Jason Deen receives 2023 MLK Community Service Award

Dr. Jason Deen, associate professor of pediatrics and medicine (Cardiology) and vice chair for equity, diversity and inclusion in the Department of Pediatrics is the 2023 School of Medicine recipient of the MLK Community Service Award from UW Medicine. 

Awarded annually to individuals or groups throughout UW Health Sciences and UW Medicine, this award honors those who exemplify Martin Luther King’s principles through: Creating an environment and community where individuals can empower themselves, commitment to addressing community needs, particularly communities of color and low income, development and implementation of significant programs to improve the human condition, and outstanding efforts to protect and empower all individuals. 

Dr. Deen is a pediatric cardiologist and director of the UWSOM Indian Health Pathway. 

The Indian Health Pathway seeks to improve the care of Native communities by providing opportunities for Native and non-Native medical students alike to learn how to integrate American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) patients’ cultural, spiritual and traditional needs into healthcare.

As a result of the pandemic, fewer medical students have been been rotating at tribal health centers. To revitalize the program, Deen along with Millie Kennedy, JD, Tsimshian, tribal liaison for the Indian Health Pathway and UW Office of Healthcare Equity, met with tribes, leading to new agreements with the Lummi Nation and the Navajo Nation in Tuba City and also to strengthen existing agreements.