Panacek earns International Educator Award
Posted on March 31, 2026 by Marketing and Communications
Edward Panacek, M.D., MPH, professor and chair of emergency medicine at USA Health and the University of South Alabama’s Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine, has received the International Educator Award for decades of mentorship and contributions to global medical research.
The biannual honor, presented by the American Academy of Emergency Medicine and the Mediterranean Academy of Emergency Medicine, recognizes academic faculty physicians who have made sustained impacts on international medical education.
Among his accomplishments, Panacek is widely known for his research on sepsis and for teaching the American College of Emergency Physicians research fellowship for more than a decade. His influence extends well beyond U.S. borders. For more than 17 years, Panacek has served as co-chair of the Mediterranean Emergency Medicine Congress Abstract Committee, where he reviews about 300 abstracts per congress and mentors junior faculty in the scoring and review process.
He also assists investigators in countries where medical research infrastructure is still developing, providing hands-on guidance in editing presentation content, and advising on manuscript writing.
Panacek earned a degree in medicine from the Whiddon College of Medicine, and a master's degree in public health in epidemiology from the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley.
He has been awarded multiple national and international awards including the Lifetime Achievement Award in Emergency Medicine research at the University of Maryland, Department of Emergency Medicine; the Mitchell Award for most outstanding article published in the Journal of Emergency Medicine; the Heroes of Emergency Medicine Award and the annual Research Award, both given by the American College of Emergency Physicians; the Hal Jayne Academic Excellence Award, given by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine; and the Meritorious Service Award, given by the American Board of Emergency Medicine.