The purpose of the NAME Foundation is to support forensic sciences through education and research, and to preserve the history of forensic pathology.  Every year the Annual Meeting has presenters judged for their platform or poster presentation.  The NAME Foundation supports funding in the amount of $1,000 each for the John Smialek Best Resident/Fellow Platform/Poster Presentation, funding in the amount of $500 for the John Pless Best Student Platform/Poster Presentation and funding in the amount of $500 for the Mary Fran Ernst Best Affiliate Presentation.

The Foundation also provides travel stipends - the Beth Frost Early Achievement Award - to eligible students and residents who present at the meeting and who have fulfilled the requirements for the stipends as listed in the Foundation Policy manual (submission of abstract prior to deadline and presentation at the meeting). From 2015 through 2023 the Foundation has awarded 217 travel stipends amounting to $58,750. Recipients are listed below after the award winners.

2023 NAME Foundation Awards

John Smialek Best Resident Poster Presentation
Mehrnoosh Ghandili, M.D.  Unearthing the Unexpected: Ossa Cordis in the Human Heart
Sponsored by the NAME Foundation in the amount of $1,000.

John Smialek Best Resident Platform Presentation
Morgan Long, D.O.  Management of Unidentified and Indigent Remains in a Death Investigation System – The Pima County (Tucson), Arizona Experience
Sponsored by the NAME Foundation in the amount of $1,000.

John Pless Best Student Poster Presentation
Yvonne Hojberg  Fatal Iron Tablet Aspiration: Importance of Early Diagnosis and Forensic Pathologist Awareness
Sponsored by the NAME Foundation in the amount of $500

John Pless Best Student Platform Presentation
Jessicia Schmitt, M.D.  Method Validation Study of Dipstick Urinalysis as a Screening Tool for Sodium Nitrite Toxicity
Sponsored by the NAME Foundation in the amount of $500.

Susan P. Baker Public Health Impact Presentation
Juniper Fedor, MS, PA Gender Identity in Medicolegal Death Investigation
Sponsored by the Maryland Medical Legal Foundation in the amount of $500.

Edward J. Barbieri Forensic Toxicology Award Presentation
Laura Labay, Ph.D., F-ABFT, DABCC-TC The Vanishing Zero – Do Trace Amounts Matter?
Sponsored by the Fredric Reiders Family Foundation in the amount of $500

Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood (SUDC) Foundation Award Presentation:
Katrina Monday, M.D.  Fentanyl Deaths in Infants and Children: A Case Series
Sponsored by the SUDC Foundation in the amount of $1,000.

2022 NAME Foundation Awards

John Smialek Best Resident Poster Presentation:
Abigail L Alexander, MD, MPH Molecular Autopsy in Vascular Ehlers Danlos (Type IV)

John Smialek Best Resident Platform Presentation:
Cassie Brieana MacRae, MD Bing-Neel Syndrome: A Rare Contributing Factor of Psychosis and Suicidality

John Pless Best Student Poster Presentation:
Julita Gongolli  A Case of Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection in the Setting of Exogenous Testosterone

John Pless Best Student Platform Presentation:
Samuel P. Prahlow, BS, MPH Gunshot Residue Deposition With and Without Firearm Suppressors (Silencers)

Mary Fran Ernst Best Affiliate Presentation:

Laura Labay, PhD Tolerant or Intolerant? Learning from Drug Concentrations in the Living and the Dead

2021 NAME Foundation Awards

John Smialek Best Resident Poster Presentation
Brittany Holden, DO Molecular Autopsy in Vascular Ehlers Danlos (Type IV)

John Smialek Best Resident Platform Presentation
Kasey Kreutz, MD Let’s Talc about Drugs: Excipient Lung Disease and Interpretation of Postmortem Findings

John Pless Best Student Poster Presentation
Alexander Lokken, MSII  Relapsing Polychondritis As A Cause of Sudden and Unexpected Death with Central Nervous System Involvement

John Pless Best Student Platform Presentation
Ashley Prandecki, MD How Does a Mass Casualty Event Impact Staff of the Coroner’s Office and is Meditation an Effective Tool for Mediating these Impacts?

Mary Fran Ernst Best Affiliate Presentation

No eligible submissions

2020 NAME Foundation Awards

John Smialek, MD Best Resident Platform Presentation:  
Lorenzo Gitto, MD Determination of Force Required to Produce Stab Wounds in Cadaveric Chest Tissue.  State University of New York, Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, New York.
 
John Smialek, MD Best Resident Poster Presentation:  
Batoul Aoun, DO SARS-CoV-2 in the Kidneys: Postmortem Renal Histopathologic Findings in Three patients with COVID19.  Michigan Medicine, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
 
John Pless, MD Best Student Platform Presentation:  
Ernest Allen Morton, MBA, MS  Novel Evaluation of Submandibular Salivary Gland Tissue for use as an Alternative Postmortem Toxicology Specimen.  Western Michigan University Homer Stryker MD School of Medicine, Kalamazoo, Michigan.
 
John Pless, MD Best Student Poster Presentation:  
McKenzie Jackson, BS Postmortem Diagnosis of Clostridium Without Culture Confirmation.  University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Grand Forks, North Dakota.

Mary Fran Ernst Best Affiliate Presentation:
No eligible submissions.

2019 NAME Foundation Awards

John Pless, MD Best Student Poster Presentation: 

Kasey Kreutz - Reducing Laboratory Rejection Rates of Postmortem Specimens at a County Medical Examiner’s Office

John Pless, MD Best Student Platform Presentation:

Sarah Sweet Freddie Gray - How One Death Changed the City of Baltimore

John Smialek, MD Best Resident Platform Presentation:

Daniel C. Butler, MD Placental Refractile Material Identified in Three Cases of Intrauterine Demise Due to Known, Reported, and Suspected Misoprostol Use

John Smialek, MD Best Resident Poster Presentation:  
Kimberly M. Johnson, MD Critical Analysis of Laboratory Testing Methodologies When Interpreting Conflicting Results at Autopsy

Mary Fran Ernst Best Affiliate Presentation:
No eligible submissions.

PAST Best Resident Awards

2008 Best Resident Award Clarissa Krinsky

2008 Best Resident Award   Erin Brooks

2009 Best Resident Award-Poster Erin Brooks

2009 Best Resident Award-Paper Hadas Gips

2009 Best Resident Award-Paper Erin Brooks

2010 Best Resident Award-Paper Ralph N. Sams, MD

2010 Best Resident Award              Allison Edgecombe, M.D.

2011 Best Resident Award              Erin Boeding, M.D.

2012 Best Resident Award              Julia Shields MD

2012 Best Resident Award              Eric Barker MD

2013 Best Resident Award              Lindsey Haldiman

2013 Best Resident Award              Matthew Cain

2014 Best Resident Award              Yekaterina Eichel

2014 Best Resident Award              John P Gates

2015 Best Resident Award              Amber Wang

2015 Best Resident Award              Kacy Krehbiel

2016 Best Resident Award              Leah Schuppener

2016 Best Resident Award              Tiffany Caza

2017 Best Resident Award              Stacey Murthy

2017 Best Resident Award              Ashley Lukefahr

2018 Best Resident Award   Ashley Lukefahr

2018 Best Resident Award-Poster Katrina Thompson

PAST Best Affiliate Awards

2009 Best Affiliate Award Dawn Zulauf

2012 Best Affiliate Award Brian Ehret

2013 Best Affiliate Award Gene Hernandez

2015 Best Affiliate Award Tom Hensley

2016 Best Affiliate Award Brian Ehret

2018 Best Affiliate Award Lauri McGivern

PAST Best Student Awards

2016 Best Student Award Danielle Pelletier

2016 Best Student Award Amy Fuhs

2017 Best Student Award Rose Marie Cronin

2017 Best Student Award Allan Medwick

2018 Best Student Poster Deland Weyrauch

2018 Best Student Platform Kasey Kreutz

2023 Beth Frost Early  Achievement Award (32 @ $250 EACH)

Samuel Prahlow BA, MPH

Jonathan Tse BS

Nicholas Bovio BA

Jessicia Schmitt MD

Stephanie Jackson BA

Yvonne Hojberg BA

Vanessa Lyons

Anna Vanderschaegen BS

Cassidy Hinton BS

Emilee Ohman BS

Kajsa Anderson BS

Kaileigh Bingham Abujasen MD

Julita Gongolli BS

Leda Wang BS

William Anderson F-ABMDI

Mira Basuino BS

Amanda Davis BS

Mahmoud Ajine

Molly Pierson MPH, PhD

Morgan Long DO

Jane Persons MD, PhD

Felicia Davis MD

Thomas Auen DO

Lydia Du MD

Nahimarys Colon Hernandez MD

Fabiola Righi DO

Batoul Aoun DO

Nicolas Kostelecky MD

Omar Abdelsadek MD

Mehrnoosh Ghandili MD

Kasey Kreutz MD

Daniel Sullivan MD

2022 TRAVEL STIPENDS (48 @ $250 EACH - $12,000)

Omar Abdelsadek MD

Abigail Alexander MD, MPH

Batoul Aoun DO

Kaileigh Bingham BS Biology

Nicholas Boire M.D., Sc.M.

Ryan Bruhns MD

Marcel Castor MD

Nahimarys Colon Hernandez MD

Jaycie Dalson BSc

Amanda Davis BS

Samantha (Sam) Engrav BA

Jeffrey Feng MS

Devan Glensor MA

Julita Gongolli

Alfonzo Halfin MD

Addie Hancock DO

Thomas Herb MD

Yvonne Hojberg

Brittany Holden BA, MS, DO

Soren Jensen DO

Katelyn Koenig

Nicolas Kostelecky MD

Jonathan Lai MD, MS

Sophia  He  MS

Amy Lorber AB

David Lynch MD

James Macpherson MD PhD

Cassie MacRae MD

Elizabeth McLeod MS, MD

Kori Mecklenburg BS

Monica Miyakawa-Liu MS, MD

Ariana Pape MD

Jane Persons MD, PhD

Samuel Prahlow BS, MPH

Fabiola Righi

Charles Rohrer MD

Cole Rokke BS

Tiffany Sheganoski DO

Margaret Smith BA

Keenen Smith MD, MS

Christopher Sullivan MD, MPH

Daniel Sullivan MD, MA

Donald Turbiville MD

Anna Vanderschaegen

Mariana Voudouri MD

Tracy Wadsworth MD

Brailyn Weber BS

Meghan White MD

Joel Zimmerman BS

2021 TRAVEL STIPENDS (18 @ $500 EACH - $9,000)

Batoul A. Aoun, DO

Trung Thanh Bui, MS

Julita Gongolli, BS

Thomas Herb, MD

Brittany Holden, DO, MS, BA

Shalini K. Karunanayake, MBBS,DLM,MD

Sarah Genevieve Koutana, BS

Kasey Kreutz, MD

Alexander S. Lokken,

Elizabeth V. Mcleod, MS, MD

Ernest Allen Morton

Catherine Perez, MD

Samuel P. Prahlow, MPH

Ashley Prandecki,

Christopher Ramos, MD

Fabiola A. Righi

Claire E. Rose, M.D.

David Michael Waters, MD

2020 TRAVEL STIPENDS

None awarded (virtual meeting)

2019 TRAVEL STIPENDS (32 @ $250 EACH - $8,000)

Daniel Butler

Iana Lesnikova

Serenella Serinelli

Julia Berry

Jarred Michalski

Sarah Sweet

Cori Breslauer

Cassie Macrae

Sabrina Zohoury

Paul Yousif

Samuel Prahlow

Elizabeth Loughney

Allyson Khau

Evan Rush

Lo Tamburro

Anmol Hans

Keenan McNamara

Alexis Jelinek

Aleander Blank

Kasey Kreutz

Kimberly Johnson

Elena Gandara

Lorenzo Gitto

Matthew Rumschlag

Stefanie Grewe

Nicole Stanley

Allison Cooper

Melinda Flores

Gary Wu

Yoad Porat

Allison Maybank

Lauren Strzyzewski

2018 TRAVEL STIPENDS (37 @ $250 EACH - $9,250)

Linda Song

Katrina Thompson

Natalia Beluva

Shannon Crook

Allan Medwick

Sarah Thomas

Daniel Butler

Adesuwa Egharevba

Stefanie Grevie

Michael Eckhardt

Ibrahim Abukhiran

Leah Schuppener

Vishal Somnay

Samuel Prahlow

Benjamin Criss

Rhonda Mittenzuli

Alexis Griffith

Tyler Hickey

Jessica Gulliver

Nicole Stanley

Madeleine Opsahl

Leslie Anderson

Julia Berry

Deland Weyrauch

Lauren Havrilla

Julian Samuel

David Waters

Megan Lawless

Iana Lesnikova

Jagbir Khangura

Thomas Duong

Claire Sorensen

Brooke Blake

Kasey Kreutz

Ashley Lukefahr

Allison Cooper

Mike Williams

2017 TRAVEL STIPENDS (23 @ $250 EACH - $5,750)

Stacey Murthy

Ashley Lukefahr

Rose Marie Cronin

Allan Medwick

Kristy Waite

Mark Giffen

Lauren Havrilla

Emilie Cook

Kyle Conway

Katrina Thompson

Ashley Perkins

Leah Schuppener

Milad Webb

Stacey Reed

Michael Eckhardt

Annie Laib

Daniel Butler

Jennifer Chao

Samuel Prahlow

Alessandra Spagnolia

Jared Weinand

Janet Julson

Iana Lesnikova

2016 Travel Stipends (18 @ $250 each - $4,500)

Katrina Thompson

Zachary Michalicek

Danielle Pelletier

Leah Schuppener

Grant Finlayson

Amber Wang

Nicole Croom

Samuel Prahlow

Tracy Stein

Catherine Miller

Nisha Ramani

Amy Fuhs

Carolina Dominguez

Tiffany Caza

Beth Frost

Shaily Patel

Megan Quinn

Lauren Crowson

2015 TRAVEL STIPENDS (9 @ $250 EACH - $2,250)

Wendy MacKerricher

Matthew Cain

Amber Wang

Peter Mazari

Susan Parson

Stephanie Powers

Samuel Prahlow

Christopher Ball

Matthew Kucmanic