CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is this year's recipient of the National Association for Multi-ethnicity in Communications' (NAMIC) Mickey Leland Humanitarian Achievement Award, the diversity organization announced Monday.
Gupta will receive the award -- established in 1992 in memory of the late Texas Congressman -- at an Oct. 28 luncheon in conjunction with NAMIC's annual Conference in Denver, part of the first Cable Connection-Fall event.
"Dr. Gupta has provided health and wellness knowledge for millions of people globally throughout his career," said Kathy Johnson, president, NAMIC in a statement. "We are pleased to honor Congressman Leland's legacy by paying homage to such a worthy award recipient."
Since joining CNN in the summer of 2001, the Emmy Award-winning Gupta has been on the front lines for the cable news network with regards to health issues. Gupta worked as part of CNN's team covering the Sept. 11 attacks in New York City and led breaking news reporting on the anthrax attacks later that year. In 2003, Gupta provided reported from Iraq as an embedded correspondent with the U.S. Navy's medical unit. Along with reporting on breaking health issues for CNN, Gupta also appears on Vital Signs, a health-related series which airs globally via CNN International and Paging Dr. Gupta, a weekly CNN segment and podcast.
Past recipients of NAMIC's Mickey Leland Humanitarian Achievement Award include: award-winning journalist and author, Charlayne Hunter-Gault; Black Entertainment Television founder Robert L. Johnson; New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson; CNN anchors Anderson Cooper and Soledad O'Brien; former NAACP Kweisi Mfume; and Galavision/Univision host Christina Saralegui.
