Award honors Dr. Tiffany Chioma Anaebere’s work equipping future physicians to address drivers of health through medicine, community partnerships, and policy education

BOSTON, December 16, 2025 — The Physicians Foundation is proud to announce Tiffany Chioma Anaebere M.D., Director of Special Projects and Innovation for the Emergency Medicine residency program, St. Joseph’s Medical Center (SJMC) as the recipient of the Dr. Buz Cooper Award for Addressing Drivers of Health. This prominent award is part of the Foundation’s Leadership Award Program and honors a physician who has gone above and beyond to address drivers of health that shape patient health.

“In honor of Dr. Buz Cooper, this award seeks to recognize a physician who is reshaping how we care for patients by addressing the conditions in which people live, learn, work, and seek care,” said Gary Price, M.D., president of The Physicians Foundation. “Dr. Anaebere exemplifies that leadership through her remarkable efforts to develop more effective ways to integrate training for physicians to address drivers of health. Her transformative approach to integrating social medicine, community partnership and physician advocacy into emergency medicine training is equipping the next generation of physicians to deliver care that is equitable, compassionate and rooted in the realities patients face.”

As an emergency physician and educator, Dr. Anaebere witnessed firsthand how social, political, and economic forces drove the crises that brought patients to the hospital. To close this gap between medical training and real-world patient needs, she developed the Emergency Medicine Community Engagement Partnership (EM-CEP) Program, now a core rotation within the SJMC Emergency Medicine residency. Through EM-CEP, residents collaborate directly with community-based organizations, social workers, and care coordinators to address inequities from the ground up and strengthen patient transitions of care.

In parallel, Dr. Anaebere leads a health policy and physician advocacy curriculum that trains residents to understand how laws, insurance structures, zoning policies and public benefits shape patient outcomes. Graduating physicians learn not only to treat acute illness, but to advocate for systemic changes that advance equity and justice. Together, these initiatives form a comprehensive social medicine curriculum that her colleagues describe as “a strength of the residency” and a model for training thoughtful, community-minded physicians.

“I am deeply honored to receive the Dr. Buz Cooper Award,” said Dr. Anaebere. “In emergency medicine, I’ve seen how drivers of health profoundly shape health outcomes and prevent people from reaching life’s potential. Every patient encounter carries the potential to influence not only an individual’s health, but also the wellbeing of their families and communities for generations. I want to ensure that current and future physicians have the skills to address the drivers of health to help people truly thrive.”

Support from the Foundation will help Dr. Anaebere and her team expand the EM-CEP model through:

Creating a national institute to develop scalable social medicine and DOH curricula for residency programs across the country:

• Building sustainable partnerships with additional community-based organizations

• Enhancing streamlined referral pathways in the EHR for social needs

• Advancing research and evaluation to measure both health outcomes and educational impact

By documenting best practices and outcomes, the project aims to create a replicable national framework that embeds DOH training in physician education as a standard—not an exception.

About The Physicians Foundation

The Physicians Foundation is a public charity seeking to advance the work of practicing physicians and improve patient access to high-quality, cost-efficient care. As the U.S. health care system continues to evolve, The Physicians Foundation is steadfast in strengthening the physician-patient relationship, supporting medical practices’ sustainability and helping physicians navigate the changing health care system. The Physicians Foundation pursues its mission through research, education and innovative grant making that improves physician wellbeing, strengthens physician leadership, addresses drivers of health and lifts physician perspectives. For more information, visit www.physiciansfoundation.org