The D.A. Henderson Award for Outstanding Contributions to Public Health recognizes a lifetime of achievement in public health. Dr. Henderson’s role in leading the successful eradication of smallpox will stand forever as a shining example of the profound impact that infectious disease physicians and scientists can have in preventing disease and relieving human suffering. By naming this award in his honor, we hope to inspire others to become champions for public health throughout the world.
2024 Winner: Denise Cardo, MD, FIDSA, FSHEA
Denise Cardo, MD, FIDSA, FSHEA, is a visionary who consistently sees ways to improve patient safety before most people and a national ambassador for health care safety. Throughout her career at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Cardo has combined elegant soft diplomacy and a compelling voice to bring the right people together at the right time and in the right place to improve infection prevention and control. She embodies competent, compassionate and impactful public health leadership.
During 30 years at CDC, Dr. Cardo led activities to detect and prevent infections in health care settings, antimicrobial resistance and sepsis; and to promote health care safety in the United States and globally. Before her retirement, she was director of the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion. She also served as the acting deputy director for Surveillance, Epi and Lab Systems, acting deputy director of Infectious Diseases and acting director of the Global Health Center.
Dr. Cardo was involved in CDC responses to emerging infectious diseases threats, including SARS, H1N1, Ebola, mpox and COVID-19. She conceived and championed three efforts that have had enduring national impact: the National Healthcare Safety Network, the nation’s first Healthcare-Associated Infections National Action Plan and a comprehensive report on antibiotic-resistant threats in the United States.
The National Healthcare Safety Network monitors the incidence and causes of health care-associated infections. As the nation’s most widely used tracking system for these infections, the network provides critical insights used in directing public health prevention efforts. The national action plan for health care-associated infections provided a call-to-action that held federal agencies accountable for reducing these infections. The report on antibiotic-resistant threats provided the initial evidence base and a national roadmap for national and international efforts to reduce the growing threat of antimicrobial-resistant pathogens.
Together, these three efforts have contributed to substantial reductions in key health care-associated infections nationally. For example, in U.S. acute care hospitals between 2015 and 2019, hospital-onset Clostridioides difficile infections fell by 42%, central line-associated bloodstream infections fell by 31%, catheter-associated urinary tracts infections fell by 26% and hospital-onset MRSA bloodstream infections fell by 18%.
A devoted patient rights ally and an advocate for underserved and remote communities, Dr. Cardo ensured that they had a place at the table when health care policy was made. Families devastated by the loss of a loved one to a health care-associated infection have expressed gratitude for Dr. Cardo’s understanding of their pain and her willingness to listen to them.
IDSA is proud to give Dr. Cardo the 2024 D.A. Henderson Award for her work to improve patient safety through infection prevention and control.
Past D.A. Henderson Award Winners
| 2023 | John F. Modlin, M.D. |
| 2022 | Nimalie Stone, MD |
| 2021 | Lawrence C. Maddoff, MD, FIDSA |
| 2020 | Carol Dukes Hamilton, M.D., MHS, FIDSA |
| 2019 | Catherine M. Wilfert, MD, FIDSA |
| 2018 | William Schaffner, MD, FIDSA, FSHEA |
| 2017 | F. Marc LaForce, MD, FIDSA |