Las Vegas, NV – New York Institute of Technology Vice President for Health Sciences and Medical Affairs Barbara Ross-Lee, DO, has received the American Osteopathic Association's (AOA) highest award, the Distinguished Service Certificate, for her outstanding accomplishments in furthering the osteopathic medical profession.

The AOA awarded the certificate to Ross-Lee at the opening session of OMED 2013, the Osteopathic Medicine Conference and Exhibition at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center.

"Dr. Ross-Lee has been a strong advocate of the osteopathic medical profession, including her work to create a fellowship program for osteopathic physicians to obtain training in health policy analysis," says Norman E. Vinn, DO, president of the American Osteopathic Association (AOA). "Today, Dr. Ross-Lee serves as director of the AOA's Healthy Policy Fellowship program, which prepares mid-career DOs and others connected to the profession for leadership roles in health policy."

Ross-Lee, the first African-American woman to serve as dean of a United States medical school, is a health policy expert and serves as an advisor on primary care, medical education, minority health, women's health and rural health care issues on the federal and state levels. She currently serves as the only osteopathic physician on an Institute of Medicine committee studying the governance and financing of graduate medical education. She also helped develop the first osteopathic postdoctoral training institution.

In her remarks at the awards ceremony, Ross-Lee said her efforts have been focused on making the osteopthic medical family stronger "but more importantly, to use the collective strengths of the osteopathic family to contribute to the solutions of the broader societal challenges in health care for the betterment of the patients we serve, especially the health-vulnerable and underserved populations."

She added: "I am extremely honored by this recognition and grateful to many of my colleagues for making it possible," said Ross-Lee. "When you are doing what you love, it often comes as a surprise that it is so highly valued by others. The osteopathic profession has given more to me than I can ever reciprocate. I will treasure this award always."

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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.

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