Lachlan Forrow, MD, is Director of Ethics Programs and Director of Palliative Care Programs at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.  He is Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and in 2007 received the HMS Lifetime Achievement Award for Community Service. For over 25 years he has been actively involved with International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (www.ippnw.org) and its U.S. affiliate Physicians for Social Responsibility (www.psr.org), which carry on Dr. Schweitzer’s work for the abolition of nuclear weapons and, for PSR, protection of the environment. He served as a 1982 Lambaréné Schweitzer Fellow and has been actively involved with ASF ever since.

"My three months as a Schweitzer Fellow in Lambaréné included some of the most difficult times of my life, but also some of the most meaningful. While sometimes world events can be depressing, meeting new groups of Schweitzer Fellows every year gives me almost limitless hope for the future."

Sylvia Stevens-Edouard, MS, is Executive Director of The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship. Prior to joining ASF via Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts’ (BCBSMA) loaned executive program, Stevens-Edouard served as Senior Director of Children’s Health Initiatives in the Medical Innovation and Leadership Division of BCBSMA. For more than 13 years, she managed the company’s community outreach and grantmaking programs. In 1998, she created and developed Jump Up and Go!, Blue Cross and Blue Shield’s campaign promoting youth physical activity and healthy eating, which was awarded the 2004 Ellis Bonner Award for Excellence in Community Leadership.

"Coming to ASF fulfills my commitment to 'giving back' and preparing the next generation of leaders to put service back into health. I'm honored and humbled to join an organization with such tremendous and transformative impact."

Meghan Johnson (Kalinich), MS, joined the Fellowship in 2003 and serves as the National Program Director for the U.S. Schweitzer Fellows Programs.  Meghan brings her experience as a 2000-2001 Boston Fellow where she assisted with the creation and implementation of the first school-based health clinic in a Boston public elementary school.  She holds a BA from Boston College and an MS in Maternal and Child Health from the Harvard School of Public Health.   

“My experience as a Schweitzer Fellow truly shaped the person I am today by affirming my commitment to service.  Albert Schweitzer once said, ‘Example is not the main thing in influencing others.  It is the only thing.’ The work of our Fellows influences and inspires me every day and I hope that my work at the Fellowship will be an equally inspiring example to others.”

Ivana Pavlisin joined the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship at the beginning of 2009 as a Financial Analyst. She received her BA from Northeastern University with a concentration in Accounting and Marketing, where she was also a member of the NU Varsity Volleyball team. Before joining the Fellowship, Ivana gained accounting experience in firms such as Wellington Management and Vitale, Caturano & Co.

Ian Stevenson, MA, CA, CPA, became the Chief Financial Officer for the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship in 2003. He brings over 25 years of experience in a variety of settings, both not-for-profit and for-profit, to the position. In addition to Big Four accounting experience in both the United Kingdom and United States, Ian has served as a Medicare Auditor, CFO of a research-based institution, CFO of a venture capital-backed national for-profit enterprise, and has held leadership positions in finance at both Harvard teaching and other non-teaching hospitals in New England. He holds a BA and MA (interdisciplinary management studies with distinction) from De Paul University in Chicago and holds CA and CPA certificates in the United Kingdom and United States respectively.

As well as  having the privilege of serving as the Fellowship's Chief Financial Officer, Ian enjoys a broadening role in cultivating potential individual donors whose passion for Schweitzer's ideals, and excitement in learning about the Fellowship's growth, matches his own family- rooted joy of service.

Patrice Taddonio joined the Fellowship in March 2009 after spending several years as a book publicist at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, where she specialized in promoting narrative non-fiction titles. She is the Fellowship's Communications Manager. She completed her BA at Tufts University in English and Mass Communications and Media Studies, and attended Columbia University's Publishing Course. While at Tufts, she served as Editor-in-Chief of the university's independent, student-run daily newspaper. She was also a part of the university's Web Communications team.

“The work of the Schweitzer Fellows is both inspiring and deeply impactful -- it's an honor to publicize both their individual projects and the Fellowship's mission as a whole. Dedicating myself to promoting Schweitzer's living legacy is a dream come true.”

Jan Walker, RN, MBA, began her career as a nurse manager at the Boston City Hospital and since has accrued 20 years of experience in management of not for profit companies and in researching healthcare delivery from the patient's point of view.  She is the Director of Evaluation for ASF.  Her interests include healthcare disparities, patient-centered care, and computers in care.  She grew up listening to Albert Schweitzer's recordings of Bach works for organ.

"Teaching young people to work effectively in underserved communities is so important in today's world.  I feel fortunate to be part of the Schweitzer Fellowship, which makes that its mission."

Bob Kirk, LCSW-C, has been a University of Maryland School of Social Work faculty member since 1995.  Bob provides field instruction, consultation for non-profits and support for organizational capacity building in Southwest and West Baltimore while also working as the Program Coordinator for the Baltimore Albert Schweitzer Fellows Program with the University of Maryland, Baltimore President’s Office.  Prior to this position, Bob worked in the area of Human Services and Homeless Services delivery, where he  was responsible for programs serving over 2,400 Baltimore City homeless individuals and families. Bob continues to work on Baltimore’s lack of affordable housing issues in partnership with local non-profit and community organizations and serves on several Board’s  of Director’s and Advisory Committee’s in Baltimore City. 

Bob continues to be amazed at the on-going creativity and endless energy expressed by the students he works with through his role in the Baltimore Albert Schweitzer Fellows Program.

Before joining the Chicago Area Schweitzer Fellows program, Ray Wang worked for the Chicago/Cook County Community Health Council, a private/public partnership dedicated to improving public health and access to health care for underserved and low income residents throughout the city and suburbs. At the Council, Ray planned and organized health fairs, community outreach events and advocacy efforts. Ray also directed the operations of the Common Pantry, a volunteer-based emergency food program in a Chicago neighborhood serving 600-650 people per month. Ray holds a master of fine arts degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and has produced and exhibited films and videos. He taught video art in the Intermedia Arts Department at Mills College in Oakland, CA.

Janna Stansell, MPH, graduated with her Master of Public Health degree in Community Health Sciences from the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health in May of 2008.  Prior, Janna received her BA in Psychology at California State University, Long Beach in 2006.  A Schweitzer Fellow herself in 2007-08, Janna was inspired to continue a life of service and joined the Schweitzer Program in Chicago as staff with Health and Medicine Policy Research Group (HMPRG).  Janna also works as a Policy Analyst for HMPRG on a Healthcare Safety Net project and has passions in increasing access to healthcare for underserved populations, fighting the obesity epidemic, and ensuring the health of adolescents. 

Nicole (Nikki) Cobb, MAOM, is the Program Director for the Greater Philadelphia Schweitzer Fellows Program and a Project Manager for the research division of Public Health and Education in the Department of Health Policy at Thomas Jefferson University's Medical College. For over 7 years she has been responsible for the development, evaluation, coordination, and administrative aspects of managing the complex details of specific research activities, which encompass developing outcome measures and intervention materials used in outcomes research; monitoring human subjects issues and developing data management policies, procedures and protocols.  She has a strong interest in community health and a desire to increase community awareness of health disparities.

"Expanding the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship Program to the Greater Philadelphia area is beneficial to the area's graduate students, universities and the community at large"

      Jean Jacques Tougoue Ngamaleu, MD, MPH, Program Director

Becky Torrey joined the Fellowship as Coordinator for the NH/VT Program in 2000. She holds a B.A. degree from Princeton University and a M.Ed. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

"I love working with the Fellows and have learned much from them over the years. Their commitment to helping others and the energy and insight they bring to all of their work is inspiring."

Holly Scheib, MPH, MSW, is a PhD candidate in International Health and Development at Tulane School of Public Health and holds a Master of Public Health and a Master of Social Work from the University of Michigan. After Hurricane Katrina, she and her husband decided to remain in New Orleans to be a part of the city’s rebuilding.  They worked with other parents to open a preschool and, carrying their children along for the ride, provided Spanish-translation to families needing medical assistance.  

Holly expanded her volunteerism with newly arrived immigrants as a 2008-2009 Albert Schweitzer Fellow, where she assessed parenting and child wellness needs mong Spanish-speaking households. Currently, she is an investigator on a community-based participatory action research project with Latina and African-American community health workers, is teaching courses in International Social Work at Tulane’s School of Social Work, and is a Visiting Scholar in the Center for Human Rights and International Justice at Boston College.

"Being a Fellow solidified how important it is for health research to be constantly engaged on a community level. I realized that there is a place for people like me: who seek to live and work with feet firmly planted in both community and academy, and that this is a relationship worth fostering. The support of the Schweitzer program has been instrumental in helping me find the courage and enthusiasm to carry on in this type of work – and that I can combine my family, community, and profession into activities that help to improve the future of the city I live in. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to have been a part of the Schweitzer Fellowship and am eager to be a Fellow for Life."