Named to honor the memory of Dr. Chatrchai Watanakunakorn, this award is given annually by the IDSA Education and Research Foundation to an IDSA member of fellow in recognition of outstanding achievement in the clinical practice of infectious diseases.
Nominees must have spent most of their career working predominantly in direct clinical care, whether private practice or part of a health-system group. The recipient must be in clinical practice, and exhibit excellence in one or more of the following areas:
Clinical care, clinical research, patient or community education, compassion, patient advocacy, general community service, and service to a national or state infectious diseases society. Local recognition in medical journals, newspapers, or magazines will also be taken into consideration.
2020 Winner: Ronald Nahass, MD, MHCM, FIDSA
Ronald G. Nahass, M.D., MHCM, FIDSA, who has made significant contributions to the growth and recognition of clinical infectious diseases, is the recipient of IDSA’s 2020 Watanakunakorn Clinician Award. Named to honor the memory of Chatrchai Watanakunakorn, this award is presented by the IDSA Education and Research Foundation to recognize an IDSA member or fellow for outstanding achievement in the clinical practice of infectious diseases.
As a founder and the current president of ID Care, one of the largest independent infectious disease groups in the country, Dr. Nahass has developed a comprehensive clinical practice model that incorporates all aspects of ID medicine, including outpatient and inpatient care, HIV, hepatitis, wound care, infusion services, travel medicine, teaching, and clinical research. Over the past 20 years, the practice has grown to include more than 60 clinicians providing care at more than 130 locations across New Jersey and serves more than 70,000 patients each year.
As a researcher, his contributions through clinical trials of antivirals have contributed extensively to advances in the clinical management of HIV, hepatitis B and C virus, and other infections. Committed to both private practice and academia, Dr. Nahass is also a clinical professor of medicine at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and volunteers as a patient-centered, medical-home mentor for medical students. In addition, he serves as a research mentor for medical students and supervises medical residents in a continuity clinic.
An active member of IDSA, Dr. Nahass has served on numerous Society committees to advance the concerns of clinicians and champion quality care, including the Society’s Clinical Affairs Committee, the Quality Improvement Task Force, and the Value of ID Specialists Task Force. He is a current co-chair of IDSA’s Clinical Governance Subcommittee. Respected and admired by his peers as a visionary, Dr. Nahass has contributed greatly to ID clinical practice. The Society is pleased to honor him with the 2020 Watanakunakorn Award.
Past Watanakunakorn Clinician Award Winners
| 2020 | Ronald G. Nahass, M.D., MHCM, FIDSA |
| 2019 | Virginia D. Banks, MD, MBA, FIDSA |
| 2018 | Barry J. Hartman, MD, FIDSA |
| 2017 | Douglas R. Osmon, MD, MPH, FIDSA |
| 2016 | Wilbert H. Mason, MD, MPH, FIDSA |
| 2015 | James Horton, MD, FIDSA |
| 2014 | Eliot W. Godofsky, MD |
| 2013 | Johan S. Bakken, MD, PhD and Thomas M. File, Jr., MD, MSc |
| 2012 | David N. Gilbert, MD, FIDSA |
| 2011 | Stan Deresinski, MD, FIDSA |
| 2010 | Marvin J. Tenenbaum, MD, FIDSA |
| 2009 | Lawrence J. Eron, MD, FIDSA |
| 2008 | Michael L. Butera, MD |
| 2007 | Timothy T. Kuberski, MD, FIDSA |
| 2006 | Barbara H. Wade, MD, FIDSA |
| 2005 | James S. Tan, MD |
| 2004 | Donald M. Poretz, MD |
| 2003 | Steven Jon Berman, MD, FACP and Richard N. Olans, MD |
| 2002 | William A. Agger, MD |
| 2001 | H. Gunner Deery, MD and Peter T. Frame, MD |
| 2000 | Martin C. McHenry, MD, MS and Chatrchai Watanakunakorn, MD |
| 1999 | Gonzalo Ballon-Landa, MD and Thomas G. Slama, MD |
| 1998 | David S. McKinsey, MD and Daniel J. Sexton, MD |
| 1997 | Ramon E. Moncada, MD |
| 1996 | George Atkinson, MD Pankey, MD and Alan D. Tice, MD |
| 1995 | Ellie J.C. Goldstein, MD |
| 1994 | George Thornton, MD |
| 1993 | Edward Septimus, MD |