ABOUT INMED

2018 Patient and Community Advocate Award of the Kansas City Medical Society 

“Doing good is its own reward,” said Dr. Comninellis in receiving on behalf of INMED the 2018 Patient and Community Advocate Award. “But affirmation helps us all to strive forward. I regularly remind my students to pause and listen when a patient offers them a complement, and to absorb the encouragement. Similarly, I am grateful for this affirmation from the Kansas City Medical Society!” In granting this award, the Society cited INMED’s 850 professional diploma graduates, annual Humanitarian Health Conferences, and development of forty training and service sites in twenty-five developing nations.

2015 University of Missouri-Kansas City Alumni of the Year Award 

In naming Nicholas Comninellis as the 2015 Alumnus of the Year the University Of Missouri-Kansas City stated, “Dr. Nicholas Comninellis is changing the face of global health in the world’s poorest places. He first served the people of Honduras, China, and the war-ravaged nation of Angola. After five years abroad, he founded INMED to equip health care professionals and students to serve those who are most impoverished or marginalized. Under his leadership, INMED has become widely recognized in international health training and mentorship, providing instruction in public health, diseases of poverty, and community development, as well as providing service-learning opportunities for healthcare personnel in twenty low-resource nations.”

2014 Society of Teachers of Family Medicine Gabriel Smilkstein Award

At its national meeting in May 2014, the Group on Global Health of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine  recognized INMED with the Gabriel Smilkstein Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Growth and Development of Family Medicine Education Throughout the World. The intent of the Award, named for an academic physician with service in Vietnam, is to recognize contributions to the development of family medicine education outside the United States and Canada. In making this award the Group on Global Health cited INMED’s innovative global health curriculum and eleven years service in twenty-five developing nations.

2011 Passion Awards

The National Christian Foundation Heartland, formerly known as Servant Christian Foundation, once again recognized INMED with a 2011 Passion Award. On November 7, over 1,000 guests gathered to cheered as we celebrated God’s work in Kansas City and around the world. The theme for the event was “Live simply. Give Generously. Experience Life. “Nicholas Comninellis, INMED President, and Skylar Rolf, INMED COO, received the $5,000 award on behalf of INMED.

2010 Ingram’s Heroes in Healthcare

In March, 2010, Ingram’s Magazine announced its annual regional Heroes in Healthcare – models who represent the best of what our healthcare system has to offer. INMED and Nicholas Comninellis were recognized in the category of ‘Administration.’ Ingram’s wrote, “Few physicians here will ever treat injuries from a land mine. Nicholas Comninellis has. He is also among the rarest of CEOs: One whose service to the organization comes in an entirely volunteer role, leading the Institute for International Medicine in caring for ‘the poorest of the poor.’ From Angola to Zimbabwe, INMED assists the most forgotten people of our generation, and inspires the healthcare professionals of the next.”

2009 Passion Awards

The National Christian Foundation Heartland, formerly known as Servant Christian Foundation, once again recognized INMED with a 2009 Passion Award. Over 1,000 individuals attended the 2009 Thurman Mitchell Servant Leadership Summit, whose theme was “Faith Unleashed.” This year’s celebration – one of the largest Christian ministry awards events in the country – was held on November 9 at the Overland Park Convention Center. Nicholas Comninellis, INMED President, received the $5,000 award on behalf of INMED and observed, “At this moment, thousands of healthcare professionals worldwide are silently working on behalf of people who are largely forgotten. This award is a timely reminder of the eternal significance of their labor.”

2009 Kansas City Citizen of the World 

The United Nations Association of Kansas City recognized INMED and Dr. Comninellis with the 2009 Kansas City Citizen of the World Award. The presentation was made by Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser at the Mayor’s U.N. Day Dinner held on October 29 at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. United Nations Under-Secretary-General Radhika Coomaraswamy, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, gave the keynote address. Afterwards Dr Comninellis reflected on his own experience with child soldiers during the Angolan civil war. “The true character of a people is seen by how they treat their most vulnerable citizens – especially the young and the elderly. INMED’s mission is to serve these who are most close society’s precarious margins.”

2008 Passion Awards

The 2008 Thurman Mitchell Servant Leadership Celebration, hosted by the National Christian Foundation Heartland, formerly known as Servant Christian Foundation, recognized INMED with a Passion Award in recognition of their work in equipping healthcare professionals for medical missions. INMED received a $10,000 grant as one of eight First Tier Recipients. INMED President Dr. Nicholas Comninellis reflects, “This award is a reminder of the potential of medical missions. It is a unique form of service that opens doors and fosters relationships, all the while showing compassion and modeling the love of Jesus, especially to those people who are isolated and hurting. I hope this Passion Award is an encouragement to everyone who is connected with medical missions.” Over 1,000 people were in attendance at the event November 3rd, and 2008 marks the seventh year for the Thurman Mitchell Servant Leadership Celebration. Inspired by Proverbs 29:18a, the theme for this year’s awards was “Picture This…”

1996 IMANA Award

In a gesture of extraordinary kindness, the Islamic Medical Association of North America (IMANA) recognized INMED at the 1996 IMANA Continuing Medical Education Conference in Chicago. In recent years, IMANA’s medical relief arm is providing timely and effective aid in Bosnia, Kosovo, Turkey, Venezuela, the Carolinas and Chechnya. Abdul Rauf Mir, President-Elect of IMANA, introduced Dr. Comninellis saying, “We are together here because we want to help the suffering. Dr. Comninellis, he is a Christian, and we are Moslems. But we Jews, Christians & Moslems are all people of The Book. So he is really one of our own, and one heart with us in this work!”