The McGovern Center for Humanities and Ethics (McGovern Center) is pleased to announce the 2026 Karff Chair Awards winners. These 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.
Samuel Karff, for whom these awards are named, was Rabbi Emeritus at Congregation Beth Israel in Houston, TX. Rabbi Karff was among the most influential rabbis of his generation, especially for his interfaith and social justice work in Houston. Of interest, there is a monument dedicated to Rabbi Karff (along with two of his friends and colleagues) in Downtown Houston: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/life/houston-belief/article/New-Interfaith-Ministries-plaza-honors-13737838.php (external link)
The prize amount for each award is $250. This year, there are two awards.
Best Creative Project
This award goes to a graduating senior who has fulfilled the requirements of the Medical Humanities Scholarly Concentration and created an exceptional creative work that relates to life in medicine, broadly conceived. Painting, drawing, musical composition, dance, poetry, memoir, fiction, and creative nonfiction are all possibilities. Usually, the student who wins this award will have some prior experience with the art medium, though this is not required. Creative projects are accompanied by a brief academic paper.
2026 Winner
Louisa Smitherman, “White Coat Threads: The Journey to Healing”
Best Research Paper Project
This award goes to one or more graduating seniors who have fulfilled the Medical Humanities Scholarly Concentration requirements and 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 can also be practical in nature, such as the creation of learning materials or curricula.
2026 Winner
Josh Bandopadhay, “The Art of Medicine: Creativity as a Core Competency in Medical Education”
Congratulations to the winners!