The McKnight Prize for Healthcare Outbreak Heroes Award was established to encourage and honor those who serve and protect patients from harm in the context of healthcare outbreaks. The recipient will receive a $1,000 honorarium and an award presented later this year at a time and location to be determined in consultation with the prize winner.

Special Notes:

• Please be as detailed as possible within the word limits.
• This prize recognizes heroic contributions to healthcare outbreaks; these differ from outbreaks that originate in the community in that medical care is the main driver of exposures and infections.
• Healthcare-associated Infections (HAIs), including antimicrobial-resistant (AR) pathogens, can manifest as outbreaks—sometimes with large numbers of cases—that stem from unsafe healthcare practices and contaminated drugs or medical devices. More information, including examples of healthcare outbreaks, is available at www.corha.org.
• The award committee is primarily interested in recognizing individuals; under special circumstances, consideration may be given to groups or institutions.
• Nomination submissions may include links to reports or publications related to the nominee’s role in the outbreak response, but please limit to no more than three additional items and ensure that these are directly pertinent to the nomination.
• To help illustrate impacts, please include compelling anecdotes and numbers or metrics, if available (such as patients or healthcare facilities served or impacted).
• The McKnight Heroes Prize Jury may request additional information, such as a curriculum vitae or other supporting documents, following submission of your nomination.
• See FAQs at the bottom of the form.

Primary Award Criteria: Please submit an example within the last three years of how the nominee personally displayed:

• Outstanding success, initiative, and extraordinary personal commitment or sacrifice in protecting patients from harm in the context of a healthcare outbreak; please see the form below for further detail on how to describe this accomplishment.

Alternatively, consideration may be given to submissions that describe nominees who, within the last three years, have personally displayed:

• Exceptional leadership in enhancing communication between clinicians, clinics, hospitals, public health offices, etc. and affected patients or the public, in the context of healthcare outbreak response.
• Active, sustained involvement in patient safety, healthcare, or public health, resulting in recent advancements related to basic infection control (e.g., safe injection practices), healthcare outbreak reporting and investigation, or patient notification and public disclosure practices.

Nominations will be accepted through Friday, May 1, 2026 at 11:59 PM EST. To submit a nomination, please provide the following information:

For additional information on the Evelyn and Thomas McKnight Family Fund for Patient Safety and details regarding the McKnight Healthcare Outbreak Heroes Prize, please visit: www.cdcfoundation.org/McKnightFund

What are the attendance requirements? The McKnight committee intends to hold a ceremony, with the awardee in attendance. The specific timing and venue will be determined in consultation with the awardee.

Are international contributions being considered? The award is aimed at recognizing achievements related to U.S. outbreak response; if the nominee resides or works outside the U.S., the nomination will only be considered if the outbreak/impacts pertain directly to U.S. outbreak response.

May I nominate someone again? Yes, you may re-nominate someone who fits all the criteria if they have not previously been selected.

Can I nominate a group or institution? The award committee is primarily interested in recognizing individuals; under special circumstances, consideration may be given to groups or institutions.

Can I nominate myself? No, we do not accept self-submissions.

What is the timeframe for the achievement? Achievements related to a specific outbreak response must have occurred in the last three years.