© Scott Peek Photography

The first annual Humanitarian Award was given to Harpal “Paul” S. Khanuja, MD for his humanitarian efforts as the Co-Founder and Medical Director of Operation Walk Maryland. Dr. Khanuja serves as an Assistant Professor, and the Chief of Adult Reconstruction, with the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Operation Walk Maryland is a private, not-for-profit volunteer medical service organization providing free hip and knee replacement surgeries in developing countries and the United States. Operation Walk Maryland has changed the lives of more than 300 patients in countries including Ecuador, Peru, India and El Salvador.

The Humanitarian Award was established to recognize members of the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons (AAHKS) who have distinguished themselves by providing humanitarian medical services and programs with a significant focus on musculoskeletal diseases and trauma of the hip and knee in the United States or abroad.