Awards & Honors
2026 Laura Lynch ELAM/ELH Community Impact Award
Description:
The 2026 Laura Lynch ELAM/ELH Community Impact Award was presented on April 29, 2026, during ELAM’s annual Leaders Forum. Recipients demonstrate professionalism, commitment, and unwavering dedication to supporting fellows, ELUMs, faculty, staff and other community members. They inspire others to use their talents and energy to strengthen the ELAM/ELH network and foster the continued growth and success of ELUMs in their leadership journeys.
Criteria:
Nominees must be an ELAM/ELH fellow, ELUM, dean/sponsor/CEO/etc., speaker, mentor or other leader closely connected to ELAM/ELH.
Nominees are expected to demonstrate a combination of the following qualities:
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Serves as a mentor to ELAM/ELH community members; demonstrates positive values and behaviors that influence others to emulate or aspire to emulate; guidance, encouragement and career support to ELUMs and fellows, helping them advance in their professional paths.
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Acts as a champion for the ELAM/ELH community, promoting collaboration, engagement and lifelong connection among its members.
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Embodies leadership qualities that inspire and influence others to achieve their goals and contribute meaningfully to the ELAM/ELH mission.
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Amplifies the work and visibility of ELUMs through networking, panel/speaking engagements, published articles, social media, or other forms of outreach that strengthen the program’s collective impact.
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Demonstrates an ongoing commitment to nurturing the ELAM/ELH community through service, mentorship and support of its members’ career trajectories.
2026 Award Recipients
Dr. Biykem Bozkurt, a graduate of the ELAM class of 2023, is senior dean of Faculty at Baylor College of Medicine, and an internationally recognized leader in cardiology with a distinguished record of scholarship, clinical excellence and leadership. A Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher with an H-index of 100, she has shaped national and international cardiovascular guidelines, served as president of the Heart Failure Society of America and currently leads as Editor-in-Chief of JACC: Heart Failure.
Dr. Bozkurt has made a sustained and significant impact on the ELAM/ELH community by broadening ELAM's reach, relevance and visibility through the successful establishment of the annual South-Central regional ELAM and ELH symposia in 2024. Dr. Bozkurt has been a steadfast champion of faculty development and mentorship. Through her leadership and engagement with ELAM, she has supported and elevated countless women leaders, modeling the very values this award was created to honor. Her commitment to mentorship, her advocacy for equity, and her ability to inspire others has had a profound and lasting impact on this community.
Dr. Yvonne (Bonnie) Maldonado is vice provost for Faculty Advancement at Stanford University, and a globally respected infectious diseases epidemiologist. She has led groundbreaking research across the U. S. and internationally, served in key national advisory roles, and is an elected member of both the National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Equally important is her deep and sustained commitment to developing and advancing faculty—particularly women—in academic medicine. Through her leadership, mentorship and national service, Dr. Maldonado has created pathways for others to lead, thrive and make meaningful contributions to the field. She has been a tremendous supporter and champion of ELAM through her work at Stanford. Dr. Maldonado’s ability to build community, elevate others and foster inclusive leadership has strengthened the ELAM/ELH network in enduring ways.
About Laura Lynch
Laura Lynch, who had served as ELAM's program director since 2006, passed away in February 2023. Laura shepherded hundreds of fellows through the program and stayed in close contact with them as they became ELUMs. She was the historian of the program and provided incredible insight. She led with humor and brought laughter and joy to ELAM’s national office. Her passing is a tremendous loss to the program and to our community. This award was created in her honor and in recognition of her commitment to the ELAM community.