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 and Poster Presentations, funding in the amount of $1,000 each for the John Pless Best Student Platform and Poster Presentations and funding in the amount of $500 for the Mary Fran Ernst Best Affiliate Presentation.

The Foundation provides support for the CAP Foundation Advanced Training Grant. Information can be found here.

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 2025 the Foundation has awarded 262 travel stipends amounting to $70,000. Recipients are listed below after the award winners.

2025 NAME and NAME Foundation Awards

John Smialek Best Resident Poster Presentation
Shatreen Masshoor, MD - “Train Video Cam In Elucidating Manner Of Death in the County Of Santa Clara”

John Smialek Best Resident Platform Presentation
David L. Horvath, DO - “Are Non-natural Deaths Underreported? A Preliminary Comparison of Non-natural Deaths in Coroner Counties, Medical Examiner Counties, and Coroner Counties with a State Medical Examiner”

John Pless Best Student Poster Presentation
Caroline C. Pack, BSc - “Assessing the Impact of Religion and Culture on Autopsy Practice and Public Health”

John Pless Best Student Platform Presentation
Bryce Whitehead, BS - “Fiberoptic Technology at Autopsy”

Mary Fran Ernst Best Affiliate Presentation
Laura Labay, PhD - “Can 4-ANPP Concentrations Differentiate Illicit from Licit Fentanyl?”

Susan P. Baker Public Health Impact Presentation
Marianne Hamel, MD, PhD - “Autopsy of the Pregnant Woman: A Protocol for Post-Mortem Pregnancy Testing and the Pitfalls of Jurisprudence”

Edward J. Barbieri Forensic Toxicology Award Presentation
Deland Weyrauch, M.D. - “Phosphatidylethanol (PEth) as a Postmortem Blood Test for Chronic/Recent Alcohol Use”

Eckert Memorial Award

• First Place - Deland Weyrauch, Jacqueline Nunez, Christopher C. Borck, Jonathan Gates, Monika Nelson, Tyler J. Jones, Lisa Henneberry, and James R. Gill - “Forensic Pathologists and Clinical Trauma Reviews: Performance Improvement, Public Health, and a Concise Autopsy Documentation Guide”
• Second Place - Alison Krywanczyk, Nicole R. Jackson, Katherine Maloney, James R. Gill - “A survey of Forensic Pathologists Regarding Medicolegal Investigation of Perinatal and Stillborn Deaths”
• Honorable Mention - Olivia Burke, Susan F. Ely, James R. Gill - “Cardiovascular Disease in Acute Cocaine Compared to Acute Fentanyl Intoxication Deaths”

Outstanding Service Awards                                                                                                       
Heather S. Jarrell, M.D.
Laura D. Knight, M.D.
J. Keith Pinckard, M.D., Ph.D.
Paul Shane Uribe, M.D.

Presidential Awards

• Iceberg Award - Tara A. Snethen, CMP
• Randy Lee Hanzlick Persistence Award (For Outstanding Mid-Career Leadership) - Nicole R. Jackson, M.D., MPH
• Setting the Standard Award (For Efforts and Accomplishments in Setting the Standard) - J. Keith Pinckard, M.D., PhD
• Garry F. Peterson MD Mentorship Award - Christina Rebecca Shreve, M.D., Resident at the New York Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell Medical Center, submitted by Chief Medical Examiner Mario Rascon, MD with El Paso County Office of the Medical Examiner

Milton Helpern Laureate Award

James Gill, M.D. "Beyond the Autopsy: Research in Forensic Pathology"

2024 NAME and NAME Foundation Awards

John Smialek Best Resident Poster Presentation

Thomas Herb, MD - "Disseminated Mycobacterium Tuberculosis from Infected Bone Graft Source: Case Studies In Iatrogenic Infections and Our Approach"

Sponsored by the NAME Foundation in the amount of $1,000

John Smialek Best Resident Platform Presentation

Zachary Alan Wilkinson, MD - "Intrauterine and Neonatal Deaths: A 10-Year Review of Referred Cases in Cuyahoga County, OH"

Sponsored by the NAME Foundation in the amount of $1,000

John Pless Best Student Poster Presentation

Cole E. Rokke, BS - "Dissecting Dissections: A Series of Case Reports Looking at Aortic Dissections, their Associated Conditions, and Autopsy Protocol"

Sponsored by the NAME Foundation in the amount of $500

John Pless Best Student Poster Presentation

Heather L. Williams, CM2 - "Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Mimicking a Primary Cardiac Tumor: Case Report and Review of Molecular Genetic Findings"

Sponsored by the NAME Foundation in the amount of $500

John Pless Best Student Platform Presentation

Gabriel Alexander - "Preventing Fentanyl-Related Overdoses with Naloxone: Insights from a Medical Examiner’s Office"

Sponsored by the NAME Foundation in the amount of $500

Mary Fran Ernst Best Affiliate Paper

Kelli Oxborrow, BS - "An Unusual Death from Penetrating Cranial Trauma: The Importance of Investigating the Primary Scene of Injury"

Sponsored by the NAME Foundation in the amount of $500

Susan P. Baker Public Health Impact Presentation
Emma M. Schopp, ScM - “Expanding Access to Molecular Autopsy through the Military Health System”

Edward J. Barbieri Forensic Toxicology Award Presentation
Griffin C. Phenegar, BS - “Case Series: Hepatic and Splenic Titanium Dioxide Deposition in Association with Intravenous Drug Use”

Outstanding Service Awards

Joyce L. deJong, DO

Jamie F. Kallan, MD

Katherine F. Maloney, MD

Eckert Memorial Award

Juniper Fedor, MS, PA(ASCP)CM and Alison Krywanczyk, MD and Anthony Redgrave, EdD - “Gender Identity in Forensic Death Investigation: A Narrative Review and Suggested Guidelines for Documenting and Reporting”

Presidential Awards (Pinckard)

• Iceberg Award - Michelle A. Jorden, MD, Denise McNally
• Randy Lee Hanzlick Persistence Award - Maura E. DeJoseph, DO
• Thomas Noguchi Loyalty Award - J. Scott Denton, MD

Milton Helpern Laureate Award

Kim A. Collins, MD “NAME’s International Journey”

2023 NAME and NAME Foundation Awards

John Smialek Best Resident Poster Presentation
Mehrnoosh Ghandili, MD - "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, DO - "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, MD - "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, PhD, 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, MD - "Fentanyl Deaths in Infants and Children: A Case Series"
Sponsored by the SUDC Foundation in the amount of $1,000.

Eckert Memorial Award

• Jay Stahl-Herz, MD and Melissa Pasquale-Styles, MD (First Place) - “Autopsy-Diagnosed Injury Deaths in Persons with Acute or Chronic Alcohol Use: A Review of 1000 Deaths with History of Alcohol Use”

• Richard Harruff, MD and Malintha De Silva and Micheline Lubin (Second Place) - “Medical Examiner Surveillance of the Covid-19 Pandemic in King County, Washington, USA”

Outstanding Service Awards

Jason H. Byrd, PhD

Theodore T. Brown, MD

Amy C. Gruszecki, DO

Kathryn Pinneri, MD

Presidential Awards (deJong)

• Iceberg Award - Maura E. DeJoseph, DO, Daniel W. Dye, MD, Jan M. Gorniak, MD
• Crystal Star Award - Laura Labay, PhD
• Vision Award - John Fudenberg
• Lifetime Achievement Award - Steven Clark, PhD
• Randy Lee Hanzlick Persistence Award - Laura Knight, MD
  

Milton Helpern Laureate Award

Andrew Baker, MD - "You will be found"

2022 NAME and NAME Foundation Awards

John Smialek Best Resident Poster Presentation
Abigail L Alexander, MD, MPH - "Bing-Neel Syndrome: A Rare Contributing Factor of Psychosis and Suicidality"

John Smialek Best Resident Platform Presentation
Cassie Brieana MacRae, MD - "History and Fashon Repeat Themselves: A Historical Comparison of Autopsy Practices During Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and the COVID-19 Pandemic Using Data from a Large Academic Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts"

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"

Edward J. Barbieri Forensic Toxicology Award
Lorenzo Gitto, MD - “Evaluating the Reliability of Dipstick Drug Screens on Vitreous and Postmortem Blood as a Triage Modality of Forensic Pathology"
Sponsored by the Fredric Reiders Family Foundation in the amount of $500

Outstanding Service Awards

Kelly C. Lear, MD

Fabiola A. Righi, DO

Robert Stoppacher, MD

Presidential Awards (Pinneri)

• Iceberg Award - Sally S. Aiken, MD and Brandi C. McCleskey, MD
• Crystal Star Award - James R. Gill, MD
• Randy Lee Hanzlick Persistence Award - Ponni Arunkumar, MD

George E. Gantner Jr MD Lecture

Mary E.S. Case, MD - “A Long Life Lived in Forensic Pathology and Lessons Learned”

2021 NAME and 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

Edward J. Barbieri Forensic Toxicology Award
Donna M. Papsun, MS, D-ABFT-FT - “Proliferation of Novel Synthetic Opioids in Postmortem Investigations Post Core-Structure Scheduling for Fentanyl Related Substances”
Sponsored by the Fredric Reiders Family Foundation in the amount of $500

Outstanding Service Awards

David R. Fowler, MD

Jennifer L. Hammers, DO

Laura D. Knight, MD

Laura Labay, PhD

J. Keith Pinckard, MD, PhD

Suzanne R. Utley, MD

Presidential Awards (Gill)

• Iceberg Award - Nicole R. Jackson, MD and Louis D. Jares, BS
• Crystal Star Award - M.J. Menendez, JD
• Lifetime Achievement Award - J. Scott Denton, MD
• Randy Lee Hanzlick Persistence Award - Reade A. Quinton, MD

2020 NAME and 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.

Outstanding Service Awards - No awards (COVID)

Presidential Awards (Aiken) - No awards (COVID)

2019 NAME and 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.

AOPO Professional Leadership Award - Mark M. LeVaughn, MD

Outstanding Service Awards

Erin G. Brooks, MD

Kim A. Collins, MD

Barbara A. Sampson, MD

Presidential Awards (Arden)

• Iceberg Award - Laura D. Knight, MD
• Executive Diamond Award - Sally S. Aiken, MD and Lindsey C. Thomas, MD
• Setting the Standard Award - Barbara C. Wolf, MD

George E. Gantner Jr MD Lecture

MGF Gilliland, MD - “Suspected Child Abuse -- A Constellation with Many Stars”