Four #TopDoctors Award Winners, in advance of the AL DÍA Doctors Forum and Reception, which will take place this coming Thursday Jan. 24, were selected by a Board of prestigious physicians from the Philadelphia Region.

This selection process has been nine months in the making.

More than 50 health institutions from across the Philadelphia region were invited to nominate their Latino Doctors, using online nomination forms provided through www.aldianews.com.

Roughly half of them participated, and AL DIA ended up with around 30 nominees.

Out of that pool of nominees, the members of the Advisory Board, Chaired by the Dean of the Drexel School of Medicine, Dr. Daniel Schidlow, made their final selections as part of an hour-long process last Thursday.

The advisory board for this #ALDÍALive event was powered by the presence of distinguished professionals like Dr. Ivan Lugo, the former CEO of the Hispanic Dental Association; and Dr. Natalia Ortiz-Torrent, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University.

The honorees selected last Thursday by this independent panel of jurors were:

Dr. Esquenazi is the chairman of the department of physical medicine and rehabilitation at MossRehab of the Einstein Healthcare Network. He earned his M.D. from the National Autonomous University of Mexico School of Medicine in Mexico City, Mexico. 

Dr. Irigoyen is Chair, Department  of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine at Einstein Healthcare Network. She received her medical degree from the University of Buenos Aires in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

A specialist in internal medicine, Dr. Mercado earned his medical degree from Central del Caribe University, Bayamón, Puerto Rico. On June 16, 2018, he was inaugurated as the 157th president of the Philadelphia County Medical Society. 

Dr. Roman received his M.D. from the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine in San Juan, Puerto Rico. In January of 2018, he was appointed CEO of the Jane and Leonard Korman Respiratory Institute, a collaboration of Jefferson Health and National Jewish Health. 

This is the first time a media organization has ever partnered with a prestigious academic institution, such as the Drexel University School of Medicine, to do an annual recognition of the physicians who are increasing diversity in our top health care institutions—largely unnamed outside of their institutions and unrecognized among the general public. 

"AL DÍA is thrilled to cover this untold story of Latino success in America, and our whole team of #ALDÍALive Series for 2019 is proud to host this first annual Forum and Reception in the Union League of Philadelphia to do a just and overdue recognition of these professionals," Hernán Guaracao, Founder, Editor and CEO of AL DÍA, said.

The Forum—the first part of the program, prior to the reception—will feature a special guest who will be interviewed by AL DIA's Editor in Chief.

Dr. Jack Ludmir, the senior vice president of physician engagement & integration and associate provost for community and global initiatives at Jefferson Health, is the special guest of a fireside chat on the status of the profession, the solutions to the challenges confronted by Latinos to access Schools of Medicine in the U.S., or advance to positions of Leadership in the Health institutions of the region, and the role Latino physicians can play to improve the practice of Medicine and the overall performance of the Health Care Providers in America.

Dr Ludmir, after the fireside chat with AL DIA CEO, will present the AL DÍA Top Doctors Award 2019 to the four professionals selected by the Advisory Board on Jan. 17.

The event will take place Thursday, Jan. 24 at the Union League of Philadelphia, beginning at 5:30pm. Tickets to attend event are on sale here.

Other media is invited to cover the event, but must first register by calling Lynita Hines at 215-789-6969, or by emailing her, at Lynitah@aldianews.com, to get access to the Lincoln Memorial Room of the Union League.