GOLDEN APPLE HONOREES

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Since 2006, the Golden Apple Award has recognized the members, volunteers, partners and supporters who make extraordinary contribution to the sustainability and effectiveness of Health Volunteers Overseas.

2023 Golden Apple Honorees

Charity Burke, MD 

Dr. Burke grew up in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. She attended the University of Louisville School of Medicine and stayed in Louisville for Orthopaedic residency. She completed a hand surgery fellowship at the Indiana Hand to Shoulder Center and six months of pediatric hand training at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. She has numerous publications and has presented to dozens of audiences. Dr. Burke is a member of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgery, American Society for Surgery of the Hand, and the American Association for Hand Surgery.    

John Kanyusik, DDS, MSD 

Dr. Kanyusik received his DDS in 1970 and graduate orthodontic degree from the University of Minnesota in 1972. He served in Japan in the USAF from 1972 through 1974 before entering private orthodontic practice in 1975. He retired from private practice in 2020. He was an adjunct assistant professor in the Orthodontic Department at the University of Minnesota from 2002 until 2022, and continues as an adjunct lecturer. He has served as President of the Minnesota Association of Orthodontists, the President of the Midwestern Society of Orthodontics, and the President of College of Diplomates of the American Board of Orthodontics. He was one of the reviewers and abstract writers for the AAO’s Practical Reviews in Orthodontics monthly orthodontic literature reviews from 2014 until 2023. He currently serves as a CODA site visitor. He has served in many capacities in organized orthodontics including as the General Chair for the 2019 AAO meeting. 

Nancy Kelly, MHS 

Nancy Kelly is the founding executive director of HVO and oversaw its growth from 1986 to 2023, from a brand-new initiative in a small, windowless office to a thriving organization with a multi-million-dollar budget and projects in twenty-two countries. Before joining HVO, Nancy worked for the National Council for International Health and served as a maternal child health volunteer with the Peace Corps in the Republic of Korea. Nancy lived overseas as a child with her parents for many years attending, by her count, a total of sixteen schools between kindergarten and 12thgrade. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Virginia and received a Master of Health Science degree from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in 1984.  

Nancy was inducted into Delta Omega (Alpha Chapter) Honorary Public Health Society in recognition of her role in the founding of HVO. She is an Honorary Fellow of the International College of Dentists as well as an honorary member of the American Dental Association, recognizing her contributions to the advancement of dentistry in global health. In 2021 she received the Deborah Harding Award from the Women of Peace Corps Legacy for her contributions to global health, and, most recently, she received the inaugural ‘Friend of the GHSIG Award’ from the Global Health Special Interest Group of the APTA.  

Mark Koh Jean Aan, MBBS, MRCP 

Dr. Koh is a dermatologist, paediatric dermatologist, and dermatopathologist. He is head and senior consultant of Department of Dermatology, KK Women’s & Children’s Hospital (KKH), Singapore. He is also a visiting consultant at Singapore General Hospital (SGH), Sengkang General Hospital (SKH), and National Cancer Centre (NCC). Dr. Koh is a Clinical Associate Professor at the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Adjunct Associate Professor at the Nanyang Technological University Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, and Senior Clinical Lecturer at the National University of Singapore Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine. Dr. Koh has published more than 130 articles in peer-reviewed journals and dermatology textbooks and has received several grants to conduct research in paediatric dermatology. Dr. Koh is also the treasurer of International Society of Pediatric Dermatology (ISPD), secretary general of the Asian Society of Pediatric Dermatology (ASPD), advisory board chair of DEBRA Singapore, and president of Rare Skin Conditions Society (RSCS) Singapore.  

Olushola Akinshemoyin Vaughn, MD 

Dr. Vaughn is an Assistant Professor of Dermatology at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) and Section Chief of Dermatology at the Zablocki Veterans’ Hospital. Originally from Milwaukee, she graduated from Harvard University and University of Wisconsin – School of Medicine and Public Health. She completed residency at MCW before joining the faculty. Her interests include vulvar dermatoses in skin of color, transgender skin concerns, and global health. She is the Director of Froedtert’s Mucosal Skin Specialty Clinic for oral and anogenital skin disorders. She is also the dermatologist for Froedtert’s Inclusion Health Clinic, the medical home for Milwaukee’s LGBTQ population.   

Linda Wolff, MPT 

Ms. Wolff received her master’s degree in physical therapy from the University of California, San Francisco. She currently works as a physical therapist for California Children’s Services, San Luis Obispo County Public Health where she is responsible for the evaluation and treatment of children and young adults with neurological and musculoskeletal diagnoses. In 2016 and 2017, she received and facilitated a USAID grant to implement the World Health Organization’s Wheelchair Service Provision Training in Thimphu, Bhutan. In 2018, she received the JDWNRH Award for work on the establishment of the Assistive Technology Center and Wheelchair Training Program from the royal government of Bhutan.  


2022 Honorees

Anju Adhikary
Bhavani Chalikonda, MBBS
Robert Erdin, MD
Matthew Fisher, DMD
Annette Galassi, RN, MA, OCN
Brian Hollander, DMD
Dashrath Kafle, BDS, MDS
Murray Kesselman, MD, FRCPC
Stephanie Murphy, MPA, CPA
Royann Royer, RDH, MPH, CDA
Rebecca Turkel, PT/DPT, CEIS, CEIM, IBE
Richard Wise, MD
Yangden, BSN

2021 Honorees

Habib Ghaddar, MD, FACP
Dorey Glenn, MD, MPH
Michael A. Linden, MD, PhD
Cathy Pingoy, RN, MSN
Jaime Andres Suarez-Londono, MD

2020 Honorees

Roland Beverly, MD
Jill Derstine, EdD, RN, FAAN
Susan Harris, MD
Patricia Larsen, PT, CWS, OMS
Monika Mann, PT, MPH
Anne Marie Tietjen, PhD

2019 Honorees

Angkor Hospital for Children (AHC) Team of Anesthesia Providers
Editors, HVO-Sponsored Frontiers in Public Health Special Topic eBook
Richard Fisher, MD
Christoph Funk, MUDr
Brian Hollander, DMD
Mimi Lhamu Mynak, MBBS, MD
George Pantely, MD

2018 Honorees

Janna Beling, PhD, PT
Pamela Cole, PT, CWS
Robert Hoffman, MD
Cynthia Howard, MD, MPHTM
Dashrath Kafle, BDS, MDS
Alexia Knapp, MD, MS
Sithach Mey, MD
George Meyer, MD
Prakash Neupane, MD

2017 Honorees

Charles Bloomer, DDS
Theresa Coetzer, PhD
Christian Fuentes, MD
David Goldstein, MBBS, FRACP, MRCP(UK)
Judith Hembree, PT, PhD
Silvia Plattner, PT
Julia Plotnick, RN, MPH, FAAN, RADM, USPHS(ret)

2016 Honorees

Kay Ahern, PT, CHT
Mary Christman, PT, MAEd
Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Chung
Jo Davies, MBBS, FRCA
Barry Gainor, MD
John P. W. Kelly, DMD, MD
Antoinette “Toni” Sander, PT, DPT, MS, CLT-LANA
Leila Srour, MD, MPH, DTM&H
N. Ewen Wang, MD

2015 Honorees

Gaston Barnechea, MD
Barbara Billek-Sawhney, PT, EdD, DPT, MS, GCS
Peter Curran, MD, MHCDS, FACP
Brian Failla
Donald Lalonde, MD, FRCSC
Jeanne Leffers, PhD, RN
Susan Raber, PharmD, MPH
Peter Trafton, MD, FACS

2014 Honorees

Dino Aguilar, MD
Robert J. Buchholz, JR., CRNA, MSNA
David E. Frost, DDS, MS
Katharine Morley, MD, MPH
Tom Morton, MBChB, FACEM
Jose Angel Sanchez, MD
Linda Wolff, MPT

2013 Honorees

William Creasman, MD
Randall Culp, MD
Diana Davidson, CRNA
Norman James, MD
Robert Kalb, MD

2012 Honorees

Eugenio Beltran, DMD, MPH, DrPH, MS
T. Desmond Brown, MD
Linus T. Chuang, MD, MPH, MS
Lawrence Gordon, MD
Martin Hobdell, BDS, PhD, MA
Jared Hubbell, MD
Mark Makumbi Kayanja, MBchB, M.Med (Surg), M.Med (Ortho), PhD
Pfizer’s Global Health Fellows – India
Robert Stein, MD

2011 Honorees

Laura L. Fitzpatrick, MD
C. Fits Hunsel, PT, LMBT
Michelle James, MD
C. Neil Kay, BDS, MS
Isador Lieberman, MD, MBA, FRSC(c)
Fredric V. Price, MD
Vidya Swaminathan, PhD

2010 Honorees

Judy Canfield-Henry, PT, MSEd, EdD
Shaun Cleaver, PT, MSc
Denise English, PT
Mary Jo Geyer, PT, Phd, FCCWS, CLT-LANA, CPed
Victoria Seligman, MD
Lynne Welch, MSN, EdD, ApRN, FNP-BC

2009 Honorees

Caroline Dueger, MD, MPH, DTM&H
Kim Dunleavy, PT, PhD, OCS
Richard Henker, PhD, RN, CRNA
Elizabeth Kay, PT, PhD
Barbara Latenser, MD, FACS
Benedict Magsamen, MD
Joseph E. Sheppard, MD
David Spiegel, MD

2008 Honorees

Eugenio Beltran, DMD, MPH, DrPH, MS
Cary Bjork, MD, FACP
Ann Carroll, RNC, NNP
Larry Herman, DMD, MD
R. Byron McCord, MD
Ellen Milan, RNC
Michael O’Brien, MD
Celia Pechak, PHD, PT, MPH
Yvonne Vaucher, MD, MPH

2007 Honorees

Suzanne Brown, CRNA
Glen Crawford, MD
Lena Dohlman, MD, MPH
Marvin Godner, MD
Martin Hobdell, BDS, PhD, MA
Christopher Johnson,MD
William Laney, MD
John McFadden, MD
Puthocode Rajamani, MS
Wingfield Rehmus, MD, MPH

2006 Honorees

Mattilou Catchpole, CRNA, PhD
Ray DeFalque, MD
Nancy Descouteax, PT, BAC
Denise English, PT
Charles Jennings, MD
Marvin Lang, CRNA
Robert Nassau, MD
Tim O’Brien, MBBS
Alfred Scherzer, MD, MS EdD
Geoffrey Walker, FRCS
Harry Zutz, MD


To learn more about the award and how to make a nomination, click here.