Medical Association of Atlanta Presents Awards at Summer Gala

For Release on July 15, 2024

 Media Contact:

Shannon Andrada for Medical Association of Atlanta

sandrada@maa-assn.org

Medical Association of Atlanta Presents Awards at Summer Gala

ATLANTA, July 15, 2024 -- Dr. John A. Johnson, the current Medical Association of Atlanta (MAA) Board Chair, presented two awards at the MAA Summer Gala on July 13, 2024. Dr. Johnson presented the Aven Cup Award to Dr. Lawrence Sperling, Katz Professor in Preventive Cardiology at the Emory University School of Medicine and Founder, Emory Center for Heart Disease Prevention. Dr. Johnson presented the President’s Award to Dr. Jin Lee, the Associate Program Director for Internal Medicine at Northside Hospital.

Established in 1854, the MAA has approximately 2,000 members and is the largest county medical society in Georgia. The Aven Cup Award was created in December 1953, when Dr. and Mrs. Carl Aven established an annual award to recognize physicians who play a significant role in civic affairs in an effort to encourage continued community involvement. It is presented annually for outstanding contributions to education, medicine, the arts, and government. The MAA President’s Award is given at the MAA President’s discretion to a physician the President has observed contributing above and beyond their job description to educate the public.

This year’s recipient of the Aven Cup Award is Dr. Laurence Sperling. Dr. Johnson selected Dr. Sperling for Dr. Sperling’s leadership at The Atlanta Hypertension Initiative (AHI). AHI is an initiative focused on improving equitable hypertension control across metro Atlanta. Dr. Sperling is the current Executive Director of Million Hearts for the Division of Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and his guidance has been crucial to achieving AHI’s mission and goals.

Laurence S. Sperling, M.D., FACC, FAHA, FACP, MASPC is the Founder and was the Director of The Heart Disease Prevention Center at Emory (1997-2019). He is currently the Katz Professor in Preventive Cardiology at the Emory University School of Medicine, and Professor of Global Health in the Rollins School of Public Health. He served as the President of the American Society for Preventive Cardiology from 2014-2016, served on the writing committee of the 2018 ACC/ AHA/ Multi-society Guideline on the Management on Blood Cholesterol, serves as Associate Editor for the American Journal of Preventive Cardiology, and the Chair of the World Heart Federation writing group on the Roadmap for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention among People Living with Diabetes. He served on the Writing Committee of the American Heart Association Cardiovascular Kidney Metabolic Health (CKMH) Initiative which has brought forth the importance of an integrated approach to prevention and treatment in this high-risk population. Dr. Sperling founded (in 2004) and directs the first and only LDL apheresis program in the state of Georgia, and was the PI for The National FH Registry site at Emory. He has received awards for excellence in both teaching (including 4 Apple Awards and The Dean’s Teaching Award) and mentorship (Emory SOM 2018 Mentorship Award). He has received the Emory School of Medicine Alumni Award of Honor (2017), and the Pioneer in Prevention Award from the American Society of Preventive Cardiology in 2023. He is an elected member of the Association of University Cardiologists. He has been an investigator in a number of important clinical trials and has authored over 400 manuscripts, abstracts, and book chapters

This year’s recipient of the MAA President’s Award is Dr. Jin Lee. Dr. Johnson selected Dr. Lee for this award due to Dr. Lee’s efforts recruiting new members, mentoring residents, his leadership and involvement on the MAA Board of Directors, and his attendance and impact at both MAA and Medical Association of Georgia events.

Dr Lee graduated from Mercer University and completed his residency at Northside Gwinnett. He was the chief resident during his PGY3 year. He currently serves as an associate program director for Northside Gwinnett Internal Medicine residency program. He also is the clerkship director for the MS3 and MS4 inpatient clerkship for both PCOM-GA and AU/UGA medical schools at Northside Gwinnett. He has received awards for teaching as a resident and as a faculty (Lesser Award), and he was the Resident of the Year in 2019. Through Society of Hospital Medicine and CHEST, he is POCUS certified and has been selected to precept ultrasound course at a national level. He has been heavily involved with advocacy the past few years. He attended the ACP Leadership Day at the Capital, as well as frequently attending physician’s day at the Atlanta capital. He is on the Medical Association of Atlanta board as well as the GAMPAC board. 

The Medical Association of Atlanta offers a sincere congratulations to this year’s award winners.

About the Medical Association of Atlanta

The Medical Association of Atlanta is a non-profit association dedicated to the advancement of organized medicine in the Atlanta, Georgia area. The MAA is the largest county medical society in Georgia, representing a diverse group that focuses on developing physician leadership and meeting the needs of physician leaders. For more information visit https://www.maa-assn.org.

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