Dean Dawn Morton-Rias Honored by Ashe Institute
Jun 12, 2008
Brooklyn, NY - The Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health recently honored Dawn Morton-Rias, EdD, PA-C, dean of the School of Health Professions at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, at its 14th Annual Sportsball. The other honorees were Bryant Gumbel, host of HBO’s Real Sports; tennis legend Billie Jean King; Richard D. Parsons, Chairman of the Board of Time Warner; and Terry McDonell, editor at Sports Illustrated Group.
Celebrities and health advocates gather at the Sportsball to celebrate the legacy of the great Arthur Ashe and to honor individuals who promote improved prevention, diagnosis, and treatment within urban communities.
Dr. Morton-Rias is a certified physician assistant, and the immediate past-president of the Physician Assistant Education Association. Dr. Morton-Rias’ commitment to quality healthcare services through education of the next generation of health professionals is unwavering. She is nationally recognized for her leadership in PA education, and she has presented and published on various clinical topics, faculty development, accreditation, cultural competence and learning styles. She will be working in Israel this summer on a Fulbright scholarship.
Students from the Arthur Ashe Institute’s Health Science Academy also shared the spotlight at this year’s Sportsball. The Health Science Academy, a core program of the Ashe Institute, was founded in 1994 as a collaboration between the Institute and SUNY Downstate. The program partners with Brooklyn College, CUNY and New York City public and parochial high schools to offer physiology and anatomy courses to academically talented high school students to encourage them in their pursuit of careers in science, medicine, allied and public health.
Members of the Academy’s 2008 graduating class were presented to the audience by two alumni of the program: Sadeaqua Scott, a student at SUNY Downstate’s School of Graduate Studies, and Julia James, who is finishing her PhD through a joint program of Oxford University in England and the National Institutes of Health in Washington, D.C.
This year the Health Science Academy graduated 50 students on June 9 in a "Celebration of Achievement" ceremony in SUNY Downstate’s Alumni Auditorium.
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About SUNY Downstate Medical Center
SUNY Downstate Medical Center, founded in 1860, was the first medical school in the United States to bring teaching out of the lecture hall and to the patient’s bedside. A center of innovation and excellence in research and clinical service delivery, SUNY Downstate Medical Center comprises a College of Medicine, College of Nursing, School of Health Professions, a School of Graduate Studies, School of Public Health, University Hospital of Brooklyn, and a multifaceted biotechnology initiative including the Downstate Biotechnology Incubator and BioBAT for early-stage and more mature companies, respectively.
SUNY Downstate ranks twelfth nationally in the number of alumni who are on the faculty of American medical schools. More physicians practicing in New York City have graduated from SUNY Downstate than from any other medical school.