PHILADELPHIA - Lisa Bellini, MD, senior vice dean for Academic Affairs and a professor of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care in the Perelman School of Medicine (PSOM) at the University of Pennsylvania, has been selected as one of four recipients of the 2023 Alpha Omega Alpha Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher Award by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). Bellini and other awardees will be recognized during a reception at the AAMC's annual meeting in Seattle, Washington on November 5.
The Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher Awards recognize outstanding contributions to medical education, and up to four are granted. Named for longtime AOA executive secretary Robert J. Glaser, MD, the awards were established in 1988 to honor the outstanding contributions to medical education made by gifted physician educators.
As an expert in medical education and medical school administration, Bellini has had a significant influence on national policies regarding graduate medical education (GME), the definition of faculty, and professional conduct within the academic community. Her research has examined the health and well-being of residents and faculty, including the effects of fatigue and sleep deprivation on patient outcomes and the learning environment.
Appointed as PSOM's senior vice dean for Academic Affairs in 2019, Bellini has oversight for the policies, development, professionalism, and wellbeing of over 3,000 faculty, the Penn-VA academic partnership, executive leadership searches, departmental academic reviews processes, and the development of GME programs in Vietnam through Penn's Center for Global Health. Previously, she served as the vice chair of Education and Inpatient Services and internal medicine program director for the department of Medicine, as well as the associate dean for GME for the University of Pennsylvania Health System.
On a national level, Bellini currently serves on the NBME Council, the AMA Academic Physician Society Council, and the ACGME-International Committee. She is a highly accomplished educator who has won numerous teaching awards including the Penn Pearls Teaching Award, the Maurice Attie and Donna McCurdy Teaching Awards, the Robert Dunning Dripps Award for Excellence in GME, the University's Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching, and a lifetime achievement award from the Alliance of Academic Internal Medicine.
Bellini joined Penn's faculty in 1996 after receiving her MD from the University of Alabama at Birmingham followed by an Internal Medicine residency, a chief residency, and a pulmonary fellowship at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
