The Physicians for Human Rights Annual Gala honors the work of health professionals working on the front lines to defend human rights. The annual event supports PHR’s work advocating for persecuted health workers and health facilities under attack, preventing torture, sexual violence, and mass atrocities, and holding those who violate human rights accountable. PHR’s 2025 gala was held on October 30, 2025 in New York City. Watch highlights from our celebration below, and read more about our honorees.
2025 Honorees
Dr. Chelsea Clinton, Vice Chair, Clinton Foundation, Vice Chair of the Clinton Health Access Initiative
Chelsea Clinton is an advocate, storyteller, investor, mentor, teacher, and most importantly, mom to her three kids. As vice chair of the Clinton Foundation, Dr. Clinton works alongside the Foundation’s leadership and partners to improve global health and wellness, increase opportunity for girls and women, create economic opportunity and growth, and inspire emerging leaders across the United States and around the world. A longtime public health advocate, Dr. Clinton uses her platform to increase awareness around issues such as vaccine hesitancy, childhood obesity, and health equity. In addition to her Foundation work, Chelsea is the co-founder of Metrodora Ventures, she teaches at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and has written several books for young adults and readers including the #1 New York Times bestselling She Persisted. Chelsea holds a Bachelor of Arts from Stanford, a Master of Public Health from Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health, and both a Master of Philosophy and a Doctorate in international relations from Oxford University.
Panzi Hospital Survivors of Sexual Violence Unit, Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Panzi Hospital Survivors of Sexual Violence (SVS) Unit is a flagship of Panzi Hospital in DRC, which has provided lifesaving care to more than 35,000 survivors of sexual violence over the last 25 years. The work of the Panzi SVS Unit has been a lifeline for sexual violence survivors in DRC, which has been gripped by violence amid the protracted armed conflict that has plagued the region for decades and where rates of conflict-related sexual violence are at an all-time high. In recognition of the outstanding work of the Panzi SVS Unit, Denis Mukwege, MD, MA, PhD – the founder and medical director of Panzi Hospital, who is a world-renowned gynecological surgeon and co-recipient of the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize – will accept the award on behalf of the unit and its dedicated team of clinicians.
Dr. Katherine McKenzie, Director of the Yale Center for Asylum Medicine, Co-founder of the Society of Asylum Medicine
As a leading medical expert, Dr. McKenzie has served as a frontline defender for asylum seekers and has trained hundreds of clinicians in the practice of asylum medicine. As the director of Yale Center for Asylum Medicine, co-founder and co-director of the Society of Asylum Medicine, steering committee member of the Asylum Medicine Training Initiative, and leading Physicians for Human Rights expert, Dr. McKenzie is an exemplar of commitment and unwavering resolve to protecting human rights and the rights of asylum seekers and immigrants.
Program Highlights
Gala Committee
- Gerson H. Smoger, JD, PhD
- Michele Heisler, MD
- Monica Peek, MD
- Austin Ratner, MD
Photos from the Event
