Eleven faculty, staff members, and students from Johns Hopkins University and Medicine have been selected to receive the 2025 Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Award for Community Service. This special honor recognizes those from Hopkins who demonstrate King's values of service and selflessness through their exceptional volunteer work.
They will be honored Friday during the 44th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration at Johns Hopkins Hospital.
Alvin "Joe" D'Angelo, vice president of operations at Suburban Hospital, will also be recognized with the 2026 Levi Watkins Jr. Ideals Award. 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.
The MLK Commemoration event will also include keynote speeches from Nicole Cooper, chief external affairs and transformation officer at the United Way of the National Capital Area, and Melvin Wilson, executive director of Turnaround Tuesday. Register in advance for in-person or virtual attendance.
2025 Community Service Award recipients
Ama Apenteng
Clinical Research Manager, Pediatric Emergency Department
Every Sunday after services at Grace United Methodist Church, Apenteng volunteers with the church's Elijah Backpack Program, helping to pack bags of groceries for elementary school students in Baltimore who face food insecurity.
Apenteng believes that when children are given opportunity, encouragement, and support, they can achieve extraordinary things. Her advocacy began during her high school years in Ghana, continued through her medical training and practice there, and remains an essential part of her life in Baltimore.
Festus Babarinde
Master of Public Health Candidate, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Babarinde's lifetime of public service began as a volunteer camp doctor in Nigeria and includes his work rebuilding the Igboore Primary Health Centre and establishing the Concept Academy, which helps doctors prepare for the U.S. medical licensing exam. He provides free tutoring sessions to his colleagues and other students, and supports organizations like the Spinal Cord Injury Association of Nigeria and the BAARD‑Concept program, which he co-founded to improve the professional and personal wellbeing of doctors at the Federal Medical Centre in Abeokuta, Nigeria.
C. Nicholas "Nick" Cuneo
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Internal Medicine and Pediatrics
Cuneo is co-founder and executive director of the HEAL Refugee Health and Asylum Collaborative, which develops and applies clinical expertise in refugee health and asylum medicine to expand access to comprehensive, trauma-informed, culturally responsive care and medicolegal services for immigrant survivors of torture and trauma seeking refuge in the U.S.
Sarah Ernst
Senior Research Specialist, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Ernst co-founded the Maryland Lighthouse Reflections Grief and Wellness Care in January 2024 to address a gap in resources and compassionate support for families experiencing pregnancy, infant, and child loss. The organization provides financial and emotional support to families across Maryland experiencing miscarriage or infant loss at any gestation or age, as well as those facing the heartbreaking decision to terminate a pregnancy for medical reasons, and to families grieving the loss of an older child due to accidents, overdose, or suicide.
Sharon Fritz
Neonatal Intensive Care Nurse, Johns Hopkins Hospital
In 2019, Fritz created and now leads Homeless to Home Husky Rescue, collaborating with transport drivers, veterinarians, volunteers and businesses to rescue abandoned dogs, ensure they are vetted, vaccinated, and spayed or neutered, and then setting up adoption events. With her deep knowledge of the husky breed, she is careful about placing dogs in homes where they will thrive.
Anicca Harriot
Postdoctoral Fellow, Geriatrics and Gerontology, Biomedical Engineering
Harriot is CEO of VanguardSTEM, a volunteer-led nonprofit that supports and celebrates women, girls, and nonbinary people of color in STEM fields. In nearly 10 years with the organization, she has spearheaded many important initiatives, including Hot Science Summer, which distributed $50,000 in grants for scientists to pursue projects on their own terms.
Lynn Kobeissi
Postdoctoral Fellow, Gastroenterology
Kobeissi co-founded and led the Care Clinic, a free, student-run clinic that provides medical visits, laboratory testing, imaging and medications to more than 600 underserved patients in Lebanon. She also volunteers regularly with the HEAL Refugee Health and Asylum, providing interpretation during medical evaluations.
"I have learned that service is not defined by dramatic acts, but by presence, listening, and consistency," she says. "It is choosing to show up, sometimes quietly, to ensure that another person feels seen and valued."
Anagha Krishnan
Medical Student, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Three years ago, Krishnan created STEM Unbarred, the first ever longitudinal hands-on science program at a carceral facility in Washington, D.C. It has since reached more than 350 incarcerated young people with over 75 hands-on science activities, including launching bottle rockets and extracting DNA.
STEM Unbarred is now part of the Petey Greene Program, the country's largest provider of educational services to incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals. With that support, Krishnan hopes to expand it to more facilities, including ones in Baltimore.
Debraj Mukherjee
Associate Professor, Neurosurgery
Mukherjee is a champion of the 10-workshop interactive Peace Education Program, which focuses on themes such as appreciation and inner strength. He has deployed it throughout the Baltimore and Washington region, including across the Johns Hopkins medical campus, to recently incarcerated women, and to low-income senior citizens. Every week, he sets aside time to provide this empowering program at no charge to students and staff, cancer patients and their family members, and others who represent some of the most neglected or vulnerable members of society.
Kayla Otto
Clinical Coordinator III, Johns Hopkins Care at Home
Otto, a former Baltimore City Public Schools teacher, partners with city schools to organize four or five volunteer-run career fairs per year, engaging students in early career development, specifically in healthcare.
Muhammad Omar Qadir
Ambulatory Operations Manager, Johns Hopkins Hospital
In 2024, Qadir brought Toybox, a nonprofit originally in Michigan, to the Baltimore region, providing Eid gifts and school supplies to underprivileged and at-risk Muslim youth. In just two years, Toybox has raised over $20,000 and reached more than 250 children. He is also developing mentorship, networking, and mental health initiatives though the American Muslim Health Professionals DMV chapter, and is collaborating with Indian Rural Education and Charities to support creation of a medical center in a rural village where most residents live below the poverty line.
2026 Levi Watkins Jr. Ideals Award Recipient
Alvin "Joe" D'Angelo
Vice President of Operations, Suburban Hospital
Growing up in rural South Carolina, D'Angelo learned quickly that "nothing is given, everything is earned," a mantra that he still carries daily.
In addition to his full-time role as vice president of operations at Suburban Hospital and his pursuit of a doctorate in engineering, D'Angelo mentors early- to mid-career professionals who are seeking guidance on growth, development, and leadership. He provides this support through engagement with the Johns Hopkins Medicine Levi Watkins Jr. Mentorship and Administrative Fellowship programs, the Uniformed Services University's Master of Health Administration and Policy (MHAP) program, and the Bluford Healthcare Leadership Institute.
The investment in people through mentorship is synonymous with the legacy of Levi Watkins, he says.
"I gravitate toward mentoring because I was fortunate to have mentors and leaders who recognized my potential and provided the necessary exposure and opportunities that helped advance my career," D'Angelo says. "Mentoring is my way of paying that forward."
D'Angelo, who holds a master's degree in engineering from the Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering and a master's degree in health administration from the University of South Carolina, says his unique educational background equipped him with the skills required to navigate the complexities of modern health care. He's now sharing his knowledge with others.
D'Angelo supports active-duty U.S. naval officers enrolled in the Uniformed Services University MHAP program as they seek to learn about civilian healthcare delivery. He has also advised graduate students at the Bluford Healthcare Leadership Institute, which focuses on developing minority leaders in healthcare.
"I've been fortunate to receive several awards throughout my career, but learning that I would receive an award named in honor of Dr. Levi Watkins was especially meaningful," he says. "When you consider the life and legacy of Dr. Watkins, what he stood for, and the advocacy and mentorship he provided to so many during a very challenging time in history, it inspires you to do more. I am honored to receive this prestigious award and remain committed to representing the values of Dr. Watkins and Johns Hopkins Medicine."
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