Pitt Pediatrics congratulates Orquidia “Kiki” Torres, MD, MS, on being selected for 2023 Provost’s Award for Diversity in the Curriculum! This highly prestigious recognition is awarded every year to up to five full- or part-time Pitt faculty members who have strived to integrate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) concepts into courses and curricula at the University of Pittsburgh. 
This award recognizes these courses or curricula that strengthen DEI concepts and result in changes of impact. For instance, educational design may include employing more inclusive and interactive teaching methods, instituting classroom changes to expand students’ cultural awareness and cross-cultural development, communicating equity-minded practices throughout a discipline, or creating more welcoming and inclusive learning environments.
Torres is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine and the Director of Medical Student and Resident Education in Adolescent Medicine, as well as the Program Director of the Adolescent Medicine Fellowship. She is also one of the leaders of the community engagement program, CHAMP, which has also recently earned national recognition. This year’s Provost Award recognizes Torres’ Antiracism Curriculum (ARC) in medical education.
Torres, along with the other winners of the Provost Award, will be honored at a special ceremony later this month at the University of Pittsburgh.
While an enormous accomplishment on its own, Pitt Pediatrics would also like to celebrate last year’s Provost Award winner, Diego Chaves-Gnecco, MD, MPH, FAAP, from our Division of General Academic Pediatrics. Chaves-Gnecco, a Professor of Pediatrics, earned the award for his curriculum and work with Salud Para Niños, of which he is the Director and Founder. Salud Para Niños is the first pediatric bilingual-bicultural clinic in southwestern Pennsylvania and recently earned recognition for its impact in our city and region.
The consecutive awards speak to the larger success the Department of Pediatrics has had at the forefront of medical education and DEI efforts. Join us in celebrating these wonderful accomplishments.
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