Dr. Long’s involvement increased by his service on the Scientific Committee from 1999 through 2004. He eventually became its Chair. Dr. Long consistently has championed the interests of Sarnoff Fellows in the lab.

JERE MITCHELL, MD

Dr. Jere Mitchell was a close friend and colleague of Dr. Sarnoff through the years. He was instrumental in the formation of the Sarnoff Fellowship program. During the first twenty years of the Foundation, Jere sponsored eleven Sarnoff Fellows from the University of Texas, Southwestern.

Drs. Phil Tsao, Rick Page, Jere Mitchell and Joseph Hill

Dr. Mitchell served on the first Board of Directors from 1981 through 1991, and then again from 2000 through 2005. In between those times, he was a member and then Chair of the Scientific Committee (1993-96 and 1999-2000). Dr. Mitchell has helped the Sarnoff Foundation in its period of transition and growing pains and is an outstanding example of continued dedication, leadership and vision to our Fellows and volunteers.

2012 Stanley J. Sarnoff Spirit Award

MICHAEL CAIN, MD (pictured with Debra Schwinn, MD)

When the Sarnoff Foundation was doing some outreach in the late 1990s it contacted Washington University in St. Louis to see who might have an interest in attending
one of our Annual Meetings. Dr. Michael Cain arrived and signed up that day as a volunteer. That led to his eventual appointment to the Scientific Committee on which he served for five years, ultimately assuming the leadership as Chair. Dr. Cain was appointed to the Board of Directors in 2006, and became its first new Chair in 13 years. Concurrently he has served as a member of the Board’s Governance Committee and has sponsored five Sarnoff Fellows.

HAROLD STRAUSS, MD (pictured center with Rich Guerra, MD, & Jon Lomasney, MD)

As stated in the letter nominating Dr. Harold Strauss (now at the University at Buffalo), for the Stanley J. Sarnoff Spirit Award, "Dr. Strauss has a longstanding commitment to, and affection for, the Sarnoff Foundation and all that it does for young trainees in cardiovascular medicine.” Fittingly, in the spirit of Dr. Sarnoff, who championed "life-long mentoring,” Dr. Strauss has served as a mentor to a long list of physicians and investigators throughout the course of his career.

Dr. Strauss, then at Duke Medical School, began his affiliation with Sarnoff 20 years ago. He sponsored seven students for Sarnoff Fellowships: Most of his Fellows went on to leadership positions in
the foundation: one as a member of the Board of Directors, one as
a Sarnoff Scholar, and two others on the Scientific and Alumni Committees.

When Dr. Strauss "retired” from Sarnoff, the Foundation lost a fantastic resource, so it was with the greatest pleasure and gratitude to welcome him back and honor him with this prestigious award.

2011 Stanley J. Sarnoff Spirit Award

MYRON WEISFELDT, MD was honored as the first recipient of the Stanley J.
Sarnoff Spirit Award at the Foundation's 31st Annual Scientific Meeting.  Dr. Weisfeldt has provided three decades of extraordinary service to the Foundation, beginning

with his role as the "prototype" inspiration to Dr. Sarnoff to create the Sarnoff
Fellowship.  He has selflessly given countless hours of service and expertise
on the Foundation's Board of Directors for many years.  Dr. Weisfeldt's
efforts have inspired Fellows, colleagues and friends creating the "ripple effect"
among the Sarnoff community that will further the vision of Dr. Sarnoff for
generations to come.

Dr. Weisfeldt with his wife, Linda, at the 2011 Annual Scientific Meeting