Brian Tuohy, PhD, Assistant Professor, Urban Health and Population Science, and Co-Director of Education at the Center for Health Justice and Bioethics (CHJB) at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine (Katz), has been selected as a 2026 Macy Faculty Scholar.
Brian Tuohy, PhD, Assistant Professor, Urban Health and Population Science, and Co-Director of Education at the Center for Health Justice and Bioethics (CHJB) at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine (Katz), has been selected as a 2026 Macy Faculty Scholar.
“We are delighted to welcome Dr. Brian Tuohy to the 2026 class of Macy Faculty Scholars,” said Peter Goodwin, Interim President of the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation. “With his doctoral preparation as a sociologist and his academic role in bioethics, Dr. Tuohy is poised to provide a valuable perspective to our family of Macy Faculty Scholars. His project, Language Access and Ethical Care in Emergency Medicine, is both timely and essential as it aims to equip future health care providers with the skills needed to deliver high-quality care to patients with limited English proficiency. We are eager to support this work as a replicable model benefiting patients and communities throughout the country.”
“Dr. Brian Tuohy’s selection as a 2026 Macy Faculty Scholar is a tremendous honor and a meaningful recognition of his leadership in health justice and medical education,” said Amy J. Goldberg, MD, FACS, The Marjorie Joy Katz Dean, Lewis Katz School of Medicine. “His work to strengthen language access and ethical care in Emergency Medicine reflects our mission to deliver equitable, community-centered care. We are incredibly proud of Dr. Tuohy and the impact his scholarship will have nationally.”
The Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation was established in 1930 by Kate Macy Ladd to honor her father, a philanthropist who died young. The foundation was created “to devote itself to the promotion of health and the ministry of healing.” The foundation was focused on medical research until 1945, when it shifted to focus its support on medical schools and science faculties. Most of the foundation’s grants since the mid-1970s have focused on improving support for professional education. It is currently the only national organization entirely dedicated to improving the education of health professionals.
Macy Faculty Scholars Program “aims to identify and nurture promising early-career educators in medicine and nursing” and create the next great leaders in medicine. The program works to accelerate the Scholars’ careers through protected time, mentoring, curricular activities, and a national network of colleagues.
Nicolle Strand, JD, MBE, MPH, Director of the Center for Health Justice and Bioethics, said “We are thrilled that Brian was selected for this year’s cohort of Macy Faculty Scholars. It is an honor that Brian was selected but, more importantly, we feel confident that the work will advance health justice."
During his time as a Scholar, Dr. Tuohy plans to develop and evaluate a curriculum for Emergency Medicine residents that integrates interpreter use, ethical reasoning, and structural competency in the care of patients with limited English proficiency. Tuohy noted, “at its core, this project is about something fundamental to medicine: making sure every patient, regardless of the language they speak or the circumstances of their life, can access the care they need and trust the people providing it. This historical moment has made that work more urgent than ever.”
Dr. Tuohy noted that his recognition from the Macy Foundation is deeply meaningful. “I love my job. I love my students. I love the institution I work in and the community it serves. This fellowship feels like an invitation to take that love and do something even more consequential with it.”