Old Westbury, NY – A national student osteopathic medical organization has established an award honoring the professional and public career of Dr. Barbara Ross-Lee, New York Institute of Technology's Vice President for Health Sciences and Medical Affairs.

The Barbara Ross-Lee Osteopathic Service Award will recognize an accredited osteopathic chapter of the Student National Medical Association. The winner, to be announced tomorrow night at the national American Medical Education Conference in Washington, D.C., will be a chapter that has led efforts in addressing educational and health needs of underserved communities, used osteopathic manipulative treatment in community service projects, and has demonstrated the chapter's incorporation of osteopathic treatment in its extracurricular activities and achievements.

"I'm truly honored and touched by the students' recognition of my work and their dedication to osteopathic medicine," said Ross-Lee. "Their leadership efforts are crucial for the profession's future success and its focus on treating, diagnosing, and preventing illness—especially in under-served communities."

The Student National Medical Association said the award highlights Ross-Lee's "life-long commitment to health policy and osteopathic medicine" and notes her advocacy for the profession. The group, established in 1964, is dedicated to supporting under-represented minority medical students and works to increase the number of physicians who are "clinically excellent, culturally competent, and socially conscious," according to its website.

Ross-Lee oversees the administration and operation of the College of Osteopathic Medicine and the School of Health Professions. Most recently, she has led NYIT's effort to establish a second site of the College of Osteopathic Medicine on the campus of Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, AR.

Ross-Lee has an extensive background in health policy issues, and serves as an advisor on primary care, medical education, minority health, women's health and rural healthcare issues on federal and state committees and organizations. Ross-Lee is the director of the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) Health Policy Fellowship program, which prepares mid-career osteopathic physicians for leadership roles in health policy. She is also director of the Training in Policy Studies (TIPS) for post-graduate (resident physicians) osteopathic trainees; director of the Institute for National Health Policy and Research; and a member of the Executive Committee of the National Osteopathic Medical Association, a medical association of minority osteopathic physicians.

Ross-Lee is the first African-American woman to serve as dean of a United States medical school (Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, 1993 - 2001). She has lectured widely and published numerous scholarly articles on a variety of medical and healthcare issues. She has received six honorary degrees and many national awards.

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About NYIT

New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) offers 90 degree programs, including undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees, in more than 50 fields of study, including architecture and design; arts and sciences; education; engineering and computing sciences; health professions; management; and osteopathic medicine. A non-profit independent, private institution of higher education, NYIT has 13,000 students attending campuses on Long Island and Manhattan, online, and at its global campuses. NYIT sponsors 11 NCAA Division II programs and one Division I team.

Led by President Edward Guiliano, NYIT is guided by its mission to provide career-oriented professional education, offer access to opportunity to all qualified students, and support applications-oriented research that benefits the larger world. To date, nearly 95,000 graduates have received degrees from NYIT. For more information, visit nyit.edu.

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