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<p>Charles B. Goodwin III, a student at the IU School of Medicine, received the U.S. Public Health Service&#8217;s 2014 Excellence in Public Health Award for his service to underserved communities in Indianapolis.</p>

IU School of Medicine student receives Public Health Service’s Excellence in Public Health Award

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INDIANAPOLIS — Charles B. Goodwin III, a student at the IU School of Medicine, received the U.S. Public Health Service’s 2014 Excellence in Public Health Award for his service to underserved communities in Indianapolis.

The U.S. Public Health Service, a part of the U.S. Surgeon General’s Office, awards this honor to U.S. medical students who are involved in public health issues in their community and are committed to increasing awareness of the Public Health Service’s mission to protect, promote and advance the health and safety of American citizens.

Goodwin received the award in a ceremony June 30 in the VanNuys Medical Science Building atrium at the IU School of Medicine from U.S. Public Health Service Commander Sara Luckhaupt, M.D., MPH, chair of the Excellence in Public Health Awards Program, and Jay L. Hess, M.D., Ph.D., dean of the IU School of Medicine and vice president for university clinical affairs at IU.

Goodwin was honored for his service to underserved communities in Indianapolis through the Eskenazi Health Center Westside Family Health Fair, where he has been a volunteer since 2008, and the IU Student Outreach Clinic, where he has been a member of the executive committee since 2011. This includes service as director of development, during which he expanded clinic services to include not only medical services but also dental, pharmacy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, social work and legal services.

The annual Eskenazi Health Center Westside Family Health Fair, organized by Eskenazi Health and the IU School of Medicine’s Internal Medicine Student Interest Group, provides free health screenings and information to underserved members of the Indianapolis-area community. The IU Student Outreach Clinic provides free health services to individuals without health insurance on Saturdays at the Neighborhood Fellowship Church on East 10th Street in Indianapolis.

“Due to Charles’ vision and efforts, student volunteers at the IU-SOC have expanded from the IU School of Medicine to other Indianapolis-affiliated institutions, including the IU schools of dentistry, law and social work; the Butler University College of Pharmacy; and the University of Indianapolis schools of physical and occupational therapy,” according to a nomination letter from Rebecca J. Chan, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of pediatrics, and Raghavendra G. Mirmira, M.D., Ph.D., Eli Lilly and Company Professor of Pediatrics Diabetes, both of the IU School of Medicine.

Physical and occupational therapy is also offered at the IU Student Outreach Clinic by the IU School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences.

The recipient of a Ph.D. in molecular and medical genetics from the IU School of Medicine, Goodwin also conducts research on juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia, a form of pediatric leukemia, at the Herman B Wells Center for Pediatric Research at the IU School of Medicine, and has published several papers on the topic. His work also has applications to Noonan Syndrome, an inherited disorder that causes abnormal development in children. He holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago and is currently completing his medical degree at the IU School of Medicine.

The U.S. Public Health Service’s Excellence in Public Health Award was created by the Physicians Professional Advisory Committee of the U.S. Public Health Service in 2012. It was presented to students at 25 medical schools across the nation in 2013, including Emilee Borgmeier, a medical student at the IU School of Medicine-Bloomington.