“We are proud to fund 18 health equity champions this year.”
CHESTERFIELD, Mo. (PRWEB)
April 27, 2023
The American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) today announced 18 awardees of its Health Equity Achieved Through Lifestyle Medicine (HEAL) Initiative Scholarship to support lifestyle medicine leaders who are working to reduce health disparities in historically underserved communities across the United States. In addition, the HEAL Scholarship Program is designed to support a diverse health care workforce by awarding underrepresented in medicine (UIM) clinicians with need-based scholarships that cover the costs associated with attaining education and certification in lifestyle medicine. This month, the nation observed National Minority Health Month and the importance of improving the health of underserved racial and ethnic communities, many of which UIM health care professionals and HEAL scholarship awardees serve.
ACLM founded the HEAL Initiative to promote heath equity through lifestyle medicine. Scholarship recipients receive one-year membership in ACLM, registration and travel stipend for the organization’s annual conference, which features pioneers as well as innovators in the field of lifestyle medicine, and American Board of Lifestyle Medicine exam registration. Beyond the financial support for recipients to attain education and certification in lifestyle medicine, the HEAL Scholarship, now in its third year, also helps scholars to build relationships in the field that lead to an exchange of ideas and innovations to create equitable health solutions.
“We are proud to fund 18 health equity champions this year,” said Beth Frates, MD, FACLM, DipABLM, ACLM President and Harvard Medical School Assistant Professor. “We know that communities in need are at a higher risk for lifestyle-related chronic disease. These scholars don’t just have proven experience treating some of the country’s most medically underserved groups, but the awardees have created unique, evidenced-based solutions that address underlying factors, like food and housing insecurity, that exacerbate lifestyle related chronic disease. Without a doubt, supporting them in their innovative work will lead to great impact for those who need it most.”
More than 60% of the U.S. adult population and 25% of children have at least one chronic disease. Chronic conditions such as type 2 diabetes disproportionately affect historically underserved populations such as Black and Latino communities. Moreover, in communities with decreased access to health care, healthy foods, and strong educational and economic opportunities, people often must overcome significant barriers to make evidenced-based healthy lifestyle choices that are proven to prevent, treat, and even reverse chronic diseases.
The 2023 HEAL scholarship recipients are:
Dr. Vanessa Allen, Primary Care Physician
- Vanessa Allen, MD, LLC, Natural Family Wellness, Fulton, MD
Dr. Pheobe Askie, Primary Care Innovation Lead, Family Physician
- Crescentcare, New Orleans, LA
Dr. Ian Blubaugh, Family Medicine Physician
Dr. Adwoa Boahene, Assistant Director/Faculty Physician
- UPMC Williamsport Family Medicine Residency, Williamsport, PA
Dr. Shauntelle Bonman, CEO/Medical Director
- Doctor Mom, PLLC, Plano, TX
Dr. Ratna Charishma Boppana, Hospitalist
- SCP Health, Jefferson City, MO
Angela Bronzie, MHS, NBC-HWC, PA, Board-Certified Health and Wellness Coach
- AlaVia Health and Wellness, Cincinnati, OH
Dr. Dominique DiLorenzo, FMOB Hospitalist
- Truehealth/Advent Health/Optimum Direct Care, Orlando, FL
Dr. Jessica Edwards, District Medical Director
- One Medical, Jersey City, NJ
Tasnim El Mezain, MS, RDN, NBC-HWC, Health and Wellness Coach
- UC San Diego, San Diego, CA
Dr. Asia McDonald, Physician
- Healthy Roots MD, Summerville, SC
Dr. Faith Nyong, Faith Community Nurse
- Ascension Mercy, Aurora, IL
Dr. Landon Opunui, Interim Executive Director & Medical Director
- Nā Puʻuwai Native Hawaiian Health Care System, Kāneʻohe, HI
Dr. Hugo Ortega, General Internal Medicine Fellow/Assistant Professor, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine
- Northwell Health, New York, NY
Dr. Fabienne Saint-Preux, Lifestyle Medicine Fellow
- Loma Linda University Medical Center, Preventative Medicine Department, Loma Linda, CA
Dr. Whitney Stansbury, Assistant Clinical Professor
- Mount Sinai Hospital, Oakland Gardens, NY
Dr. Erica Tukiainen, Sports Medicine Physician
- Kaiser Permanente, Bakersfield, CA
Dr. Yolanda Wade, Family Physician
ACLM will accept applications for the next cohort of HEAL scholars in early 2024.
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ABOUT ACLM — The American College of Lifestyle Medicine is the nation’s medical professional society advancing lifestyle medicine as the foundation for a redesigned, value-based and equitable healthcare delivery system, leading to whole person health. ACLM educates, equips, empowers and supports its members through quality, evidence- based education, certification and research to identify and eradicate the root cause of chronic disease, with a clinical outcome goal of health restoration as opposed to disease management.
ABOUT HEAL — The American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) first established the Member Interest Group in 2019 to address lifestyle-related chronic disease health disparities. In 2020, ACLM convened some of the nation’s foremost thought leaders at the inaugural Health Disparities Solution Summit to discuss how lifestyle medicine strategies can help bridge the gap between health disparities and the impact on racial and ethnic populations across the country. The recommended action steps were incorporated into HEAL priorities and the work became the Health Equity Achieved through Lifestyle Medicine (HEAL) Initiative. More than 450 health equity advocates from a myriad of specialties now connect monthly to discuss unique and effective ways to reach medically underserved communities experiencing health care access issues, food insecurity, and other social determinants of health that impede on their ability to live healthy lifestyles.
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