Healthcare Heroes Celebration will honor two doctors with solid Brooklyn roots

April 14, 2025 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

Dr. Teresa Y. Smith-Bellille. Photo courtesy of SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University

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FLATBUSH — TWO DOCTORS AT SUNY DOWNSTATE HEALTH SCIENCES UNIVERSITY who are also longtime Brooklynites will be honored at the upcoming Schneps Media Healthcare Heroes celebration — an event recognizing exceptional individuals for their compassion, leadership and service. Teresa Y. Smith-Bellille, M.D., MSEd, FACEP, a 20-year Brooklyn resident, is associate dean of Graduate Medical Education and interim chair of Emergency Medicine. As a recognized leader in academic emergency medicine and advocacy for diversity, equity and inclusion, Smith-Bellille has helped reshape training programs to be more inclusive, earning distinguished recognitions like the National Minority Quality Forum’s 40 Under 40. She authored a widely-read New York Daily News op-ed in 2020, encouraging COVID-19 vaccination in the Black community — an example of her ongoing commitment to blending medical education with culturally responsive public health outreach.

Jeffrey M. Birnbaum, M.D. Photo courtesy of SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University

Lifelong Brooklyn resident Jeffrey M. Birnbaum, M.D., MPH, is associate professor of Pediatrics and Public Health and executive director of the HEAT Program at Downstate, whose influence extends far beyond Brooklyn, with global contributions to HIV policy and treatment through strategic collaborations with the World Health Organization and UNICEF. For more than 30 years, he has led Brooklyn’s only full-service clinic for HIV-positive and at-risk youth ages 13 to 29.

The Healthcare Heroes Awards celebration takes place on Wednesday, April 30 at Terrace on the Park in Queens.

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