Leadership Awards

The Career Achievement Award recognizes seminal work in medical decision making. The SMDM Award for Distinguished Service recognizes exceptional efforts in support of the Society. The John M. Eisenberg Award for Practical Application of Medical Decision Making Research is given in recognition of exemplary leadership in the practical application of medical decision making research.

The Career Achievement Award recognizes distinguished senior investigators who have made significant contributions to the field of medical decision making.

1995       Stephen Pauker, MD
1996       Milton Weinstein, PhD
1997       Arthur Elstein, PhD
1998       Harold Sox, MD
1999       Dennis Fryback, PhD
2000       John Eisenberg, MD
2001       George Torrance, PhD
2002       Daniel Kahneman, PhD
2003       Jerome P. Kassirer, MD
2004       Joseph Pliskin, PhD
2005       Allan Detsky, MD PhD
2006       David J. Spiegelhalter, PhD
2007       Peter Wakker, PhD
2008       Barbara J. McNeil, MD, PhD
2009       Alan Garber, MD, PhD
2010       J. Sanford (Sandy) Schwartz, MD
2011       Howard Raiffa, PhD
2012       Annette O’Connor, RN, PhD, FCAHS
2013       Donald Redelmeier, MD, MSHSR, FRCPC, FACP
2014       Mark Roberts, MD, MPP
2015       Alvin I. Mushlin, MD, ScM
2016       Ivar S. Kristiansen, MD, MPH, PhD
2017       Valerie F. Reyna, PhD
2018       M.G. Myriam Hunink, MD, PhD
2019       Murray Krahn, MD, MSc, FRCPC
2020       Karen Kuntz, ScD
2021       Doug Coyle, MA MSc PhD
2022       Michael Kattan, PhD
2023       Dawn Stacey, RN, PhD, FCAHS, FAAN, FCAN, CON(C)


The SMDM Award for Distinguished Service recognizes service to SMDM in terms of leadership, role in the operations of the Society, and contributions to the scientific and educational activities of the Society. 

1990           Lee Lusted, MD
1991           Stephen Pauker, MD
1992           Dennis Fryback, PhD
1993           J. Robert Beck, MD
1994           Robert Wigton, MD
1995           Robert Centor, MD
1996           Milton Weinstein, PhD
1997           John Clarke, MD
1998           Michael Barry, MD
1999           Margaret Holmes-Rovner, PhD and David Rovner, MD
2000           Sankey Williams, MD
2001           Roy Poses, MD
2002           Arthur Elstein, PhD
2003           John Hershey, PhD and Frank Sonnenberg, MD
2004           Joel Tsevat, MD, MPH
2005           Bruce Hillner, MD
2006           M.G. Myriam Hunink, MD, PhD
2007           Kathryn McDonald, MM
2008           Michael Kattan, PhD
2009           John B. Wong, MD
2010           Mark Helfand, MD, MPH
2011           David Sugano, PhD
2012           Scott B. Cantor, PhD
2013           Mark Eckman, MD
2014           Karen Kuntz, ScD
2015           Anne Stiggelbout, PhD
2016           Marilyn M. Schapira, MD, MPH
2017           Uwe Siebert, MD, MPH, MSc, ScD
2018           Murray Krahn, MD, MSc, FRCPC
2019           Alan Schwartz, PhD
2020           Ahmed Bayoumi, MD, MSc
2021           Angie Fagerlin, PhD and Robert Hamm, PhD
2022           Neal Dawson, MD
2023           Lisa A. Prosser, PhD, MS


The John M. Eisenberg Award for Practical Application of Medical Decision Making Research recognizes an individual or organization that has demonstrated sustained leadership in translating medical decision making research into practice, and that has taken exceptional steps to communicate the principles and/or substantive findings of medical decision making research to policy makers, to clinical decision makers, and to the general public.

2002     Donald Berwick, MD
2003     Harvey V. Fineberg, MD, PhD
2004     Hilary Llewellyn-Thomas, PhD and Annette O'Connor, PhD
2005     Jeffrey P. Koplan, MD, MPH
2006     John Wennberg MD, MPH
2007     Harold Sox, MD
2008     Foundation for Informed Medical Decision Making
2009     Sue Goldie, MD, MPH
2010     Doug Owens, MD, MS
2011     Carolyn M. Clancy, MD gave Eisenberg lecture, Award conferred 2017
2012     Michael Drummond, PhD
2013     Michael Kattan, PhD
2014     J. Sanford (Sandy) Schwartz, MD
2015     Alan Schwartz, PhD
2016     Ewout W. Steyerberg, PhD
2017     Gillian D. Sanders-Schmidler, PhD
2018     Lisa Prosser, PhD
2019     Stephen Downs, MD, MS
2020     NCI's Cancer intervention and Surveillance Modeling Network (CISNET)
2021     Daniel Singer, MD
2022     Lisa Schwartz, MD, MS and Steven Woloshin, MD, MS
2023     Steven Pearson, MD, MSC


Become a Member

SMDM members contribute critically to health policy research in the areas of evidence-based medicine, cost effective health care, patient decision making and public health. SMDM helps you to be more than just a face in the crowd. The connections you make through SMDM can help you build a network of long-term contacts to help you throughout your career.

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Member Stories

Negin Hajizadeh, MD, MPH
Negin Hajizadeh, MD, MPH

I have been coming to SMDM for the past 11 years and return every year because it’s the only society where research is presented, and training is provided on methods of informing medical decision making across the spectrum. 

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MDM Journal

MDM Journal

MDM offers rigorous and systematic approaches to decision making that are designed to improve the health and clinical care of individuals and to assist with health policy development.

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