Tasneem Ismailji, MD, MPH
AVA’s Lifetime Achievement Award Nomination of Tasneem Ismailji, MD, MPH
Opening
For more than three decades, Dr. Tasneem Ismailji has worked to ensure that the health effects of violence and abuse are recognized, understood, and addressed in healthcare, starting this work before the health field gave much attention to violence and abuse. A pediatrician by training, she spent 20 years caring for children and families before earning her MPH at UC Berkeley in 1993. Volunteering at a domestic violence shelter in Santa Clara County soon after, she saw the gap between what survivors experienced and what clinicians were taught. She has worked since the early 90s to close that gap. A co-founder of the Academy on Violence and Abuse and its past President and Board Chair, she has helped train more than 10,000 professionals and community members in documented programs across California, the United States, and internationally, and an estimated 15,000 more through presentations, conferences, and community education. Much of her work has taken place outside the spotlight, in shelters, classrooms, and community settings. This narrative describes how her career meets each of the Academy's criteria for AVA’s highest honor.
1. Sustained Career of Excellence
Dr. Ismailji graduated with distinction and a gold medal from Fatima Jinnah Medical College in Lahore, Pakistan, in 1970. She completed her pediatric internship at Rochester General Hospital and her residency at Strong Memorial Hospital under Dr. Robert J. Haggerty, a pioneer of community pediatrics. After 20 years in general pediatric practice, she earned her MPH from UC Berkeley in 1993 and has devoted the more than 30 years since to the health effects of violence and abuse across the lifecourse.
2. Significant Contributions
Dr. Ismailji's contributions span education and training, program development, research, advocacy, and community engagement.
· Statewide education: Through the CALIFORNIA ACES ACADEMY, she helped educate 3,956 individuals across California.
· National and international education: Over the past five years, her ACEs Health Champions Network and Gatherings program has reached more than 5,000 participants in the United States and internationally.
· Regional academies: She led regional academies in Ashland and Akron, Ohio; Tampa, Florida; Rochester, New York; Spartanburg, South Carolina; Dallas, Texas; and Hong Kong, training more than 1,450 professionals.
· Global educational resource: She co-produced The AVA ACE Study DVD, an educational resource on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), and distributed more than 2,000 copies worldwide.
· National and international presentations: She has presented at AVA Global Health Summits, the Chadwick International Conference on Child and Family Maltreatment, the National Conference on Health and Domestic Violence, and Institute on Violence, Abuse and Trauma (IVAT) conferences in San Diego and Hawaii, including pre-conference sessions.
· Community education: For ten years, she provided training in Santa Clara County schools, clinics, hospitals, and community settings.
· Research: As a Visiting Scholar at Stanford University from 2003 to 2005, she co-authored three peer-reviewed studies on the health of women who survived intimate partner violence, including pain, depression, and posttraumatic stress.
In addition to these documented programs, Dr. Ismailji has reached an estimated 15,000 people through training in Santa Clara County schools, clinics, and hospitals; conference presentations and pre-conference sessions; medical school teaching; and community events, for which attendance records were not kept.
Selected publications
1. Koopman C, Ismailji T, Holmes D, Classen CC, Palesh O, Wales T. The effects of expressive writing on pain, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in survivors of intimate partner violence. J Health Psychol. 2005;10(2):211-221.
2. Koopman C, Ismailji T, Palesh O, Gore-Felton C, Narayanan A, Saltzman KM, Holmes D, McGarvey EL. Relationships of depression to child and adult abuse and bodily pain among women who have experienced intimate partner violence. J Interpers Violence. 2007;22(4):438-455.
3. Holmes D, Alpers GW, Ismailji T, Classen C, Wales T, Cheasty V, Miller A, Koopman C. Cognitive and emotional processing in narratives of women abused by intimate partners. Violence Against Women. 2007;13(11):1192-1205.
4. Ismailji T, Callahan M, Mettner J. Academy on Violence and Abuse: highlights of proceedings from the 2009 conference: "Sowing seeds of academic change: nurturing new paradigms." Trauma Violence Abuse. 2010;11(2):83-93.
5. Cronholm P, Ismailji T, Mettner J. Academy on Violence and Abuse: highlights of proceedings from the 2011 conference: "Toward a new understanding." Trauma Violence Abuse. 2013. [Add volume, issue, and pages.]
3. Impact on the Field
Dr. Ismailji's work has improved systems of care and influenced policy at the county and national levels.
· As a member of the Medical Committee of the Santa Clara County Domestic Violence Council, she contributed to the county's Intimate Partner Violence Protocol for Healthcare Professionals.
· She transformed the annual Santa Clara County Domestic Violence Conference to include the health effects of violence and abuse.
· Through her service on four Santa Clara County committees, the Santa Clara Trauma-Informed Collaborative (CAST), the Santa Clara ACEs Committee, the Asian Americans for Community Development Council, and the Blue Ribbon Task Force, she influenced policy at the county level.
· She served on the Advisory Board of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network from 2013 to 2016, contributing to congressional policy discussions.
· Representing AVA on the National Health Collaborative on Violence and Abuse, she testified at a 2010 congressional briefing on educating health professionals in trauma-informed care.
4. Leadership
· AVA: Co-founder, President (2011–2013), and Board Chair (2013–2015). She chaired three of AVA's biennial scientific conferences and co-authored the published proceedings of the 2009 and 2011 conferences. She also chaired AVA's website and awards committees.
· Mentoring: She mentored AVA Scholars Nora Montalvo, Tova Lewin, and Camille Cummings, each of whom went on to contribute to the field. The late Dr. Nora Montalvo became a full professor at Texas A&M and chaired the AVA Scholars program until her death in 2025. Tova Lewin continues to publish on sibling sexual abuse. Camille Cummings remains engaged with AVA and addresses the health effects of violence and abuse through community work in Trinidad.
· Community leadership: She served as Board Chair of Family and Children Services of Silicon Valley and chaired committees in Santa Clara County.
· Partnerships: As a board member of the International Longevity Center in New York (2000–2005), she worked with Dr. Robert Butler, founding director of the National Institute on Aging, on age-related issues including elder abuse, extending her work across the full lifecourse.
5. Commitment to the Mission
As a co-founder of the Academy on Violence and Abuse, Dr. Ismailji helped shape its mission and vision statements. For 20 years, she has worked to advance that mission, most recently through the ACEs Health Champions Network and Gatherings program which she conceived and led and received the AVA Innovation Award in 2022. Her two decades with the Academy reflect its core values of education, prevention, collaboration, advocacy, and service.
6. National and International Recognition
Dr. Ismailji's contributions have been recognized with:
· Recognition by Maitri during Women's History Month (2023)
· AVA Innovation Award (2022)
· Leonard Edwards Champion of Peace Award, Santa Clara County (2017)
· Circle of Support Award, Family and Children Services of Silicon Valley (2015)
Her leadership roles, peer-reviewed publications, and international work in Hong Kong and Shanghai further reflect the reach of her influence.
7. Ethical Conduct
Throughout her career, Dr. Ismailji has worked with integrity and without seeking recognition, often volunteering in service to survivors and the professionals who care for them. She was instrumental in shaping AVA’s values and practices
Closing
Dr. Ismailji's career shows how sustained, quiet dedication can reshape how communities and clinicians understand and respond to violence and abuse. As a co-founder and past President of the Academy, and an educator who has trained more than 10,000 professionals and community members in documented programs alone, she has made extraordinary and enduring contributions to its mission. She is very deserving of the Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award.
Respectively submitted to AVA Board of Directors,
David L. Corwin, MD, Chair, AVA Awards Committee
