2023 Trailblazer Award Nominees
The ElevateMeD Trailblazer Award is awarded to individuals who are making extraordinary contributions within the world of healthcare. These leaders directly support the Scholars Program by providing our Scholars with a unique opportunity to engage intimately with them while learning more about their journeys to medicine. We formally recognize award recipients at our ElevateMeD events.
More About Nominees
Dr. Manning
Biography
Kimberly Dyan Manning, MD, joined the faculty at the Emory University School of Medicine in 2001 after completing residency in combined training Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, and currently has an academic appointment as professor in the Department of Medicine.
A passionate clinician-educator, she divides her professional time between teaching pre-clinical medical students and training medical residents, primarily at Grady Memorial Hospital. Manning additionally serves as residency program director for the Transitional Year Residency Program, and has the distinction of being one of sixteen faculty members appointed to lead the new Medical School curriculum since 2007. She maintains board-certification in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics.
Manning’s academic achievements include numerous teaching awards in both the School of Medicine and the Internal Medicine residency program, and her work has been published in such prestigious journals as the Annals of Internal Medicine, Academic Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA.) An avid writer, Dr. Manning authors a blog that was named in 2010 by 'O' The Oprah Magazine as one of “four top medical blogs you should read.” She is additionally a regular blog contributor to the esteemed American College of Physicians (ACP) Hospitalist website, and for their monthly companion publication.
Manning has been a weekly medical commentator on Fox 5 Good Day Atlanta since 2004, serves as an expert for WebMD’s pediatric web site and is a frequent guest on network TV including CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360, Weekend Headline News and The Dr. Oz show.
The Los Angeles native balances all of this with her family life; she is a married mother of two young sons and applies her experience as a mother and wife to all that she does.
Dr. Morgan
Biography
Jayne Morgan, M.D. is a Cardiologist and the Clinical Director of the Covid Task Force at the Piedmont Healthcare Corporation in Atlanta, GA. Within this role she is developing ongoing community outreach in conjunction with the Division of Diversity and Inclusion between Piedmont and the African American community it serves. Additionally, Dr. Morgan will be analyzing the science and data from Piedmont and nationally, surrounding the disproportionately negative impact of Covid-19 on minority communities. Ultimately, the goal is to identify methods, as well as areas of improved triage, screening, and algorithms for the overall outcomes management of disadvantaged populations positive for Covid19.
Previously, Dr. Morgan was the Director of Innovation at Piedmont Healthcare, Inc. where she set the vision, trajectory, and strategic scaling opportunities, as well as seeking key partnerships and stakeholders to progress these goals. In doing so, the program recognized close to a 50% success rate (national average is less than 10%) following the addition of an external investment of $23,000,000.00 for one project within the Accelerator, and the signing of the first ever licensing contract from an external stakeholder for yet another project.
Prior to this role, Dr. Morgan served as the Director of Cardiovascular Research and Research Development also at Piedmont Healthcare, where she had responsibility for the strategic growth of the Piedmont Research Institute, the development of the long range strategic vision for research programs across all medical specialties, and contract negotiations for all new partners. Additionally, she implemented a new business model focused on system integration, contracts, staff re-alignments in concert with the clinical model of the hospital, portfolio diversification, and strategic growth realizing steadily increasing revenue earnings that have continued to this day. While in this role, she both expanded research to other hospital facilities, and began the first Feasibility Program which has served as the nidus via which Piedmont has been able to reach worldwide status within Structural and Valvular Heart, including the #1 Center in the United States for transcatheter tricuspid therapy.
Moreover, Dr. Morgan has served as the Chief Medical Officer of the American Chemistry Council (where she developed a new translational research program), CEO of Forty Million Beats, LLC - with clients such as Novartis and Abbott - working directly with the Structural Heart Division as well as direct focus on improved minority recruitment into trials respectively, the World Wide Director of the Cardiorenal Drug Development program at Solvay Pharmaceuticals, and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic.
Dr. Morgan currently serves as the President Elect of the Southeastern Life Sciences Association (single largest biotech association in the Southeast), Co-Chair of the Health and Human Services Conference 2021, Founding Board Member of MedTech Women, Co-Chair of the BioScience Leadership Council at the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, Board Member of the American Heart Association/Atlanta Chapter, Board Member of the national Diversity and Inclusion team at the American Heart Association, the National Board Member of The American Heart Association Technology Team, the Regional Board Member of The American Heart Association Health Equity Committee, Board Member at Botanical Sciences, and is an active member of BioMed Investors Network.
Dr. Morgan is a native Atlantan and completed her B.S. degree at Spelman College (Atlanta, GA), Medical Degree at Michigan State University (East Lansing, MI), Internal Medicine Residency at George Washington University (Washington, D.C.), and both her Cardiology and Pacemaker Fellowships at Mount Sinai Medical Center (Miami, Fl).
Dr. Forna
Dr. Forna is a Global Obstetrician and Gynecologist, Maternal Health Consultant, and Speaker who has been featured on CNN International for her work improving the health of women and children around the world. She received her medical degree from Duke University School of Medicine and completed her Obstetrics and Gynecology residency at Emory University School of Medicine. She is a Fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
Dr. Forna has served as Lead for Reproductive and Maternal Health for the World Health Organization in Sierra Leone, as Director of Perinatal Safety and Quality and Chief of Women’s Services for Kaiser Permanente in Georgia, and as a Medical Epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She has worked in many countries around the world and is an international expert on reproductive and maternal health issues. Together with her colleagues at Kaiser Permanente, Dr. Forna developed the Cocoon Pregnancy Care Model to decrease maternal morbidity and mortality. The model places pregnant women in the center of a protective layer of a care team and services to optimize their health, enhance their care experience, and improve perinatal outcomes.
Dr. Forna is a passionate advocate for the reproductive health of young women, and the author of the book “From your doctor to you. What every teenage girl should know about her body, sex, STDs and contraception”. She developed the From Your Doctor to You: Puberty Party & Womanhood Party to give girls and young women the tools they need to protect their sexual and reproductive health, and she has hosted Puberty Parties in countries around the world. She is also the author of the bestselling Puppy Princess Sheba children’s book series.
Dr. Forna is Co-Founder and Executive Director of the non-profit Mama-Pikin Foundation, which works to improve the health of women, children, and families in Sierra Leone, West Africa.