Federal Employees Honored For Saving and Improving Lives

A doctor who led a global vaccine campaign to save children dying of bacterial meningitis and pneumonia has been named federal employee of the year by a nonprofit group.

Rana Hajjeh, director of bacterial diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will be honored at a black-tie event Monday in Washington for her work with three other public health organizations to convince 60 developing countries to use what’s known as the Hib vaccine to prevent the spread of deadly disease among children.

“It’s her passion and empathy, as well as her strong scientific and public-health base that enabled her to do this,” Dr. Anne Schuchat, the assistant surgeon general for the U.S. Public Health Service, told the Partnership for Public Service, the group that hands out the annual awards. “Dr. Hajjeh was on the ground in a zillion countries listening, learning what the concerns were and fixing what needed to be fixed. She is a scientist and a doctor, but she is also a mother and a very passionate person, and was able as one person to bring many different groups together.” Hajjeh has worked for the federal government for 21 years.

The other groups honored along with Hajjeh and the CDC for their work on the public health effort are the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the World Health Organization.

The Hib bacterium is a source of major bacterial infections, including meningitis and pneumonia. The diseases it causes typically occur in children under five years old and are spread through sneezing and coughing. It’s estimated the vaccine will save 7 million children by 2020.

The Partnership for Public Service has given out the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals for the last 13 years to career federal employees who have contributed to the health, safety and well-being of Americans through government. Winners receive cash awards ranging from $3,000 to $10,000. They are one of the most prestigious awards honoring the federal government’s civil servants.

“The Service to America Medals are a powerful illustration of the good that government workers do every day, and their impact on our lives,” said Max Stier, president and CEO of the Partnership. “The best way to strengthen our government is to build on what is working. We will never get what we want from government if all we do is tear it down.”

Hajjeh is one of eight Service to America winners for 2014, from nearly 400 nominations across government. The achievements of the recipients range from recovering stolen Medicare money to improving the health and quality of life of paralyzed veterans.

The other recipients of the 2014 medals are:

• Edwin Kneedler, deputy solicitor general, Justice Department (Career Achievement Medal)
• Sean Young and Benjamin Tran, electronics engineers, Air Force Research Laboratory, Air Force Department (National Security and International Affairs Medal)
• Michael Byrne, former geographic information officer (Citizen Services)
• Omar Perez Aybar, Reginald France, Joseph Beemsterboer, Dan Bernstein, Randy Culp, Joseph Jeziorski and the Miami HEAT Teams, departments of Health and Human Services and Justice (Homeland Security and Law Enforcement)
• William Bauman and Ann Spungen, director and associate director, National Center of Excellence for the Medical Consequences of Spinal Cord Injury, Veterans Affairs Department (Science and Environment Medal)
• Alan Lindenmoyer, program manager, Commercial Crew and Cargo Program, NASA (Management Excellence)
• Sara Meyers, director, Sandy Program Management Office, Housing and Urban Development Department (Call to Service)