The Ohio Academy of Family Physicians (OAFP) supports the nomination of Louito Edje, MD, MHPE, FAAFP, to receive the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) Public Health Award in 2021.
In his letter of chapter support, OAFP President Mike Sevilla, MD, said, “Dr. Edje is a family physician who has gone beyond her patient panel to advocate for the health of the public, engage her community members, and provide exemplary leadership particularly during the recent pandemic.”
“When a family member suddenly died of COVID, Dr. Edje stepped up to become a Moderna trial participant. She is a collaborative and tireless advocate for the most vulnerable members of our society, especially those disproportionately affected by COVID in Black and Latinx communities,” Dr. Sevilla continued. “She tailors her advocacy to specific subsets of these populations as the need has adapted over the pandemic. She inspired young women and girls in the STEM fields educating them on the science of COVID. She motivated medical students and residents evidenced by their request of her to teach the science of COVID, and she was the Chiefs’ Choice for Medicine Grand Rounds at her institution. She also reassured cohorts of parents who have children with sickle cell.”
“As a result of doing an interview for the American Medical Association, she quickly was afforded the opportunity to do multiple international, national, and local media interviews on topics ranging from vaccine hesitancy and equitable vaccine allocation to the disproportionate impacts of COVID on various populations. Her media outreach extended to the entire 3M™ global workforce in 70 countries. In addition, the Biden-Harris administration and the Department of Health and Human Services invited her to be a panelist at the National Vaccine Forum earlier this year. This event reached over 13,000 participants, 6,700 organizations, every state, and 197 tribes.”
A longtime leader in organized medicine, Dr. Edje was named the 2012 OAFP Family Physician of the Year. She serves on the OAFP Awards Selection Committee, is an active member of the Ohio State Medical Association, and has served both the Academy of Medicine of Cincinnati and the Academy of Medicine in Toledo and Lucas County in leadership roles. Dr. Edje is associate dean of graduate medical education and professor of medical education at the University of Cincinnati Department of Family and Community Medicine.
Congratulations and good luck, Dr. Edje!