Outstanding Contribution in Research Award

Gail D’Onofrio, MD, FACEP

Dr. D’Onofrio is professor and chair of the department of emergency medicine at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, and physician-in-chief of emergency services at Yale New Haven Hospital. Boarded in emergency and addiction medicine, she is internationally known for her work in substance use disorders, women’s cardiovascular health, and mentoring physician scientists in developing independent research careers. For the past 25 years, she has developed and tested interventions for alcohol, opioids, and other substance use disorders, serving as principal investigator on several large National Institutes of Health, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studies that have changed clinical practice.

Dr. D’Onofrio has a long track record of mentoring junior and senior faculty members both at Yale and throughout the United States in multiple specialties. She is the principal investigator of a National Institute on Drug Abuse–funded K12 establishing the Yale Drug use, Addiction and HIV Research Scholars (Yale-DAHRS) program, a three-year postdoctoral, interdisciplinary, mentored career development program with focused training in prevention and treatment of drug use, addiction, and HIV in general medical settings.

She has received multiple clinical, leadership, and mentorship awards including the Excellence in Mentoring award from the Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse (2008), Advancing Women in Emergency Medicine award (2016), and the Department of Emergency Medicine Advancement of Women Award (2018) from the Society of Academic Emergency Medicine. She is a founding Board member of Addiction Medicine, now recognized as a new subspecialty by the American Board of Medical Specialties. An advocate for individuals with opioid use disorder, she is one of the architects of Connecticut governor’s strategic plan to reduce opioid deaths, working with multiple agencies regionally and nationally to change policies and introduce interventions to combat the opioid crisis.

Outstanding Contribution in EMS Award

Robert E. O’Connor, MD, FACEP

Dr. O’Connor is professor and chair of emergency medicine at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. He was born in Pittsburgh, attended secondary school in Philadelphia, and received his baccalaureate degree from Haverford College. He earned his medical degree from the Medical College of Pennsylvania and completed residency training in emergency medicine at the Medical Center of Delaware.

He has worked as an emergency physician for over 30 years and has served as a state EMS medical director, department research director, medical student clerkship director, EMS fellowship director, and residency program director. Dr. O’Connor has served as principal or co-investigator on over 50 extramural and multicenter-funded projects, and has presented more than 400 research papers and lectures at local, national, and international meetings. He has more than 150 published manuscripts, co-authored six books, and served as editor in chief of three textbooks. He has served as a peer reviewer for more than 20 journals.

Dr. O’Connor is a past member of the ACEP Board of Directors and is a past Chair of the Board. He is a former board member and past President of the National Association of EMS Physicians and Advocates for EMS as well as a past Chair of its Emergency Cardiac Care (ECC) Committee. In addition, he served on both the Scientific Advisory Council and the Manuscript Oversight Committee for the American Heart Association. He also serves on the 3CPR Council for the American Heart Association. His primary research and professional interests are in resuscitation, prehospital care, and EMS systems. He is a member of a number of academic societies and is the recipient of numerous honors and awards. He enjoys active clinical practice and is a member of the medical staff at the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville.