Largest Medical Specialty Organization Recognizes Professor
Emeritus
Walker honored by her peers for dedication to profession
The country’s largest medical specialty society will honor Sara Walker, MD, University
of Missouri professor emeritus, with the 2009 Alfred Stengel Memorial Award for
her outstanding service during its annual scientific meeting in April.
The American College of Physicians has presented the Stengel award annually since
1947 to newly or previously elected ACP leaders who have completed official service
to the organization. It recognizes their continued influence in maintaining and
advancing the best standards of medical education, medical practice and clinical
research.
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Sara Walker, MD
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“As a gifted spokesperson and writer, Dr. Sara Walker advocated for issues that
concern internal medicine, among them patient safety, health reform and fair payment
for internists and the complex, comprehensive care they provide,” said John Tooker,
MD, executive vice president and CEO of the American College of Physicians. “From
delivering testimony in Washington to sharing her knowledge of rheumatology with
other physicians, she certainly contributed to this organization’s growth and stature.”
Receiving the Stengel Award is the culmination of her work with the ACP, Walker
said.
“It means that my work and my efforts in the sciences as well as my leadership of
the ACP is recognized by my peers,” Walker said. “It’s quite an honor.”
An MU rheumatologist and instructor from 1980 to 2006, Walker served as president
of the ACP from 2002 to 2003. While serving as ACP governor for Missouri from 1991
to 1995, she created a program that brought continuing education to physicians in
rural Missouri communities, so these doctors could stay up-to-date on the latest
information without leaving their practices. Although in partial retirement, Walker
remains involved with the ACP as a member of the organization’s board of trustees.
Walker continues to contribute to scientific advancement in the study of rheumatic
diseases, a family of illnesses that can cause inflammation, degeneration of joints
and their surrounding structures, and pain. In 2009, she and a colleague published
a book on lupus, one of her longtime research interests, describing the effects
of prolactin, a hormone associated with lactation, upon the autoimmune disease.
On April 23, Walker will accept the Stengel Award at Philadelphia’s Pennsylvania
Convention Center during Internal Medicine 2009 before an international audience
of 6,000 internists and medical students. The ACP is the leading national professional
organization for internists – physicians who specialize in prevention, detection
and treatment of illness in adults. It was founded in 1915 to promote the advancement
of science and the practice of medicine.
