WASHINGTON — The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) today announced that Sanjeev Arora is the recipient of the 2025 Gustav O. Lienhard Award for Advancement of Health Care in recognition of his founding of the ECHO Model and Project ECHO, which have amplified high-quality health care delivery for millions of patients via expert-level training and a community of practice for hundreds of thousands of health care providers across the United States. The award, which honors Arora’s achievements with a medal and $40,000, will be presented at the NAM Annual Meeting on Oct. 19. Arora retired in July 2025 as a distinguished and Regent’s professor of medicine with tenure at the University of New Mexico’s Health Sciences Center.
Founded in 2003, the ECHO Model leverages videoconferencing technology to provide a case-based, bidirectional learning method at no cost to health care providers who want to address urgent public health concerns in their own communities. Starting from a single program focused on increasing access to providers trained in hepatitis C treatment, there are now more than 1,100 active programs in the U.S. with nearly 3.5 million session attendees resulting in higher-quality treatment for nearly 43.5 million patients.
The ECHO Model has over 700 peer-reviewed publications showing its capacity to increase health care efficacy and cost savings by improving provider skills and knowledge while decreasing professional isolation and critical provider burnout. The ECHO Model’s impact is evident in over 70 disease areas and is improving public health response in crisis areas, including HIV/AIDS, diabetes, mental health, and emergency response.
Arora’s vision has brought together partners from across the U.S. health care system, including federal agencies such as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, major research institutions including MD Anderson and the University of Washington, providers working with rural and underserved communities, and nursing home providers. Additionally, Arora’s work to create and establish the ECHO Model has created an international learning community between the U.S. and nearly 80 countries, impacting 225 million patients worldwide and providing opportunities for health care providers everywhere to benefit from global expertise.
Prior to founding Project ECHO, Arora served in various leadership positions at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, including executive vice chair and acting chair of the Department of Internal Medicine and president of the medical staff. He also served on the center’s board for five years. Born in Nangal, India, Arora began his medical training there. In 1980, he moved to New York City and, later, Boston to study medicine and became a gastroenterologist.
“Dr. Arora’s commitment and foresight to develop Project ECHO has had a profound impact on the delivery of health care and on the lives of millions of patients, especially those who previously struggled to access care,” said NAM president Victor J. Dzau. “His remarkable work has not only led to the transfer of specialty care knowledge to community-level clinicians, but it has also importantly relieved provider burden and reduced clinician burnout. Dr. Arora is most deserving of this award.”
Arora is the 40th recipient of the Gustav O. Lienhard Award for Advancement of Health Care. Given annually, the award recognizes outstanding national achievement in improving personal health care in the United States. Nominees are eligible for consideration without regard to education or profession, and award recipients are selected by a committee of experts convened by the National Academy of Medicine. This year’s selection committee was chaired by Serpil Erzurum, executive vice president, chief research and academic officer, and chair of the Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic.
The Lienhard Award is funded by an endowment from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Gustav O. Lienhard was chair of the foundation’s board of trustees from the organization’s establishment in 1971 to his retirement in 1986 — a period in which the foundation moved to the forefront of American philanthropy in health care. Lienhard, who died in 1987, built his career with Johnson & Johnson, beginning as an accountant and retiring 39 years later as its president.
The National Academy of Medicine, established in 1970 as the Institute of Medicine, is an independent organization of eminent professionals from diverse fields including health and medicine; the natural, social, and behavioral sciences; and beyond. It serves alongside the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering as an adviser to the nation and the international community. Through its domestic and global initiatives, the NAM works to address critical issues in health, medicine, and related policy and inspire positive action across sectors. The NAM collaborates closely with its peer academies and other divisions within the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
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