Maria Elena Ruiz, Diversity Advisory Council member, to receive Betty J. Cleckley Minority Research Award

10/28/08  San Diego, CA

Maria Elena Ruiz, M.S., R.N., Diversity Advisory Council member and assistant professor in the School of Nursing, has been selected to receive the Betty J. Cleckley Minority Research Award at the 136th annual American Public Health Conference in San Diego. Her research with Latino and Asian elders was selected for its relevance to minority healthy issues, the importance of the topic, rigor of the design and analysis, and timeliness and potential benefits to public health. The award honors individuals in the aging and public health fields who have made a difference in the lives of members of diverse racial/ethnic older communities.

Meanwhile, the Community Health Partnership selected two School of Nursing students to receive the Laurence R. Foster Memorial Scholarship: Rebecca Bressman and Jacqui Martin.

Bressman is second-time Foster Scholar pursuing a Master of Public Health degree. As a Native American tribal member, she is particularly interested in health disparities in Native American Communities. Her mission is to help reverse the trend whereby “…as Native Americans become ‘Americanized’, their health outcomes deteriorate.”

Martin has been awarded a Foster Scholarship four times. She works as a bilingual nurse for Washington County Health Department and is completing her family nurse practitioner Master of Science degree. Her public health experience includes volunteering in Guatemala, community health fairs and working at Planned Parenthood. She hopes to open her own teen health clinic upon completion of her degree.

School of Medicine students Catherine Gonzalez-Maddux and Patrick Hudson also were awarded Foster Scholarships.