Nine faculty, staff members, and students from Johns Hopkins University and Medicine have been selected to receive the 2024 Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Award for Community Service, a special honor recognizing those who demonstrate King's values of service, equality, and selflessness through their volunteerism.
The 2025 Levi Watkins Jr. Ideals Award was also recently given to Nakiya Showell, an assistant professor of pediatrics and medical director of the Johns Hopkins Harriet Lane Clinic. Named in honor of Levi Watkins, Johns Hopkins Medicine's first Black chief resident and full professor and the founder of Johns Hopkins' annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration event, this award is given annually to a leader at Johns Hopkins Hospital who has made an outstanding contribution to the institution.
All 10 award recipients will be honored during Johns Hopkins' 43rd annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration, which will be held on Friday, Jan. 17, in the Chevy Chase Auditorium in East Baltimore. The event, which will also be live-streamed, will include a keynote speech from Morehouse College President David Thomas.
Learn more about this year's awardees:
2024 Community Service Award recipients
Adegboyega Abdulkadir
Neonatologist at the Johns Hopkins Howard County Medical Center
When he's not caring for sick or premature babies at Howard County's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Adegboyega Abdulkadir devotes hours each week—and contributes his own funds—to support immigrants from Nigeria and organize medical missions to the Nigerian town of Offa in Kwara state.
When Abdulkadir visited Nigeria in 2009, more than 20 years after he had moved to the United States, he was shocked by the lack of basic equipment at Offa General Hospital, where electric bulbs were being used as heat sources for makeshift incubators.
From 2011 to 2023, Abdulkadir served as national president of the Offa Descendants Union of North America (ODUNA), a nonprofit with chapters across the U.S. The organization supports the Offa community both in Nigeria and in the United States. Motivated by what he saw at Offa General Hospital, he started annual ODUNA medical missions to Offa in 2015, reaching about 3,000 patients per visit with medical services and supplies.
For the past two years, Abdulkadir has been national president of another Nigeria-focused nonprofit organization, Kwara State Association of Nigeria (KSANG) North America, which supports immigrants from Kwara state who are living in the United States.
Led by Abdulkadir, both organizations help Nigerian immigrants settle into their new communities, organize food drives and other volunteer activities, and provide scholarships to students in Kwara.
Sheila Castle
R.N. Clinical Supervisor of Vascular Access Team at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital
Sheila Castle's son is now grown, and it's been years since he played for Burg Baseball, a youth league in St. Petersburg, Florida. But Castle remains deeply committed to the league, continuing to volunteer long after her initial involvement as a co-founder and team mom in 2007.
"I've tried to 'retire' several times," Castle says, "but I find myself missing the kids each year, and I'm back on the fields!"
Burg Baseball operates in an area St. Petersburg with high poverty levels, offering free or low-cost opportunities for kids to play year-round on organized teams. The program provides everything needed—from gear and uniforms to volunteer coaches—ensuring access for all.
Since joining the organization, Castle and her husband Charles have dedicated countless hours to the league. Their efforts include fundraising, planning events, running the concession stand, distributing uniforms, and even umpiring games. The couple serves on the board at Burg.
"They wanted to share the pure joy and fun of the game," a colleague writes in Castle's nomination. "They felt confident that baseball could serve as a vehicle for athletic improvement and life skills like discipline and determination, which could translate from the classroom to the streets and beyond."
Sophia Corrigan
Physician Assistant at the School of Medicine, General Internal Medicine
Shortly after she moved to Baltimore to work at Johns Hopkins in 2017, Sophia Corrigan began working with two local nonprofits. She mentored a refugee family through Soccer Without Borders and supported under-resourced high school students as a volunteer with Thread.
"Community building and service are huge through lines in my life," says Corrigan, who has long been passionate about promoting health equity. "I enjoy learning other peoples' perspectives. It makes me a more empathetic medical provider, and it makes our community feel closer."
Corrigan also helped form, and now leads, the Diversity and Outreach Subcommittee within the Advanced Practice Provider (APP) Advisory Council. In that role, she has rallied APP support for various causes, such as medical outreach events like the B'More Health Expo, a Red Cross blood drive in recognition of Sickle Cell Awareness Month, and the Vernon Rice Holiday Turkey Drive. Most recently, she collaborated with members of the orthopedics and physical medicine and rehabilitation departments to provide free physicals to more than 200 Baltimore teens so they could play on their high school sports teams.
Elhadji Gueye
Johns Hopkins Summer Jobs Program Intern in Care Coordination
Before starting his junior year at the Baltimore School for the Arts in 2024, Elhadji Gueye spent his summer working in care coordination for Johns Hopkins. In addition to processing and organizing data forms, Gueye created a hardware inventory system with the goal of saving on costs associated with unused electronic equipment.
"I learned that anything can be accomplished by taking small steps, and no part of helping is too small," Gueye says of his work, which was part of the Johns Hopkins Summer Jobs Program.
The 18-year-old also serves on the Baltimore Youth Arts Advocacy Council, a group of Baltimore City Public School students who impact arts education policy. He volunteers for Planned Parenthood as well as for the Maryland Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health program's needs assessment steering committee. In addition, Gueye has been involved with peer-conflict resolution initiatives and efforts to improve public transportation for students.
"Elhadji's blend of leadership, respect, and dedication to positive change at such a young age makes him a truly deserving MLK Award winner," write his Johns Hopkins mentors.
In the future, Gueye hopes to find a career where he can "reach and help people," such as firefighting.
Tyson McDuffy
Inventory Planner at Johns Hopkins Medicine
In July 2022, just months after he graduated from York College of Pennsylvania, Tyson McDuffy co-founded the One of One Foundation with his best friend, Jamil Charles.
"Both of us grew up in Baltimore and saw a lot of people who needed help," says McDuffy, 24. "We also saw a lot of people our age who wanted to give back but didn't know how. One of One bridges the gap between the people who want to give help and the people who need the help."
The organization has so far led 24 volunteer events, providing more than 1,200 meals to families; cleaning up about 65 bags of trash from city schools properties; and collecting toys, toiletries, and clothing to donate. Recipients include Project Place, a Baltimore nonprofit that offers housing and supportive services to adults and families experiencing homelessness, and the Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania.
One partnership that is particularly meaningful to McDuffy is with Boys2Men, a club at Owings Mills High School that helps prepare young male students for college. The club boosted college enrollment in its first year, a trajectory that McDuffy expects to continue.
"Through these actions, I not only provide immediate relief to those in need but also work to foster a sense of dignity and respect among the individuals we serve," he says. "My goal is to create an environment where they feel valued and supported."
Cynthia Major Lewis
Director of Adult Psychiatric Emergency Services at The Johns Hopkins Hospital
When Johns Hopkins psychiatrist Cynthia Major Lewis testified at the Maryland General Assembly in 2024, she was determined to improve treatment for people with severe mental illness who frequented the Adult Psychiatric Emergency Services at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. As director of those services, she encountered the same patients from underserved communities again and again. Many of them had health concerns exacerbated by their substance abuse and medical problems.
"My passion lies in treating patients with severe mental illness, those who are often disenfranchised and the most vulnerable," she says.
Now, thanks in part to her advocacy, each Maryland county will establish an assisted outpatient treatment program by July 1, 2026.
Lewis says that the same program in other states has increased treatment compliance and eased the strain placed on family members and caregivers.
"Some studies have shown an 87% reduction in incarceration, 70% reduction in inpatient hospitalizations, 83% fewer arrests, and an 87% decrease in homelessness," she explains.
Oluwabunmi "Bunmi" Ogungbe
Assistant Professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing
Most weekends this past summer and fall, cardiovascular researcher Bunmi Ogungbe could be found at local churches and food distribution centers, offering blood pressure screenings and inviting people to join her study aimed at improving cardiovascular health in socially marginalized communities.
Ogungbe is the principal investigator for THRIVE Food is Medicine, funded by the American Heart Association Healthcare x Food initiative.
Participants are enrolled in two groups: One gets groceries delivered every week, and access to resources for health care, housing, and employment. The other gets all that plus one-on-one coaching with a dietitian and options to visit the "Food FARMacy" to swap fruits and vegetables.
Ogungbe, assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, says her interest in improving health equity began while growing up in Nigeria, where her grandmother died of heart disease. While earning a master's degree in public health from Jackson State University in Mississippi, she saw that many people had poor access to preventive cardiovascular care, yet in lectures she heard that some demographics were more likely than others to develop heart disease.
Her goal is to make the THRIVE program available to anyone diagnosed with hypertension and cardiovascular disease risk factors.
"These are things that we know work, and we are bringing them closer to people," she says.
Pratya Poosala
Master of Public Health Student at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
During long car rides to school as a child, Pratya Poosala often found herself engaged in thought-provoking conversations with her father. One day, he asked her a question: "Who's the most important person?" Young Poosala offered a few guesses, but her father ultimately shared his own answer: 'It's the person you're with.'"
Poosala has carried that principle with her through various volunteer roles in recent years, including as a crisis counselor and advocate for children and families.
"To be present with someone means showing up for them," she says. "It's about listening without judgment and offering compassion."
As a public health master's student aspiring to lead global mental health initiatives, Poosala currently volunteers for 7 Cups, an online platform where trained listeners support individuals facing mental health challenges. To date, she has connected with more than 60 people dealing with conditions such as depression and PTSD. She also volunteers with Paul's Place, assisting unhoused and low-income individuals in Baltimore with computer skills and job searches.
During her undergraduate years at Pitzer College in California, Poosala volunteered with Friends in Deed Shelter, supporting the physical and mental health needs of unhoused women and helping to organize a drive for "menstruation kits" filled with essential materials and resources. She also served as a family advocate at the Children's Advocacy Center in West Covina, supporting children through forensic interviews and helping families with intake and referrals. When she studied abroad in Nepal, Poosala volunteered at a home for children of incarcerated mothers.
With plans to graduate from the Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2025, Poosala says she is interested in helping to create "more human, empathetic, and accessible health care systems" internationally.
John Sampson
Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Executive Director of the Johns Hopkins Global Alliance of Perioperative Professionals
A critical care specialist and neuro-anesthesiologist at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, John Sampson is perhaps best known for his global health work overseas: improving perioperative care and raising awareness of health care problems in underserved areas of Africa.
"His work is deeply rooted in the belief that serving others, especially those in marginalized communities, is not just a professional obligation but a moral responsibility," reads his nomination for the Martin Luther King Jr. Service Award.
His leadership within the Johns Hopkins Global Alliance of Perioperative Professionals has brought lifesaving changes to many hospitals that once struggled with basic resources. In Sierra Leone, where surgical procedures were once at the mercy of power outages, Sampson helped introduce the Universal Anesthesia Machine, a medical device designed to deliver anesthesia in settings with limited electricity or compressed gas supplies. He also leads the Society of Critical Care Medicine's African Infrastructure Support and Relief Program.
As a medical student at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, the physician got his first taste of global volunteer work in Nigeria. Since then, he has taught and practiced medicine in Liberia, Eritrea, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, The Gambia, and Ghana, spending "countless hours training local doctors and nurses in everything from infection control to critical care management."
Sampson's award recognizes him for uplifting entire communities, not just by providing care, but by giving people the tools to lift themselves.
2025 Levi Watkins Jr. Ideals Award Recipient
Nakiya Howell
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Medical Director at the Johns Hopkins Harriet Lane Clinic
Driven by her personal and professional experiences, Nakiya Showell has devoted her career to understanding and addressing inequities among marginalized and minoritized communities, with a particular focus on cardiovascular disease risk.
"Where you live does indeed affect your health," she says. "I understood that very clearly from families themselves," who spoke of their difficulty getting nutritious food and finding safe and accessible places for their children to play.
Showell grew up in Philadelphia. She came to Baltimore to earn her master's degree in public health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and completed a fellowship in general academic pediatrics. She earned a second master's degree in clinical investigation from the school and has been on faculty since 2013.
In 2021, Showell was named the first Black medical director of the Harriet Lane Clinic. The clinic serves as a national model for innovative primary care delivery approaches and has provided pediatric care to the East Baltimore community for more than a century. As medical director, Showell has focused on optimizing clinical operations, enhancing primary care training, and increasing patient and family engagement.
She has mentored and advised numerous individuals throughout her career, many of whom are from underrepresented populations in medicine and have been highly successful in their academic pursuits.
Her passion for mentorship and community-engaged service animates her non-work life as well. In 2024, she was elected president of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, Upsilon Epsilon Omega (UEO) Chapter in Baltimore County and serves as a board member of Ladies of Vision Charities Inc (LOV Charities). Dedicated to scholarship, public service, and civic engagement, UEO and LOV Charities have provided more than 5,000 hunger packs to 200 students and their families through their childhood hunger program and awarded more than $339,000 in scholarships over UEO's 30-year history.
"I wear lots of different hats," she says, "but service has always been at my core, particularly service that supports and uplifts those who come from communities often overlooked and underserved."
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