The Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH) selected Indiana University’s Adrian Gardner, MD, MPH, as recipient of the 2025 Dr. Tom Hall-Dr. Nelson Sewankambo Mid-Career Leadership Award for his leadership and commitment to global health equity.
Dr. Gardner is associate dean for global health at the IU School of Medicine, director of the IU Center for Global Health Equity and executive director of the Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH) Consortium of 16 academic health centers working in partnership with Moi University and Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Kenya, as well as new partners in Ghana, Mexico and Nepal.
“This award honors Dr. Gardner for his work to reduce health disparities within low-income communities, establish collaborations with colleagues in these settings and advance global health policies and programs that improve the health of people and the planet,” said Hon. Dr. Keith Martin, MD, PC, executive director of CUGH.
While serving as executive site director for the AMPATH Consortium in Kenya for seven years, Dr. Gardner worked closely with Kenyan program leadership to make strategic investments and policy decisions about the partnership while also providing care to inpatients at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) and outpatients in AMPATH-supported HIV clinics. Since Dr. Gardner became executive director of the AMPATH Consortium in 2020, AMPATH has attracted new consortium members and grown to four partnership locations.
“Dr. Gardner recognizes what is needed to truly transform patient care and improve outcomes in resource-limited areas and above all embodies AMPATH’s motto of ‘Leading with Care,’” said IU School of Medicine Dean Jay L. Hess, MD, PhD, MHSA.
“From coming as a student, to being a team leader and now the head of the Consortium, Adrian has dedicated his career to global health and improving care for people in underserved communities,” added Professor Sylvester Kimaiyo, AMPATH executive director of Care.
Indiana University is one of more than 190 institutional members of CUGH which supports academic institutions and partners to improve the well-being of people and the planet through education, research, service and advocacy. Dr. Gardner will accept the award at the 2025 CUGH Conference in Atlanta in February.
“The AMPATH partnership was conceived 35-years ago by leaders from Kenya and the U.S. with a focus on creating an equitable partnership model. I’m honored to be able to continue their visionary commitment and to work with colleagues at Indiana University to improve the health of Hoosiers and people around the world,” said Dr. Gardner.
In addition to creating one of the world’s largest and most successful HIV programs, AMPATH partners with the Kenyan Ministry of Health to create a sustainable healthcare system in western Kenya that includes providing care for noncommunicable diseases.
AMPATH investigators have received more than $247 million in research awards and published more than 1,400 publications with both Kenyan and Consortium authors. More than 2,200 medical trainees have participated in AMPATH’s bidirectional education exchange.
Under Dr. Gardner’s leadership, IU’s impact has also grown to include a focus on reciprocal innovation using lessons from AMPATH to address health inequities and improve outcomes in Indiana’s underserved communities.
Dr. Gardner attended the Alpert Medical School of Brown University. He first traveled to Kenya as a medical student in 2001 during the time that the AMPATH HIV program was first being conceived by IU School of Medicine physician Joe Mamlin. He sought every opportunity to return to Kenya and served as the AMPATH Team Leader in 2006-07. Dr. Gardner completed residency training and a fellowship in infectious diseases at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and earned a Master of Public Health from Harvard School of Public Health.
He joined Indiana University School of Medicine in 2012 as the executive site director of the AMPATH Consortium and was based full time in Eldoret, Kenya during his seven years in this role. In addition to his global health roles, he continues to see patients in the infectious disease service at Eskenazi Hospital, the largest public hospital in Indiana.
