Ms. Ponnamma Thomas received the AIIMSONIANS of America Award for the Best Nurse in Research Work 2008 by Her Excellency President of India Ms. Pratibha Devsingh Patil on 16th November 2009. She received the award on the occasion of the 37th Convocation of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. The award was also presented in the presence of Honorable Union Minister for Health Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azaad. Mrs. Thomas was awarded for the exceptional work that she and her team of Doctors, Health Inspectors, Nurses and Para-medical staff had achieved in the past ten years in the Neurosurgical unit of the multi-specialty hospital.

In 1996, the team had noticed that the 37% of patients of the Neuro-surgical ward were infected with Nosocomial Infection, also commonly known as HAI or Hospital Acquired Infections. With extensive research, techniques were undertaken to tackle the disease. By the end of 2005, Mrs. Thomas and her team had achieved a rate of only 11.5% HAI rate in the ward. This resulted in the publishing of her paper 'Prevalence and Control of Nosocomial Infections (HAI) in the Neuro-surgical patients between the years 1996-2005' in the Nursing Journal of India. This was greatly used as a modal in the rest of the hospital's wards.

Apart from this appreciated effort, Mrs. Thomas also represented AIIMS in various conferences, workshops, seminars and was able to share her knowledge with a wide array of medical professionals. She has been working with the AIIMS for the past 23 years and has served in various departments. Her husband Rev. Thomas Varghese who is presently a serving as Manager of Believers Church Residential Schools, Kerala, has been a great support for her. She has two children, Liris and Leny who are counselors in the field of child rights and family welfare, respectively. Liris is presently serving the children of the Believers Church Children's Home, New Delhi.