Seven Internal Medicine Residents and Fellows are Recognized by the Foundation.

The Knowlton Incentive for Excellence Awards recognize WashU resident physicians and fellows at Barnes-Jewish Hospital who have demonstrated the ability to balance exceptional, compassionate care with outstanding leadership and skill in internal medicine. More than 200 residents and fellows have been recognized since the Knowlton Incentive for Excellence Awards began  in 1984. 

Seven resident physicians and fellows received Knowlton Incentive for Excellence Awards at The Foundation for Barnes-Jewish Hospital’s 42nd annual award presentation on October 5, 2026. 

Pictured above: Dr. Norman Knowlton, Dr. Joy Um, Dr. Noah Romero Nakajima, Dr. Christian Hendrix, Dr. Elissa Arnold, Dr. John Lynch, John Cella, Dr. Hunter Cochran, Dr. Victoria Fraser, Dr Cody Cunningham, Dr. Steven Cheng, and Dr. Joshua Mendoza.

2026 Knowlton Incentive for Excellence Honorees

Elissa Arnold, MD
Hunter Cochran, MD
Cody Cunningham, MD, PhD
Christian Hendrix, MD, MS
Joshua Mendoza, MD
Noah Romero Nakajima, MD
Joy Um, MD

In 1984, Charles J. Cella established the Knowlton Incentive for Excellence Fund at the Foundation to honor his physician and friend, Dr. Norman Knowlton Jr., for his compassionate caregiving and to promote excellence among internal medicine residents and fellows at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. 

The Knowlton Incentive for Excellence Fund created the annual awards to support WashU resident and fellow education at Barnes-Jewish Hospital with the goal of helping to train, recognize, and nurture the best and most compassionate internal medicine physicians in St. Louis. 

“Honorees embody the Knowlton spirit, which is care delivered with compassion,” says John Lynch, MD, president of Barnes-Jewish Hospital and group president of BJC HealthCare East Region, who was a 1992 Knowlton awardee. “Recipients of the Knowlton Award provide exceptional patient care and carry on the kind and generous legacies of Charles Cella and Dr. Knowlton.” 

Cella died in 2018, but his endowed fund continues to support resident and fellow education and the annual awards. Dr. Knowlton died in 2012. Today, their sons John Cella and Norman Knowlton III, MD, continue this important legacy on the Knowlton Incentive for Excellence Awards selection committee.  

“There are a lot of superb physicians, but Charles Cella wanted to honor those that provided the best patient care—the one that you wanted to take care of you,” says Norman Knowlton III, who serves as committee chair. “We want physicians of this caliber who would be able to provide the care that those two individuals wanted.” 

Other committee members include Dr. Lynch; Katie Henderson, MD, vice president and chief medical officer at Barnes-Jewish; and Andrew Kates, MD, a 1997 awardee and associate chief for education of the Cardiovascular Division in the John T. Milliken Department of Internal Medicine. The committee is led by Victoria Fraser, MD, Adolphus Busch Professor of Medicine and chair of the John T. Milliken Department of Medicine at WashU Medicine.