Leadership Award Recipients

Each year at our Annual Physician Celebration and Gala, the Medical Society of the County of Erie presents the MSCE Excellence in Healthcare Awards. These three awards honor physicians whose work has made a lasting difference in medicine in Erie County, across Western New York, and beyond. Nominations are submitted each year for the Lifetime Achievement Award, the Outstanding Service Award, and the Distinguished Mentor Award.

2026 Award Recipients

Lifetime Achievement Award

This award honors a medical professional who has made lasting and significant contributions to medicine throughout their career. It recognizes excellence in patient care, research, and medical education that has advanced healthcare and medical science.

Drucy Borowitz, MD

Clinical Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics
Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences

Dr. Borowitz joined the University at Buffalo’s Department of Pediatrics in 1989 and gave the decades that followed to a single disease. For more than 25 years she directed the Cystic Fibrosis Center at Women & Children’s Hospital of Buffalo, where she also served as Chief of Pediatric Pulmonology and led the CF Therapeutics Development Center. Under her leadership, more than 60 clinical trials were conducted in Western New York. In 2009, Buffalo enrolled the first patient in the multisite trial of ivacaftor, the first CFTR modulator, which the FDA approved in January 2012. Her research on nutrition, intestinal and lung involvement, and pancreatic enzyme replacement is recognized internationally. After retiring from UB in 2016 as Clinical Professor Emeritus, she continued her work as Senior Vice President of Community Partnerships at the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation until 2020. The Foundation has honored her with its Richard C. Talamo Distinguished Clinical Achievement Award, and UB honored her with its 2015 Stockton Kimball Award.

Outstanding Service Award

This award recognizes exceptional dedication and service within the medical field. It honors individuals who have gone above and beyond in improving healthcare, advancing medical knowledge, and supporting their patients and colleagues in Erie County, throughout Western New York, and nationwide.

Timothy Gabryel, MD

Vice President of Medical Affairs
Mercy Hospital of Buffalo

Dr. Gabryel has served physicians across Western New York, first at Millard Fillmore Hospital, then at Kaleida Health, and now at Catholic Health. At each, he took on leadership roles and helped educate medical students and residents in partnership with the University at Buffalo. At Catholic Health he has served as Chair of Medicine, Vice President of Medical Affairs, and twice as interim Chief Medical Officer. He was also chief medical officer for the system’s COVID Incident Command Team. He has served as president of University Medical Resident Services and on the MLMIC board. At the Medical Society of the County of Erie, he chaired the Ethics Committee, served on the Finance and Health Law committees, and rose through elected office to the presidency. He represented his colleagues as an MSSNY delegate for 14 years. A board-certified internist, he graduated from UB’s medical school and trained in Buffalo. The Society previously honored him with its James Cosgriff Distinguished Leadership Award.

Distinguished Mentor Award

This award recognizes an MSCE member and medical professional who has shown exceptional commitment to mentoring and guiding the next generation of healthcare providers, nurturing talent, and fostering professional growth within the medical field.

David Milling, MD

Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education
Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences

Dr. Milling has spent more than two decades helping students find their way into medicine and succeed once there. Since 2002 he has developed and directed a post-baccalaureate program, funded by New York State and the Associated Medical Schools of New York, that serves nine medical schools. Each year, 20 to 25 students from groups underrepresented in medicine and from economically disadvantaged backgrounds receive a year of academic enrichment and close mentoring, with guaranteed medical school admission for those who succeed. He also directs UB’s Science and Technology Entry Program (STEP), which introduces middle and high school students to careers in medicine, and leads Health in the Neighborhood, an elective that pairs medical students with families on Buffalo’s East Side. Students elected him to the Gold Humanism Honor Society, and he received the 2022 SUNY Diversity in Medicine Mentoring Award. He also maintains a primary care internal medicine practice.