Philadelphia, Pa. 12/11/2005 1:00:00 PM
Yogindra S. Samant, MBBS, MPH, was honored here today with the Jay S. Drotman Memorial Award for young professionals at the 133 rd American Public Health Association Annual Meeting & Exposition. The award recognizes a health worker or student, age 30 or younger, who has demonstrated potential in the health field by challenging traditional public health policy or practice in a creative and positive manner.
Samant is program manager at the Park Nicollete Institute in Minneapolis, Minn., and started his public health training as a medical student in Mumbai, India. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in medical science, he worked in a subsidized government hospital providing care to the poor and under-served in Mumbai. In addition to working in the hospital providing care to the homeless, street beggars and commercial sex workers, he spent his evenings providing herbal and allopathic medical care to low-income patients in his own neighborhood.
Samant earned his master’s in public health from the University of Minnesota and was awarded the James Craig Fellowship for professional and academic excellence for contributing to public health in developing countries. He worked at the Minnesota Department of Health, where he designed and conducted a needs assessment report that helped the department develop a viral hepatitis program for minority populations. Samant was involved in numerous research projects focusing on occupational health, nutritional health and infectious diseases. His study of the knowledge of HIV/AIDS among Indian medical students led to changes in the way medical students are taught about the issue.
As principal investigator of a World Health Organization polio vaccine study in rural India, Samant led the discovery of the serious gaps in the storage and transportation of the vaccine. He has demonstrated that Minnesota was not effectively addressing the safety and health of minority workers.
In a Drotman award nominating letter, Ranjit Mankeshwar, MD, a senior lecturer at Grant Medical College in Mumbai, India, described Samant as “someone who likes to pursue difficult and sensitive subjects related to public health.” He also praised Samant as a “diligent public health advocate” who “hopes to make a difference in the lives of the under-served and poor across the globe.”
Founded in 1872, APHA is the oldest, largest and most diverse organization of public health professionals in the world. The association works to protect all Americans and their communities from preventable, serious health threats. APHA represents a broad array of health officials, educators, environmentalists, policy-makers and health providers at all levels working both within and outside governmental organizations and educational institutions. More information is available at www.apha.org.
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