GWS Awards 4 Wellness Visionaries

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At the 2020 Global Wellness Summit (GWS), which took place virtually and in person at The Breakers in Palm Beach, Florida, awards for excellence and innovation in wellness were presented in four categories. 

The Debra Simon Award for Leader in Furthering Mental Wellness

Lynne and Victor Brick received The Debra Simon Award for creating the John W. Brick Mental Health Foundation, honoring Victor’s brother, who suffered from and ultimately succumbed to his mental illness. The Foundation’s mission is to fund and promote research on how healthy lifestyle choices benefit mental health. “My brother's passing was tragic at the time (and) I never cried so hard in my life. But…if his life is an agent for change, then it was a successful life. And I have a feeling that this is how we're going to look at the pandemic and the coronavirus, as an agent for change,” remarked Victor.  

The Leading Woman in Wellness Award

The award honors a woman who is making an extraordinary contribution in any of the wellness sectors, whether as an entrepreneur or a health and wellness champion. Veronica Schreibeis Smith, a pioneer in the wellness architecture movement and founder of Vera Iconica Architecture, was recognized with this award for creating designs that are in complete harmony with nature, along with the aesthetic, science and technology that makes her an industry leader. 

The Global Wellness Summit Prize for Innovation

This inaugural award was presented to Amai Proteins, an Israel-based innovator focused on fixing the global food system one protein at a time. Amai’s innovation, Sweet Designer Proteins sugar substitutes is a healthy sustainable alternative to sugar.

Shark Tank of Wellness Global Student Competition

Krysta Silva of Atlanta’s Savannah College of Art and Design took first place honors ($5,000) for her allergy-sensing fork, Samii. Silva’s innovation uses nanotechnology and the cellulose nanocrystals inside the fork to attract and detect allergenic proteins. An app then notifies the user that the food is not safe to eat, saving time, money and a potential trip to the emergency room.  


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