The event, presented by BlackDoctor.org in conjunction with The George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, recognizes distinguished African American healthcare professionals for their hard work, commitment and success in helping improve healthcare for all Americans.

During the two-day event, Dr. Carson was the keynote speaker at the awards gala dinner and also participated as a panelist. The always congenial Dr. Carson talked about his childhood and how his upbringing shaped his lifelong curiosity, epitomized in the one-word question he often asks himself and those around him: "Why?"

Dr. Carson also spoke about the explosive increase in health-related data and the implications for patients and healthcare practitioners alike. For example, he noted that in clinical trials for the first-ever Digital Medicine created by Otsuka and Proteus, more data, including minute-by-minute data points, were collected than in all the previous clinical trials ever conducted by Otsuka. For him, one implication is that physicians will not just know a lot about medicine but will come to know a lot more about their patients individually, ushering in the age of truly personalized medicine.

Dr. Carson's call to action for healthcare professionals in this new era is to be caring (ensuring patient access to their data), concerned (preventing data misuse) and competent (staying up to date on, and utilizing the digitally based technology and knowledge from data).

To learn more about the event and view Dr. Carson's speech click on the BlackDoctor.org website.