Editor-in-Chief for Sexually Transmitted Diseases. Working globally and domestically, he has focused on many STI-related areas such as partner services, spatial epidemiology, sexual and social networks, STI surveillance, and access to services. He has sought to improve STI research methods and study design, while also encouraging the next generation of STI researchers.
Anna Cope
Anna CopeYoung Investigator Award
Anna Cope, PhD, MPH, is an epidemiologist in the Division of STD Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She is a part of the Field Epidemiology Unit and is assigned to the North Carolina Division of Public Health in Raleigh, NC. Anna’s work involves using readily available local surveillance data to measure the effectiveness of STD-related interventions, with a specific emphasis on syphilis partner notification services. She also has an interest improving the identification and measurement of severe outcomes from STDs.
Year Distinguished Career Award (formerly Thomas Parran Award) Jack N. Spencer Award Achievement Award Young Investigator Award Best STD Paper by an Early Career Investigator
2021 Cornelis “Kees” Rietmeijer, PhD, MD, MSPH Bill Miller, MD, PhD, MPH Anna Cope, PhD, MPH Jennifer Sanderson Slutsker
2020 Gail Bolan, MD Steve Kowalewski* Gina Ogilvie, MD, MSc, FCFP, DrPH Claire Bristow, PhD, MPH, MSc
2019 Charlotte Gaydos, DrPH, MPH Patricia Kissinger, PhD, MPH Yonatan Grad, MD, PhD Jeb Jones
2018 Max Chernesky, PhD Susan Blank* Stephanie Taylor, MD Alexis Roth, PhD Emily Learner
2017 Jo-Anne Dillon, PHD Lisa Manhart, PHD Christine Khosropour, PHD
2016 Anne Marie Rompalo, MD, ScM Jeffrey Klausner* Joan M. Chow, MPH, DrPH Lindley A. Barbee, MD, MPH
2015 Anna Wald, MD, MPH Jeanne Marrazzo, MD, MPH Robert Kircaldy, MD, MPH
2014 Franklyn Judson, MD Dayne Collins* Christina Marra, MD Christina Muzny, MD
2013 Jonathan Zenilman, MD Jane Schwebke, MD Jesse Clark, MD
2012 David Martin, MD Cornelis “Kees” Rietmeijer* Kim Workowski, MD Ina Park, MD, MS
2011 Thomas C. Quinn, MD, MSc Connie Celum, MD, MPH Rebecca M. Brotman, PhD, MPH
2010 H. Hunter Handsfield, MD Gail Bolan and Charlie Rabins* Harrell Chesson, PhD Jared Baeten, MD, PhD
2009 Sharon Hillier, PhD J. Dennis Fortenberry, MD, MS Khalil G. Ghanem, MD
2008 Edward W. Hook, MD Dorothy Gunter* Charlotte Gaydos, DrPH Rachel L. Winer, PhD
2007 Sheila A. Lukehart, PhD Lauri Markowitz, MD Jami Leichliter, PhD
2006 Sevgi Aral, PhD Susan DeLisle* David Martin, MD Laura Bachmann, MD, MPH
2005 Myron (Mike) S. Cohen, MD Geoff Garnett, PhD William Michael Geisler, MD, MPH
2004 Robert C. Brunham, MD Martin Goldberg* Anna Wald, MD, MPH Matthew Golden, MD, MPH
2003 Willard Cates Jr., MD Laura Koutsky, PhD Caroline Cameron, PhD
2002 Richard Rothenberg, MD, MPH John J. Potterat* David DuPuy Celentano, ScD, MHS Jeffrey D. Klausner, MD
2001 Harald zur Hausen, MD Penelope J. Hitchcock, DVM
2000 Walter E. Stamm, MD Jack N. Spencer* Edward W. Hook III, MD Arturo Centurion-Lara, MD
1999 Robert B. Jones, MD, PhD Thomas C. Quinn, MD
1998 Peter Piot, MD, PhD Sevgi 0. Aral, PhD
1997 Lawrence Corey, MD Judith N. Wasserheit, MD
1996 William M. McCormack, MD Sharon L. Hillier, PhD
1995 David Taylor-Robinson, MD Walter E. Stamm, MD
1994 William W. Darrow, PhD Attila Lorincz, PhD
1993 Lars Westrom, MD
1992 P. Frederick Sparling, MD
1991 Allan R. Ronald, MD Sheila A. Lukehart, PhD
1990 Julius Schachter, PhD Willard Cates, Jr.,MD/Jack Kirby/Jack Spencer
1989 Paul J. Wiesner, MD Frank Plummer, MD
1988 John C. Hume, MD
1987 J.David Oriel, MD Richard S. Stephens, PhD
1986
1985 James N. Miller, PhD Eric Sandstrom, MD
1984 E.Russell Alexander. MD Lawrence Corey, MD
1983 King K. Holmes, MD, PhD Steven Margolis, PhD
1982 R. Duncan Catterall, MD Daniel C. William, MD
1981 James W. Curran, MD
1980 Harry Pariser, MD Franklyn N. Judson, MD
1979 Claude Nicol, CBE, FRCP William M. McCormack, MD
1978 Thomas B. Turner, MD
1977 Nicholas J. Fiumara, MD
1976 Angelo F. “Jack” Marino Thomas J. Fitzgerald, PhD
1975 Rudolph H. Kampmeier, MD Paul J. Wiesner, MD
1974 Herman Beerman, MD Thomas M. Buchanan, MD
1973 Genevieve Stout
1972 William J. Brown, MD Joseph Forish

*Awarded by CDC