The Robert Wood Johnson Center for Health Policy at the University of New Mexico, selected eight fellows for the 2009-2010 academic year. The program is committed to selecting scholars from across the country from the social science fields including, political science, economics, sociology, anthropology, psychology journalism, and from the clinical sciences in nursing.
This year’s fellows include:
Marita Luz Campos-Melady
Campos-Melady, a native of Santa Fe, is a doctoral student in psychology. She received her BA from Williams College, Massachusetts, and MS from UNM. She is interested in researching how individuals and communities can interact to overcome substance abuse disorders; and she is currently pursuing research concerning alcoholism and homeless women in NM.
Demetrius Chapman
Chapman, a public health clinical nurse specialist, studied at The Jewish Hospital College and Saint Louis University. His professional interests include outcome measures of public health nursing practice; barriers to health care access; health behavior and behavior change; HIV/AIDS; sexually transmitted infections; lead poisoning; communicable diseases; adolescent parenting; health disparities, especially those of Native Americans; and universal health care access.
Loren Kelly
Kelly is a doctoral student in the Nursing program. She grew up in New York and received her B.A. in political science from the State University of New York at Potsdam. As an undergraduate, Kelly was selected to study in an interdisciplinary program which integrated the perspectives of anthropology, political science, history, sociology, humanities and biology. In 1996, she earned an A.D.N. from Castleton State College in Vermont. Her research interests include community health advocacy and understanding how to design and implement health care delivery and public policies that support prevention and have a positive impact on health, especially in Native American, underserved, and rural communities.
Julie Lucero
Lucero, from Española, NM, is a health communication doctoral student from the Department of Communication and Journalism at UNM. Her health disparities research experience is grounded in 10 years of progressive public health research activities and program evaluations at tribal, state and national levels in community, not-for-profit and university settings.
Michael Muhammad
Muhammad is a doctoral student in the Department of Sociology. A native of Phoenix, he holds a BS in economics from Florida A & M University and a MA in sociology from Cleveland State University. His research interests include health inequalities for indigenous populations, poverty and racial discrimination.
Rongal Darnell Nikora
Nikora, a native Virginian, is a doctoral student in the Department of Political Science. After earning his BA in Religious Studies from the College of William and Mary in 1995, Nikora spent much of the next decade in working in Japan, returning to the U.S. to earn his MA in Peace Studies from the University of Notre Dame in 2001. His research interests include health inequalities in the United States, universal health care systems and public health policy.
Lucia E. Naranjo
Naranjo, from Aztec, NM, completed her masters in Nursing Administration at UNM in 1996. She worked as director of Nursing Services for the State of New Mexico and is interested in health care access for the underserved, uninsured and underinsured population. She has been an RN for 21 years and has worked another 10 years in related health care areas.
Shannon Sanchez-Terry
Sanchez-Terry, a doctoral student in Political Science, is a native Albuquerquean who earned her BS from UNM before spending nine years working in women’s community health. Shannon’s research interests lie in the social determinants of health, particularly how racism impacts Latina women’s health.
The RWJF Center for Health Policy Graduate Fellows were nominated by their UNM academic departments for their scholarly potential and interest in health services research. In addition, they share a commitment to the primary mission of the RWJF Center--increasing the number of leaders from Latino, American Indian and other underrepresented communities to help shape future health care policies and practices in our nation.
In addition to the financial support provided by the Center, the Graduate Fellows are mentored by a network of scholars and policy analysts from across the US, who are dedicated to ensuring that the fellows gain experience and expertise to develop and implement innovative solutions to challenging social issues affecting the nation’s health.
Information on qualifications, deadlines and full details about each of the Center’s fellowships is available by visiting: Health Policy.
Media Contacts: RWJF, Victor E. Cornejo (505) 276-9342; e-mail: victor@cornejocommunications.com or UNM, Carolyn Gonzales (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu
Posted by scarr at August 4, 2009 04:14 PM