As 2023 draws to a close, SNOMED International recognizes its 2023 Lifetime Achievement and Award for Excellence winners

SNOMED International recently awarded two Lifetime Achievement and two Awards for Excellence at its 2023 Awards Gala held in conjunction with SNOMED CT Expo 2023 in Atlanta, GA. Vivian Auld, Dr. Keith E Campbell, Pim Volkert and W. Scott Campbell recognized. 

The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes individuals for outstanding, sustained contribution in the development and promotion of SNOMED CT and overall global leadership in the terminology field. The Award of Excellence is given for outstanding contribution to the improvement of SNOMED CT and its successful implementation in health and social care. 

Lifetime Achievement Award winner Vivian Auld

The first award in this category was given to Vivian Auld, Senior Specialist for Health Data Standards (retired) at the US National Library of Medicine. Vivian, who was involved with US federal strategy for terminology standards for electronic health records since the early 1990s, worked at the US National Library of Medicine for almost three decades, where she focused on supporting the nationwide implementation of an interoperable health information technology infrastructure to improve the overall quality and efficiency of health care. She was also an active member of the team that developed and executed the strategy which led to the inclusion and acceptance of SNOMED CT in US health data policy, and played a role in discussions about global adoption of SNOMED CT. Vivian has been and remains an advocate for the equal rights of all SNOMED International Members regardless of size or wealth and an ambassador for SNOMED CT adoption and implementation. 

Lifetime Achievement Award winner Dr Keith E Campbell

The second award in this category went to Keith E. Campbell, MD, PhD, Program Director, US Food and Drug Administration’s Systemic Harmonization and Interoperability Enhancement for Laboratory Data program. Keith was a key member of the original SNOMED CT Design Team created in 1999 following the agreement between the College of American Pathologists and the UK NHS to merge SNOMED RT with NHS Clinical Terms Version 3. As a member of SNOMED International’s original Editorial Board, Keith continued his contribution to the SNOMED Technical Design Team that produced the original distribution format and its evolution into RF2, including the reference set mechanism that today enables the graceful evolution of SNOMED CT to support broader use cases and extensibility requirements.

Award for Excellence winner Pim Volkert

Clinical data architecture coordinator (formerly head of the Netherlands SNOMED CT National Release Centre) Pim Volkert, a long-time ambassador and driving force for SNOMED CT in the Netherlands, also drove the translation of SNOMED CT into the Dutch language. All of these efforts resulted in the Netherlands’ adoption of SNOMED CT as the preferred terminology. Pim is also the clinical data coordinator of Health-RI, a Netherlands national program to build a national and integrated health data infrastructure for research and innovation.

Award for Excellence winner W. Scott Campbell

W. Scott Campbell, Associate Professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, was nominated for his work in implementing electronic health record systems in ambulatory care practices and his leadership capabilities as a terminologist and implementation specialist, bringing together, educating and guiding a large group of pathologists, terminologists and other specialists.

“The SNOMED International Awards Gala, where we recognize and celebrate those SNOMED CT community members who have made outstanding contributions to the development and implementation of the clinical terminology, is always one of the biggest highlights of our yearly Expo,” says SNOMED International CEO Don Sweete. “Although there are always many worthy contenders, we salute the four chosen this year, each of whom has played such a pivotal role in the ongoing development and success of SNOMED CT globally.”

About SNOMED International

SNOMED International is a not-for-profit organization that owns and develops SNOMED CT, the world’s most comprehensive healthcare terminology product. We play an essential role in improving the health of humankind by determining standards for a codified language that represents groups of clinical terms. This enables healthcare information to be exchanged globally for the benefit of patients and other stakeholders. We are committed to the rigorous evolution of our products and services, to deliver continuous innovation for the global healthcare community. SNOMED International is the trading name of the International Health Terminology Standards Development Organisation. https://www.snomed.org/