New Class of Alabama Schweitzer Fellows Named

14 Graduate Students Will Spend Next 13 Months Embarking on Community Health Projects Across Central Alabama

Albert Schweitzer Fellowship of Alabama

P.O. Box 660412; Birmingham, AL 35266

(205) 202-0695; asfalabama.org

CONTACT

Kristin Boggs, MSW, Executive Director

kristin.boggs@schweitzerfellowship.org; (205) 202-0695

Birmingham, AL — March 19, 2021 — The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship of Alabama (ASF) announced today the selection of its 2021-22 class of Alabama Schweitzer Fellows. Fourteen graduate students from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the University of Montevallo, and Samford University will spend the next 13 months immersed in community public health projects. Their projects will improve the health and social well-being of their populations of choice while simultaneously strengthening their leadership skills. In doing so, they will continue the legacy of the Fellowship’s namesake, the famed physician-humanitarian Dr. Albert Schweitzer.

Since 2015, the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship of Alabama has forged many beneficial academic partnerships, including seven schools among three university partners, such as the UAB School of Dentistry. “UAB School of Dentistry is pleased to have had a number of dental students participate in The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship program, beginning with the inaugural Alabama Schweitzer Fellows class in 2016,” said Dr. Russell S. Taichman, the Dean of UAB School of Dentistry. “We are especially proud of our three ASF Fellows selected for the 2021 cohort of the prestigious program. They have the opportunity to demonstrate leadership and create lasting change, using their knowledge and skills in real-life situations to improve oral health and overall health in Alabama’s most vulnerable populations.” 

“Graduate school is a time that students are asked to specialize, to hone in and learn in-depth knowledge about their discipline. The Schweitzer Fellowship provides a balance for students so that they can see how other disciplines also approach these thorny social and health-related problems and, importantly, how the disciplines can work together to solve them,” said Kristin Boggs, Executive Director of ASF of Alabama. “Being able to learn from each other and from speakers in a variety of fields provides an interdisciplinary lens that is hard to replicate in a classroom setting over an extended period of time. We’re excited to have students this year from such a diverse array of fields to foster this interdisciplinary environment, and it would not be possible without the support of our seven academic consortium partners.” Those academic consortium members include Samford University’s College of Health Sciences; UAB Schools of Dentistry, Health Professions, Medicine, Nursing, and Public Health; and the University of Montevallo. 

Schweitzer Fellowships have an intensive leadership component so that Fellows can continue to inspire others to improve the health of those who experience barriers to care beyond their year of service. ASF Fellows work closely under the guidance of community site and academic mentors throughout the project period. ASF of Alabama will announce in May 2021 the specific projects and community site partners of the newest Fellow class. 

It is anticipated that the 14 Alabama Schweitzer Fellows will be joined by approximately 200 other 2021-22 Schweitzer Fellows working at program sites across the United States in early Spring. Upon completion of their Fellowship year, the 2021-22 Schweitzer Fellows will become Schweitzer Fellows for Life, joining an active network of Schweitzer alumni continuing their commitment to improving the public health of underserved communities throughout their careers.

Some of the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship’s most notable Fellows for Life include Dr. Stefan Kertesz, who leads research and education on improving the care of people who are homeless and who also serves as Vice-Chair of the national Albert Schweitzer Fellowship Board of Directors; Rishi Manchanda, MD, author of the TED book The Upstream Doctors: Medical Innovators Track Sickness to Its Source; Jessica Lahey, JD, author of the bestselling The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed; and Robert Satcher, Jr., MD, Ph.D., assistant professor, Anderson Cancer Center, and NASA mission specialist. 

2021-22 Alabama Schweitzer Fellows

NameSchool Discipline
Ibukun AfonUAB School of Health ProfessionsHealth Services Administration
Jenai BosticUAB School of DentistryDentistry
Tanya CorreyaUAB School of MedicineMedicine
Jennifer GoolsbyUniversity of MontevalloCounseling
Carolyn Grace GriffinUAB School of DentistryDentistry
Madison HartleySamford UniversityPharmacy
Matthew HudsonUAB School of MedicineMedicine/Business
Henry KendrickUAB School of DentistryDentistry
Margaret LloydUAB – Biomedical SciencesMultidisciplinary Biomedical Sciences
Grace MenziesUAB School of Public HealthPublic Health
David MossUniversity of MontevalloCounseling
Joia PfeifferUAB School of NursingNursing
Malik SealsUAB – Biomedical SciencesImmunology
Shanquela WilliamsUAB School of Public HealthHealth Behavior

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About The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship of Alabama

The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship (ASF) of Alabama is preparing the next generation of professionals who will serve and empower vulnerable people to live healthier lives and create healthier communities in Alabama. To date, 71 Alabama Fellows have contributed over 15,000 hours of service at a value of over $388,000. Nationally, more than 4,000 U.S Schweitzer Fellows have delivered nearly 750,000 hours of service to individuals and communities in need. Additionally, over 100 Lambaréné Schweitzer Fellows have served in Africa at the Schweitzer Hospital in Lambaréné, Gabon.  Through this work and through the ongoing contributions of the more than 4,000 program alumni who continue as Schweitzer “Fellows for Life”, ASF perpetuates the legacy and philosophy of physician-humanitarian and Nobel Peace laureate Dr. Albert Schweitzer. ASF currently has 13 active program locations in the U.S.  The national nonprofit is located in Boston, MA.