Lilia Cervantes, MD, MSCS, professor in the Colorado School of Public Health's (ColoradoSPH) Department of Community and Behavioral Health, has received the prestigious 2026 Sommer Klag Advocacy Achievement Award, one of the nation's premier honors recognizing excellence in public health advocacy. The award was presented during the American Public Health Association's Annual Meeting and Expo in San Antonio this month.
Administered through a partnership between the Lerner Center for Public Health Advocacy at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the American Public Health Association, the award recognizes individuals whose work has advanced public health through research, policy, and advocacy.
“Dr. Cervantes’ work exemplifies the powerful connection between clinical care, public health, and policy implementation. As a physician, she is deeply attuned to the lived experiences and challenges her patients face, and she demonstrates the ability to translate those realities into meaningful action and lasting policy change,” said Dr. Cathy Bradley, Dean of ColoradoSPH. “We are honored to have Dr. Cervantes as a member of our faculty and are proud to celebrate this recognition alongside our public health colleagues from across the country.”
A tenured Professor of Medicine, Director of Immigrant Research at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, and member of the National Academy of Medicine, Cervantes has built a recognized career focused on immigrant health, kidney disease, implementation science, and health care access.
Her research documenting the consequences of emergency-only dialysis for undocumented immigrants helped establish the evidence base for Colorado's 2019 Medicaid reform and informed similar policy changes in more than 20 states. Through community-partnered research, implementation science, and sustained engagement with policymakers, her work has demonstrated how rigorous evidence can be translated into meaningful systems change.
Today, Cervantes leads Research for Change, a community-partnered implementation science and advocacy program that conducts community-engaged research, pragmatic clinical trials, and policy translation efforts designed to improve health care outcomes in Colorado and beyond.
In addition to the Sommer Klag Advocacy Achievement Award, Cervantes has received the Bernard Lown Award for Social Responsibility and the Helen Ranney Award from the Association of American Physicians. She serves on the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases National Advisory Council, a Colorado health insurance board, and the board of a major safety-net health system.
Her recent appointment to ColoradoSPH's Department of Community and Behavioral Health reflects the strong alignment between her work and the department's mission. She collaborates extensively with faculty and students and sees the appointment as an opportunity to expand partnerships in community-engaged research, implementation science, workforce development, and promoting the health and wellbeing of all Coloradans.
“This award is a reminder that public health and health care are most powerful when they work together,” said Dr. Cervantes.
“It is a tremendous honor to receive this recognition and to celebrate it with public health colleagues nationwide, including my new colleagues at the Colorado School of Public Health, who share a commitment to improving health through research, partnership, and systems change.”
As public health leaders across the country seek solutions to vexing public health challenges, Cervantes’ career stands as an example of research translated into action. Her work continues to improve lives through evidence-based policy reform and has transformed community through partnerships.
