Fund-raiser honorees have predictable tasks on the night of the event. They pick up their awards, say thank-you, crack a joke – they know people will laugh.

The four honorees at the New York Academy of Medicine’s annual gala Wednesday night offered more. They used their turns at the podium to present four very different approaches to improving health care.

Banker-turned-statesman John Whitehead focused on health care reform. He urged the members of the academy to “come up with a sensible system and start talking about it,” rather than leave the matter in the hands of political figures.

Dr. Paul Farmer drew attention to health care problems outside America. The Harvard-trained doctor has had major success operating on shoestring budgets to treat tuberculosis, HIV, and AIDS in poor countries such as Haiti and Peru. “We have what we need to reduce unnecessary suffering,” Dr. Farmer said.

The founder of Essence magazine, Edward Lewis, provided an example of how a popular magazine can disseminate information on health care. He spoke of how the magazine alerted black women to health risks that they had considered “white diseases,” such as breast cancer.

The most moving remarks came from Katie Couric. Since her husband died of colon cancer, Ms. Couric has used her national recognition as co-anchor of the “Today” show to promote colon health. In March 2000, she had a colonoscopy on the “Today” show, conducted by Dr. Kenneth Forde. It led to an article in the Archives of Internal Medicine documenting “the Couric effect”: In the months following Ms. Couric’s colonoscopy, the number perfomed nationwide increased 20%.

As founder of the Entertainment Industry Foundation’s National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance, she has helped raise $25 million. She also spearheaded the fund-raising for the Jay Monahan Center for Gastrointestinal Health at New York-Presybterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, named after her husband.

“I’ve received thousands of letters of thanks from people who say I’ve helped save their lives. I treasure these a whole lot more than the ones I’ve received about my hair,” Ms. Couric said.

The event at Cipriani at 42nd Street raised $650,000 for the academy, which conducts research, education, and advocacy to improve the health of people living in cities, and is run by Dr. Jeremiah Barondess, its president, and Dr. Jack Barchas, its chairman.

A distinguished group of business leaders served as chairmen of the event: American International Group’s Maurice Greenberg; the president of GE Healthcare-Technologies, Joseph Hogan; David Koch of Koch Industries; the chief executive of AEA Investors, Vincent Mai, and the chief executive of Omnicom Group, John Wren. Other patrons of the event were Morris Offit of Offit Hall Capital Management; the chief executive of New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Dr. Herbert Pardes; and the chief executive of Revlon, Jack Stahl, who upped the female quotient in the room by bringing along nine women employees. They made quite a sight sitting together over a meal of lamb and warm chocolate souffle.

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The New-York Historical Society’s treasures are on view through the weekend at the Winter Antiques Show at the Armory. At a reception Monday in the Armory’s Tiffany Room, the head of the antiques show, Catherine Sweeney Singer, pointed two of the society’s curators, Margaret Hofer and Lee Vedder, to one of her favorite booths: a recreation of a room in Buckingham Palace featuring portrait miniatures. The NYHS exhibit at the show includes George Washington’s inaugural arm chair and a railing from Federal Hall.