BRAVEWELL DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD
Meet the 2022 Award Recipient

RICK HECHT, MD
Frederick (Rick) Hecht, MD, is the 2022 recipient of the Bravewell Distinguished Service Award, one of the highest honors in integrative medicine. Conferred by the Academic Consortium for Integrative Medicine & Health, this award recognizes the work and dedicated service of an individual that has made a lasting and especially meaningful contribution to the organization and the advancement of integrative medicine and health.
The Bravewell Distinguished Service Award is presented annually to a member of the Academic Consortium with a record of service that has made a significant impact on the history and mission of the Academic Consortium to promote integrative medicine and health thorough education, research, or clinical practice.
Dr. Hecht was honored at the 2022 International Congress on Integrative Medicine & Health in Phoenix, Arizona. During his acceptance speech, Dr. Hecht said, “The Academic Consortium is one of those organizations that we consciously choose to be part of, to commit to, and in turn, it gives us a way to make change, not as individuals but as a community to make our world a better place.”
Rick Hecht, MD, is the Director of Research at the UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Health. He is Osher Foundation Endowed Chair in Research in Integrative Health and Professor of Medicine at UCSF School of Medicine. He served as Chair of the Academic Consortium, leading the organization through a period of significant growth, and has played an important role in advancing the field of integrative health and medicine.
AWARD BACKGROUND
The Bravewell Distinguished Service Award is bestowed by the Academic Consortium to individuals whose work and dedicated service have made a lasting and especially meaningful contribution toward the promotion and advancement of integrative medicine and health.
To be eligible for consideration by the Board of Directors, candidates for the award meet the following criteria:
- a record of service that has made a significant impact on the history and mission of the Academic Consortium to promote integrative medicine and health.
- recognized across the broad spectrum of the Academic Consortium’s leadership in the field of integrative medicine and health, i.e., education, research and clinical practice.
- associated with an Academic Consortium member institution in good standing.
- not a previous recipient of the award.
The Bravewell recognition is the highest honor awarded in Integrative Medicine and Health.
Past Award Recipients
2021 – Melinda Ring, MD, FACP, ABOIM
2020 – Adam Perlman, MD, Mayo Clinic
2019 – Victor S. Sierpina, MD, University of Texas Medical Branch
2018 – Brian Berman, MD, University of Maryland
2017 – Ben Kligler, MD, MPH, Veteran’s Health Administration
2016 – David M. Eisenberg, MD, Harvard University
2015 – James Dalen, MD, MPH, University of Arizona
2013 – Mary Jo Kreitzer, PhD, RN, University of Minnesota
2012 – Aviad Haramati, PhD, Georgetown University