UA’s Anne Ryan, JD, Director of the Tucson Family Advocacy Program, Awarded Legal Aid Attorney of the Year

Ryan received this prestigious award for her commitment to provide free legal services to underserved and low-income individuals. She also teaches family medicine health-care providers about legal issues that impact health and how they can become more effective advocates for their patients.

Anne Ryan, JD, an assistant professor in the University of Arizona Department of Family and Community Medicine and director of its Tucson Family Advocacy Program (TFAP), has received the 2018 Sharon A. Fullmer Legal Aid Attorney of the Year Award by the State Bar of Arizona.

This award recognizes the “legal services lawyer in Arizona whose service to low-income people encompasses both aggressive advocacy on behalf of individuals in extreme need as well as impact advocacy designed to address systemic issues affecting significant numbers of low-income people,” according to the State Bar of Arizona Board of Governors.

“Your years of commitment to the delivery of legal services to Arizona's citizens is exemplary,” wrote the Board of Governors in their award letter to Ryan. “We honor your dedication and celebrate your legal services career."

The award was presented to Ryan by Jeffrey Wills, president of the State Bar of Arizona Board of Governors, and Alex Vakula, immediate past president, at the State Bar's Annual Luncheon on June 27.

“Anne truly deserves this prestigious award,” said Myra Muramoto, MD, chair of the UA Department of Family and Community Medicine. “Anne is a passionate advocate for underserved people in need of legal aid; moreover, her commitment to teaching our family medicine health-care professionals about legal issues that will impact patients’ health is commendable. Anne’s dedication to her work and those she serves is inspiring and we applaud her for this well-earned recognition.”

Ryan founded TFAP in 2004. As its director, she leads a partnership of health-care providers and lawyers working together to improve the health and wellbeing of low-income patients and their families. TFAP provides free legal services to low-income families in two Banner – University Medicine primary care clinics staffed by faculty members and residents from the UA Department of Family and Community Medicine. Within this medical setting, TFAP also teaches health-care providers about legal issues that impact health and how they can become more effective advocates for their patients. By combining the unique strengths of multiple professions—law, medicine and social work—TFAP helps families obtain the services they need to prevent or resolve crises that undermine health.

“I’m very fortunate to work with colleagues who realize that some barriers to health cannot be remedied with traditional medical care alone,” Ryan said. “To prevent or address the adverse impacts on health caused by issues, including denial of health insurance coverage or unsafe housing, requires an interdisciplinary team. In our family medicine clinics, that team includes lawyers. I’m incredibly honored to receive this award and its recognition of the value of our medical-legal partnership team.”

About the UA Department of Family and Community Medicine

The UA Department of Family and Community Medicine at the UA College of Medicine – Tucson is one of the top-ranking family medicine programs in the country. The department is known for outstanding pre- and post-doctoral education, groundbreaking research and innovative community outreach programs designed to improve the health of individuals, families and communities in the region and beyond. The department places strong emphasis on research, particularly in the fields of tobacco cessation, substance abuse, obesity and related diseases, cancer survivorship, behavioral health and disabilities. In collaboration with the UA Department of Psychiatry, the department opened the Banner – University Medicine Whole Health Clinic, an integrative care clinic for patients living with serious mental illness, putting the department at the forefront of behavioral health care.

About the University of Arizona Health Sciences

The University of Arizona Health Sciences is the statewide leader in biomedical research and health professions training. The UA Health Sciences includes the UA Colleges of Medicine (Phoenix and Tucson), Nursing, Pharmacy and Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, with main campus locations in Tucson and the growing Phoenix Biomedical Campus in downtown Phoenix. From these vantage points, the UA Health Sciences reaches across the state of Arizona and the greater Southwest to provide cutting-edge health education, research, patient care and community outreach services. A major economic engine, the UA Health Sciences employs approximately 4,000 people, has approximately 800 faculty members and garners more than $140 million in research grants and contracts annually. For more information: uahs.arizona.edu (Follow us: Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | LinkedIn | Instagram)

Release Date: 
07/23/2018 - 1:00am
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