The National Institutes of Health’s National Summit on Eliminating Health Disparities was a who’s who in health disparities.  If you were not able to attend, you missed a once in a lifetime event.  Almost 4,000 individuals—the largest NIH meeting I know of on any subject—focused on health disparities in America.  That was in itself historical.

Every aspect of mind, body and soul was covered in the numerous breakout sessions.  But the highlights of the meeting for me were: first, the spiritually uplifting sermon by Maya Angelou.  I wish I had taped it to play back on a daily basis.  It was just that inspiring.  She talked about rising from being a single teenage mother to being invited to the White House, while realizing that the promise of America to all its citizens has still to be reached.  And second: being in a room with the likes of Former Secretaries of Health and Human Services Margaret Heckler and Louis Sullivan, former NIH Director Bernadine Healy and former Surgeon General David Satcher.  To be able to tell each of them the impact they have had on my professional life and to have them in return acknowledge their awareness of the impact of my efforts—you can’t imagine the feeling.  This was far greater than any award.  For a moment in time, the stress of the world did not exist.