Honoring 2026 Recipients of the Dean’s Community Service Award

The Dean’s Community Service Award recognizes the entire Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Dental Medicine community – recognizing faculty, trainees, staff and students whose dedication and commitment to community service have made a positive impact locally, nationally, or internationally.

On May 5, 2026, recipients of the Dean’s Community Service Award were honored for their outstanding dedication to serving communities near and far. In the past 27 years, OCCE has presented the Dean’s Community Service Award to 220 awardees serving 182 organizations. This year, 7 award recipients were honored. At the heart of their work are seven organizations; four of which were founded by award recipients:

• Advocacy Bridge – ensures that children in foster care in Southwestern Massachusetts (Bristol County), are not alone by connecting them with CARE Advocate volunteers who offer steady guidance, advocacy, and encouragement. 
  • Staff Recipient – Dakota Roundtree-Swain, co-founder, and HMS part-time program manager in the Office of Student Affairs Culture and Community
• Central Valley Hospice Palliative Medicine – serves California’s Central Valley by providing compassionate, high-quality, interdisciplinary, community-based care to individuals with serious illness and those nearing the end of life, regardless of their ability to pay.
  • Trainee Recipient – Sundeep Grandhe, MD, FAAHPM, CEO, Founder and Senior Medical Director Alumnus, Bioethics Fellowship, Center for Bioethics, HMS; and CEO
• Communities for Childbirth International – a community-based organization in Jinja, Uganda, improves maternal and child health through sustainable, community-driven programs.
  • Student Recipient – Seugwon (Lucy) Lee, BA, MPhil, founder, and MD Candidate, HMS class of 2029
• Pump Avenue Foundation – addresses disparities in diabetes care by expanding local, national, and international access to insulin pump therapy and related medical supplies for people who otherwise could not afford them.
  • Student Recipient – Benjamin Lalani, founder, and MD Candidate, HMS class of 2029

Two additional organizations reflect community-rooted efforts that advance justice, dignity, and basic needs:

• La Colaborativa – empowers Latinx immigrants and families in Greater Boston through social justice, grassroots organizing, and essential resources for vulnerable, low-income, and undocumented community members.
  • Faculty Recipient – Julie H. Levison, MD, MPhil, MPH, HMS Assistant Professor of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital.
• First Church Homeless Ministries – in Cambridge, Massachusetts, offers a respectful welcome, safe shelter, sustenance, and advocacy for people experiencing homelessness, hunger, addiction, and persistent poverty.
  • Student Recipient – Edmund Q. Shen, BA, MD, HMS Class of 2029

The final organization is applauded for transforming care for people living with serious illness and complex medical needs, they include:

• Undiagnosed Diseases Network Foundation – a U.S.-based national nonprofit dedicated to improving access to diagnosis, research, and care for individuals with rare and undiagnosed diseases.
  • Staff Recipient – Kimberly S. LeBlanc, MS, CGC, Senior Director, Undiagnosed Diseases Network Data Management Coordinating Center, Department of Biomedical Informatics, HMS.

During a special Awards Recognition Breakfast held at Countway Library, representatives from the award recipients’ partner organizations were also celebrated and presented with certificates of recognition.