Five Graduate Students Awarded Schweitzer Fellowships

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Four students at the Feinberg School of Medicine and one student at the Northwestern University School of Law have been awarded Schweitzer Fellowships to work to improve health issues with existing community organizations in the Chicago area.

The winners are medical students Mary Alexandra Friedman, Chiagozie Ononye and Elizabeth Springston, physican assistant student Kisha Hope and law student Douglas Posey. Each of them will provide 200 hours of service over the next year to the project he or she designed.

Friedman will work at PCC Community Wellness Center, pairing diabetic patients with medical student health coaches to manage their disease. Ononye will create a program at Apostolic Faith Church to teach teenage girls about reproductive health, nutrition, and mental health. Springston will work with women affected by sexual assault and domestic violence to help with “the transition from victim to survivor.” Hope will work with the Young Women’s Empowerment Project to develop a self-defense clinic. Posey will mentor and advocate for juvenile drug offenders with Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities.

The Schweitzer Fellowship is named in honor of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Dr. Albert Schweitzer with the goal of encouraging exceptional students to “make their lives their argument” by addressing health challenges in areas where needs are not being met. The five Northwestern students were among 31 winners selected from 111 applicants. 

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