The McGovern Center is pleased to announce the winners of the 2025 Karff Awards. These awards are given to graduating seniors at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston. These awards are made possible through the Samuel Karff Chair, which is held by Reverend Nathan Carlin, PhD, Director of the McGovern Center, and are selected by the Director of the Medical Humanities Scholarly Concentration, Keisha Ray, PhD.
Samuel Karff, for whom these awards are named, was Rabbi Emeritus at Congregation Beth Israel in Houston, TX. The late Rabbi Karff was among the most influential rabbis of his generation, especially for his interfaith and social justice work in Houston. A monument dedicated to Rabbi Karff, along with two of his friends and colleagues, is in downtown Houston.
The prize amount for each award is $250. This year, there are three awards. Winners will be recognized at the Annual Humanities Graduation Banquet to be held on April 10, 2025.
Best Creative Project
This award goes to a graduating senior in the Medical Humanities Scholarly Concentration who created an exceptional work of art that relates to life in medicine, broadly conceived. Creative projects are accompanied by a brief academic paper.
Emma Thames
“Plastic & Havoc: A Poetic and Analytical Exploration of Medical Waste”
Featuring the poems “Miltonic Sonnet,” “Haikus,” and “Elegy”
Best Research Paper Projects
This award goes to one or more graduating seniors in the Medical Humanities Scholarly Concentration who completed an exceptional humanities-based paper project, broadly conceived. Papers can be in clinical ethics, history, literature, law, the social sciences, and more, or these projects also can be practical in nature, such as the creation of learning materials or curricula.
Amanda Davis
“A Physician, A Poet: The Utility of Pathographies in Counteracting the Socialization of Physicians”
Megan Jiao
“Beyond the Boundaries: The Pediatrician’s Role in Advocating for LGBTQ+ Health”