University Hospital stroke program director receives top mentoring award
Kerri Remmel, M.D., rushes a stroke patient to treatment at University Hospital.
The director of University Hospital's stroke program has won a prestigious national award for mentoring in medicine, nursing and science.
Kerri Remmel, M.D., an assistant professor of neurology at UofL and director of University Hospital's Stroke Service, has been named a McCann Scholar, an award that carries a $150,000 prize.
She is one of only four people in the nation to receive the award this year from the Joy McCann Foundation in Tampa, Fla.
Remmel was praised for creating a highly effective team approach to caring for stroke patients, integrating physicians with social workers; speech, physical and occupational therapists; and a variety of other health-care providers.
She has been asked by the Association of Academic Health Centers to guide institutions that want to set up similar teams.
"Time constraints in today's academic environment often keep faculty members from acting as mentors to those who are still learning," said Robert Daugherty, M.D., co-chair of the McCann Foundation.
"Our award makes a statement that time devoted to mentoring is equally important as other duties."
Remmel, who founded University Hospital's stroke program in 2001, holds a Ph.D. in communication disorders and linguistics from Louisiana State University and an M.D. from UofL.
A funded researcher, she is active in the American Academy of Neurology and is a past winner of the academy's National Teaching Scholarship and Excellence in Teaching Neurology awards.
Aside from her credentials, she possesses a unique ability to inspire others, said Kari Moore, a mentee of Remmel's who is now director of nursing for the stroke program.
"Kerri has a passion for caring for stroke patients," Moore said. "She shares it with everyone around her, and that motivates them to put the patients first."
