For Immediate Release
August 28, 2009
SAN FRANCISCO - Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF) today announced that its scholarship recipients for the Morehouse College Project: IMHOTEP internship program received awards from the program for their research and presentation efforts. Of eight awards given by Project: IMHOTEP, three students selected for the internship program by APIAHF's Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) Affairs program received a total of four awards.
Project: IMHOTEP provides valuable experience for underrepresented minority students who are interested in pursuing careers in public health by teaming up with health professionals at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to conduct public health research. APIAHF and the CDC provided three scholarships to NHPI students for the Project: IMHOTEP internship program efforts to increase the number of NHPI public health and health care professionals.
"This was the experience of a life time for our students, Project: IMHOTEP taught them invaluable skills and instilled in them a confidence that will endure throughout their careers in public health," said Tau Ve'e-Remmers, APIAHF NHPI Affairs manager. "I am very proud that their hard work and dedication was honored by Morehouse College and Project: IMHOTEP"
Rhadika McCormick was awarded the Top Student Award, which is given to the top students who have excelled in the training, research, writing, and presentation. She also received the Readers Choice Award, which is given to the student who exemplifies to qualities of scholarship, leadership, and academic excellence. Ms. McCormick is a senior at Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA and plans to attend graduate and/or medical school and to work in the field of Public Health. She hopes to help improve the accessibility and quality of health care in underdeveloped countries.
Solomone Havea Solomone was awarded the Derek Dunn Scholarship for excellence in research and exemplary leadership skills from a student conducting research in a National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health facility. He is a senior at Brigham Young University in Provo, UT, and is fluent in three languages: English, Tongan, and Spanish. His goals include furthering his education in public Health and returning to Tonga to improve the public health care system.
Kawehilani Unga received a PEER Award, which is voted on by all current interns and is based on leadership, congeniality, and over all willingness to assist their peers. She is a 2008 graduate from Brigham Young University in Provo, UT. Her career goal is to help increase the awareness of health disparities among Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities.
APIAHF is a national health policy organization for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Paciļ¬c Islanders. APIAHF's mission is to advocate for greater recognition, inclusion and engagement of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders on policies and programs that are critical to the health and well-being of our diverse and vibrant communities.
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