The Hastings Center, in collaboration with the Cunniff-Dixon Foundation, announced on May 17, 2022, the winner of the first bi-annual award in honor of the Center’s late beloved John B. Francis Chair, Dr. Richard Payne.

The new award recognizes physicians who have built palliative care for marginalized and underserved communities. Shellie Williams, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Chicago, who will receive $25,000 in prize money, practices geriatric and palliative medicine. Her clinical focus is primarily with aging dementia patients in underserved communities in Chicago’s South Side and on addressing access and education disparities for patients of color and their caregivers.