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POSTED: June 26th, 2020
POSTED IN: EM Pulse - The Official Newsletter of MOCEP, May/June 2020,

MOCEP received nominations from each residency program for the 2020 RR Hannas Resident of the Year Award. It was a tough decision to make as all candidates were exceptional and deserve recognition.

Nominees this year were:

• Christopher Hutton, MD, University of Missouri – Columbia, nominated by Christopher Sampson, MD
• Aditya “Al” Lulla, MD, Washington University, nominated by Jason Wagner, MD
• Sean Mark, MD, University of Missouri – Kansas city, nominated by Amy Stubbs, MD
• Michael O’Neill, MD, Saint Louis University, nominated by Katrina Wade, MD

The individual selected to receive the 2020 award is Aditya Lulla, MD, of Washington University.

Aditya “Al” Lulla, MD, a PGY-4 at Washington University in St. Louis, was selected to receive the 2020 Missouri College of Emergency Physicians’ (MOCEP) R.R. Hannas Resident of the Year Award. He was nominated by Jason Wagner, MD, both from the Barnes-Jewish Hospital/Washington University Department of Emergency Medicine. The award will be presented to Dr. Lulla at the Missouri Emergency Medicine Symposium on November 6, 2020, in Columbia, Mo.

Dr. Lulla is a graduate of UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine in Los Angeles, California, and is currently a PGY-4 and Chief Resident at Washington University in St. Louis. His professional background includes serving as an EMS1.com contributor.  He is a member of the emergency medicine interest group, and is a contributor and editor of the “Article Bites” blog for the National Association of EMS Physicians.

Dr. Lulla serves as one of four outstanding chief residents, but his heart sets him apart. He has been described as one of the kindest, most positive, well-intentioned residents who willingly takes shifts for residents without payback, sacrifices his time to create better schedules for his peers, and continuously gives to his residency program while asking nothing in return. Dr. Lulla has also initiated many changes in the program, including the first sustainable Trauma/Emergency Medicine Simulation Curiculum which will allow the emergency medicne residency program to maintain camaraderie with their surgery residents while improving clinical skills.

Additionally, Dr. Lulla is currently involved in a research project with EMS and critical care groups to evaluate the logistics of implementing whole blood transfusion in the pre-hospital setting. This research is focused on identifying the proportion of EMS providers that are at risk for suicide. His research has led to published articles and presentations at numerous meetings. He also went above and beyond during the recent COVID-19 pandemic: many of the residents and staff had to be quarantined due to exposure, and Dr. Lulla stepped up to fill in for the vacancies that occurred.

The R.R. Hannas Award is presented to an emergency medicine physician and resident each year, and is named after Dr. Ralston R. Hannas, a “founding father” of Emergency Medicine. Dr. Hannas is a past president of the American College of Emergency Physicians and was the co-organizer, with Dr. Wiegenstein, of the first Scientific Assembly in 1969. He was also chairman of the committee that founded the American Board of Emergency Medicine, served on the Board for twelve years and was the organization’s fourth president. Dr. Hannas was also instrumental in helping organize the fifth Emergency Medicine residency program in the country at Northwestern University in 1973. In 1976, he moved to Kansas City where he practiced emergency medicine for 21 years.