A Decade of Black Excellence: Honorees of Anticipated Top Blacks in Healthcare (TBH) Awards Announced

CHICAGO, Feb. 27, 2025 — BlackDoctor.org (BDO), a nationally recognized leader in Black health, announces honorees of its 10^th annual Top Blacks in Healthcare (TBH) awards. This prestigious award recognizes honorees for outstanding contributions to healthcare, profound leadership and vision, and commitment to the business imperative of health equity.

“TBH honorees are paramount to transforming people’s lives for the better, and each leave a legacy and footprint for generations to come,” said BlackDoctor.org CEO Reggie Ware. “We are proud to celebrate our tenth-year spotlighting visionaries in Black excellence that is aligned with our mission to make every Black family as healthy as possible.”

The 2025 Top Blacks in Healthcare award recipients include:

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1. Chuka Anude, MD, Ph.D. MPH, VP, Vice President and Global Head, Clinical Safety and Risk Management (CSRM) for Infectious Disease Vaccines, Moderna Therapeutics
2. Sandra Ajisafe, PharmD, Executive Director, Genentech
3. Virginia Caine, MD, President, National Medical Association (NMA)
4. Oga Egbuna, Vice President, Clinical Development, Vertex
5. Niesha Foster, Vice President, Global Health & Social Impact, Pfizer
6. Denelle J. Waynick Johnson, Executive Vice President & General Counsel, UCB
7. Thomas LaVeist, Dean, Tulane University School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine
8. Marla Littlejohn, Head, Dermatology Pipeline Commercial Strategy, AbbVie
9. Leverne (Jonas) Marsh, Executive Vice President, Global Marketing & Project Management, Dexcom
10. Jude Ngang, Executive Director, Global Access & Use Evidence Generation, Amgen
11. Valerie Montgomery Rice, MD, FACOG, President and CEO, Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM)
12. Barbara Salami, Vice President/US Head, Commercial Excellence and Innovation, Novo Nordisk
13. Denise Allen Williams, Vice President of Strategy and Commercial Operations, Merck

Chief Marketing Officer Derrick Lane adds, “We are inspired with our esteemed line-up of trusted voices at a time our society needs it most.”

The celebration of Black excellence will be held on Thursday, April 10, 2025 at the Fontainebleau Miami (4441 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach, FL) with a VIP evening reception on April 9. The historic day begins with the Thought Leadership Summit and will culminate with the Top Blacks in Health Awards Gala.

Award recipients will be highlighted at the 250-person gala and to the 26 million people in BDO’s community via our live steaming, editorial content, website, patient newsletters and our social media platforms.

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About BlackDoctor.org (BDO)

BlackDoctor.org is the leading health and wellness destination for people of color, leveraging culture, content and technology to transform people’s lives for the better.

Celebrating its 20^th year, BDO has a monthly audience reach of 26 million on social media and 6.5 million monthly visitors to its website. BlackDoctor.org boasts the largest online database of Black physicians and dentists as part of its free doctor search tool.  BDO has leveraged AI to create the “BlackDoctor Chat bot” which is the first AI tool that provides culturally relevant answers to Black consumers’ most pressing health questions.  Ask it anything you want!