Congratulations to Faye Wong – 2011 HHS Departmental Awards for Career Achievement

Dear Colleagues,

It is my great honor and pleasure to announce Faye Wong, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, Branch Chief, Program Services Branch as a recipient of the 2011 HHS Departmental Awards for Career Achievement.

This distinguished award is highly competitive as nominees must have ten years or more of HHS service, an impeccable record of outstanding achievements and a high standard of excellence and dedication throughout their career. Faye will be recognized at the HHS award ceremony on Tuesday, February 21, 2012 in Washington, DC.

In 2010, CDC celebrated the 20 year anniversary of the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP). A field assignee since 1983, Faye came to Atlanta to join the NBCCEDP program at its inception and served as one of the first Team Leads from 1991-1995. She returned to the program in early 2007 as the current Branch Chief.

Since 1991 the NBCCEDP has screened almost 4 million women and has detected 45,000 breast cancers and 2,500 invasive cervical cancers, through grants to 69 states, tribes and territories. In addition to her long-standing service to the program, Faye led efforts to develop a quality assurance reporting mechanism for grantees making the NBCCEDP the only organized screening program in the country. She also led efforts to create a highly-refined performance monitoring system that determines annual grant awards based on previous year performance meeting fiscal management and quality of care standards. Over the last two years (2009-2011) Faye has worked proactively to prepare the program for a transition with health reform. She initiated a Division-wide workgroup to examine issues related to health reform and has served as a mentor to others interested in this complex issue. She also implemented six demonstration projects designed to prepare the NBCCEDP for new roles in facilitating cancer screening. Among these was the launch of the new national colorectal cancer screening program (CRC) using a different model than the NBCCEDP. An emphasis was placed on improving screening participation through population-based and systems-change approaches.

Faye’s vision, management skills and cool diplomacy led to the development of the new FOA for the grant program and enabled the smooth process for the objective review of the grant applications. In 2009, CRC grants were awarded to 24 states and tribes. Faye’s rock steady manner and ability to analyze and come up with strong recommendations has served the program well, especially during times of uncertainty.

Throughout her career at CDC, Faye has gained a reputation for her ability to build innovative programs and outstanding multidisciplinary teams. In addition to her work with the NBCCEDP, Faye has made major sustained contributions in two critical emerging domains of public health, diabetes and youth physical activity promotion. She was founding Director of the National Diabetes Program, a unique Federal partnership established in 1997 by CDC and NIH. NDEP now has more than 200 external partners working together to improve treatment and outcomes for people with diabetes. Subsequently, she served as founding Director of CDC’s innovative, award-winning VERB national media campaign, which demonstrated increased physical activity in a unique, hard-to-reach group, children age 9-13 (tweens). In addition to her public health contributions at CDC, Faye has been a dedicated public health leader and mentor, serving as the President of the American Public Health Association in 2001-2002. Throughout her career, Faye has consistently demonstrated a talent for innovation and an ability to put ideas into action. Very few people can live up to their own words, but in the case of Faye Wong, her motto — failure is not an option — drives her to succeed every day and results in outstanding and sustained public health achievements.

Congratulations Faye. The honor is all yours.

Sincerely,

Marcus Plescia, M.D., M.P.H.

Director, Division of Cancer Prevention and Control

National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, CDC