The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship

July 29, 2010 - Improving Children’s Access to Fresh Foods in Chicago

Much has been written about the Chicago region’s “food deserts”—low-income areas where fresh food sources are difficult to find, and community and individual health suffer as a result.

Vivian Leung is doing something about it. With the overall goal of empowering underserved elementary schoolers and their families to overcome the systemic and social factors that prevent them from choosing fresh, healthy foods, this Chicago Area Schweitzer Fellow and Rush University College of Medicine student has established the after-school “Edible Schoolyard Program” with William H. King Elementary School. Centered on planting and collaboratively sustaining a vegetable garden, the program utilizes a hands-on approach through which elementary school students learn about nutrition, plant biology, and healthy food choices.

Read this week's installment of "Five Questions for a Fellow" on ASF's official blog on for insights into Leung’s motivation for tackling the problem of “food deserts” at a local level—and her ideas about why it’s so important to solve that same problem at a national level.

July 23, 2010 - New Class of Los Angeles Schweitzer Fellows: Meeting the Needs of LA’s Underserved People

With August right around the corner, and temperatures skyrocketing to record heights across the country, right now many of us have vacation on our minds. However, as they prepare for their upcoming year of service, the new class of 2010-2011 Schweitzer Fellows in sunny Los Angeles are forsaking the pool deck and the lawn chair in favor of a much less relaxing, yet ultimately more rewarding agenda: working to address health disparities in Los Angeles’ most vulnerable communities.

Take USC School of Pharmacy student Stephanie Liang, who this year plans to work with the Community Health Alliance of Pasadena to address medication adherence and health knowledge in patients affected by chronic diseases by holding information sessions for both patients and health care providers. Through her project she also hopes to strengthen the ties between USC Pharmacy students and the Pasadena clinic in the hopes of creating a lasting partnership between the two organizations. Click here to read a recent USC News article announcing Liang’s selection.

Or take Fellow Roland Palvolgyi, a medical student at UCLA Geffen School of Medicine who aims to address the prevalence of hepatitis B in underserved communities around Los Angeles County by providing hepatitis B screening at health fairs and conducting monthly educational workshops and seminars.

Over the next year, Liang, Palvolgyi, and 13 other 2010-11 Los Angeles Schweitzer Fellows will join over 200 Schweitzer Fellows across the country in conceptualizing and carrying out service projects that address the health needs of underserved individuals and communities.

We’ll keep you posted as these new Fellows address unmet health needs in Los Angeles (and develop into Leaders in Service in the process)—we hope you’ll be as excited as we are about the impact they’re aiming to deliver. In the meantime, you can browse the new Los Angeles Schweitzer Fellows’ projects here.

Click here to support the Los Angeles Schweitzer Fellows Program. Click here to download an informational one-pager about the Los Angeles Schweitzer Fellows Program.

July 22, 2010 - Bringing Behavioral Health Services to Inmates in Need

As Schweitzer Fellows, Meg Quimper and Brodie Parent spent last year working to develop a behavioral health educational program at the Allegheny County Jail. In this week's installment of "Five Questions for a Fellow" on ASF's official blog, these University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine students discuss their journey of service, and their hopes for their program’s continued impact.

Read their interview here.

July 20, 2010 - 2010-11 New Orleans Schweitzer Fellows Work to Improve Health in Their Community

In light of the ongoing oil spill disaster in the Gulf Coast, and the upcoming five-year anniversary of the devastating Hurricane Katrina, it’s clear to see that New Orleans has dealt with more than its fair share of adversity—adversity that has made life even more difficult for the city’s most vulnerable people.

From their orientation weekend spent learning about how the environmental health of the local wetlands contributes to the overall health of the community, to their individual projects working to target the varied social determinants of health, the 2010-2011 class of New Orleans Schweitzer Fellows is poised to do something about it.

Take Tulane School of Medicine student Jessie Kittle, who this year will not only work with the New Orleans Syringe Access Program to reduce HIV/Hepatitis C infection and drug overdose by implementing health and safety trainings for injection drug users, but also will work to increase their access to health care and substance abuse treatment programs. (If you’re in the New Orleans area, watch WWL (Channel 4) tomorrow morning to see Kittle, Jerrine Morris, John Moustoukas, and Chelsea Singleton discuss their Schweitzer projects.)

Or Megan Burns from the LSU Health Sciences Center School of Public Health, who will work with local elementary school children to develop a community based school gardening program in an effort to increase their knowledge and skills regarding growing, preparing, and marketing fresh produce.

Over the next year, Kittle and Burns, as well as 9 other New Orleans-area professional school students representing a diverse array of disciplines, will conceptualize and carry out service projects that address the health needs of underserved individuals and communities throughout the Greater New Orleans area.

We’ll keep you posted as these new Fellows address unmet health needs in New Orleans (and develop into Leaders in Service in the process)—we hope you’ll be as excited as we are about the impact they’re aiming to deliver. In the meantime, you can browse the new New Orleans Schweitzer Fellows’ projects here, and click here to read an earlier blog post about two New Orleans’ Fellows work to improve the health and lives of the area’s homeless veterans.

Click here to support the New Orleans Schweitzer Fellows Program. Click here to download an informational one-pager about the New Orleans Schweitzer Fellows Program.

July 15, 2010 - Working to Help HIV+ Patients Live Longer, Healthier Lives

Earlier this week, the Obama administration unveiled its new national strategy for addressing HIV/AIDS—a strategy that emphasizes prevention, urges coordination between agencies, and aims to reduce new infections by 25%.

Revathi Jyothindran and Joshua Liao, two Schweitzer Fellows in Houston, TX, are tackling the issue of HIV/AIDS at the local level. With Ben Taub General Hospital’s Emergency Center as their setting, these Baylor College of Medicine students are working to establish a program that links newly-diagnosed HIV+ patients to follow-up and long-term care, and amplifies their voices through stories that will be published for hospital system distribution. Ultimately, Jyothindran and Liao’s Schweitzer project supports a larger goal of helping HIV+ patients live longer, healthier lives through awareness and continuity of care.

Click here to read today's "Five Questions for a Fellow" interview with Jyothindran and Liao on ASF's official blog, Beyond Boulders.

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