UIC SPH Presents 2008 Scholarship WinnersFour women lead the pack to win the 2008 University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health’s Scholarship Awards.
“These four important honors show the tradition of social leadership our school has championed, as well as the depth of talent and dedication our students and graduates bring to the public health community,” said Paul Brandt Rauf, dean of the UIC SPH.
The Amuwo Minority Scholarship was established to provide assistance to public health students who are committed to working on health issues within the Black/African-American community.
Honoree Yashika Watkins exemplifies this goal. “Chronic illness literature suggests that through the provision of culturally competent care, health disparities can be eliminated,” she said.
“Spirituality is central to the health care relationship for African American groups and is of paramount importance for health care professionals to consider as an element of the cultural context when providing care. Thus, my research will examine spirituality and its impact on diabetes and diabetes self-management in African-Americans with type 2 Diabetes Mellitus,” Watkins added. “This endowment… will allow me to continue fulfilling my research commitment to improving diabetes self-care activities and reducing co-morbidities in this population.”
After completing her undergraduate studies in Biology, Pre-medicine and Chemistry at Xavier University of Louisiana in 2001, Watkins, a native of Atlanta, Georgia, moved on to receive her Master of Public Health in Health Policy and Administration from the UIC SPH. Watkins currently holds an adjunct faculty position at Chicago State University and is completing her PhD at the UIC SPH with the goal of investigating chronic disease prevention and addressing health disparities in minority populations.
Ana Ricardo, is the winner of the Scrimshaw Family Scholarship for her ongoing commitment to improving the health of Hispanic and Latino communities.
Ricardo works as the primary care physician for under-served neighborhoods in West Rogers Park on the Northwest side of Chicago. She is also enrolled in the Master in Clinical and Translational Science program at the school and will begin a nephrology fellowship at UIC this summer.
Ricardo said the Scrimshaw award will help her achieve her goal of improving the health of Hispanic patients, particularly in studying novel ways to prevent diabetes complications.
“The Hispanic population has special medical needs,” she said. “I am grateful I will be able to continue my research studying those needs and hopefully contribute to their improvement.”
Ricardo also worked one year as a primary care physician in a rural area near her hometown of Sincelejo, Columbia before coming to the United States to complete her residency training at Chicago’s Michael Reese Hospital. She went on to receive her MPH in epidemiology at the UIC SPH in 2007.
The Estelle Goldstein Memorial Scholarship was established to honor the memory of Estelle Lorraine Goldstein, mother of faculty member Paul J. Goldstein, and supports students who have an interest in issues of aging and/or gerontology, with preference given to a student returning after the age of forty. Renae Smith-Ray’s research exemplifies the type of endeavor the scholarship was established to encourage. Smith-Ray said the Goldstein award will support her continued examination of the relationship between cognitive and physical health in old age.
“It is an honor to be named this year’s recipient of the Estelle Goldstein Memorial Scholarship,” she said. “I plan to represent the award with pride both throughout my studies and my career in cognitive aging research.”
Smith-Ray completed her undergraduate studies in Psychology and Human Biology at Illinois State University in May, 1998. She immediately enrolled in the University of Northern Colorado and received her Master of Arts in 2000 with a concentration in Neuropsychology.
After working as a senior project research manager at Kaiser Permanente’s a clinical research unit in Colorado and completing one year of her PhD studies at the University of Edinburgh, Smith-Ray returned to the United States to continue her doctoral work at the UIC SPH in 2007, at which time she also received a Pre-doctoral Fellowship in Gerontological Public Health. She is currently completing her second year of her PhD degree program in community health sciences with a primary emphasis on gerontology and a secondary emphasis on cognition.
The Bonnie C. Minsky Scholarship supports students whose research and education interests relate to maternal and child health, women’s health, healthy aging and/or nutrition. Sarah Forrestal’s research is concerned with how children and adolescents report their daily energy intake compared to adults. Along with two of her peers, she is also currently developing and co-teaching an honors college seminar, designed to introduce freshman students to the UIC SPH Maternal Child and Health Program.
“I am honored to have received this award,” she said. “The Minsky Scholarship will help financially while I work on my dissertation research this year.”
Forrestal is currently working on her PhD in community health sciences. After receiving her BA in Biology with a concentration in Physiology from Northwestern University in 1999, she worked as a science writer for GenneX Healthcare Technologies in Chicago. Forrestal also served as a research assistant for Northwestern University and Evanston Northwestern Healthcare.
The diversity of talents and projects in the 2008 applicant pool was a compliment to the school and a personal point of pride for Dean Brandt-Rauf.
“I am confident that many great accomplishments will be achieved by these four, talented women and many of the other applicants for the scholarships. While we are only able to name one winner for each scholarship, we take great pride in all our students and offer these honorees as a sample of the school’s talent and potential,” he said.
-- Danielle Desjardins and Nichola Moretti
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