NEW YORK, Nov. 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Ten health professional students from New York and New Jersey won $5,000 and $2,000 scholarships from the National Hispanic Health Foundation (NHHF), a nonprofit group affiliated with the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University. The scholarships will be presented at the Fourth Annual Hispanic Health Professional Student Scholarship Gala at 7 p.m. Nov. 29 at the New York Marriott Marquis Hotel, 1535 Broadway.
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This year's scholarship program was expanded with the support of the United Health Foundation, who donated $15,000.00 for $5,000.00 awards to the top three students. Other generous contributions were made by American Express, AMGEN, Empire Blue Cross, Johnson and Johnson, the NY City Health & Hospital Corporation, and other partners.
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Three prominent leaders will also be honored at the Gala, Jo Ivey Boufford, President, NY Academy of Medicine, Alan Aviles, President, NYCHHC, and Ron Williams, CEO, Aetna. "We are thrilled because this year we are honoring health leaders who are role models for our scholars," said Dr. Elena Rios, president and CEO of NHHF.
This year's Hispanic Health Professional Student Scholarships were awarded to outstanding students who have demonstrated academic excellence, leadership and a commitment to the Hispanic community, the nation's largest minority group. The scholarship targets students who have made a commitment to improving the health of Hispanic communities. Their disciplines are in five areas: medicine, nursing, dentistry, public health, and health policy and management.
"We at NHHF are honored to help these remarkable students in achieving their goals," Rios said. "By doing our part today, we are nurturing future health professionals and role models who will be tomorrow's leaders."
The winners of the 2007 Hispanic Health Professional Student Scholarships are: Noe Romo, Albert Einstein College of Medicine; Hector Aguilar, Albany Medical College; Monica Sianez, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health; Karen Florez, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health; Keila Torres, Columbia University School of Nursing; Carla Calcaterra, University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine; Erginio Fernandez, UMDNJ-New Jersey Dental School; Cruz M. Ortiz, UMDNJ-New Jersey School of Nursing; Jason Caraballo, NYU Wagner and Ginseng Torres-Chae, NYU Wagner.
The winners were selected by a prestigious panel of health care officials from the Wagner School, the National Association of Hispanic Nurses, the Latino Caucus of the American Public Health Association, the Hispanic Dental Association, and the NHMA. Since the scholarship program was launched in 2004, NHHF has awarded 28 scholarships totaling $57,000. Also this year, NHHF established the scholarship program in Sacramento, California that will occur January 22, 2008 and provide 10 more scholarships.
NHHF is the 501(c)(3) arm of the National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA), a nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC, and representing Hispanic physicians across the U.S. NHHF is affiliated with NYU's Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, which is a center of academic excellence for public service, including health policy and management, leadership and health services research.
For information on the National Hispanic Health Foundation, go to www.nhmafoundation.org
National Hispanic Health Foundation
The National Hispanic Medical Association established the National Hispanic Medical Foundation in 1994 to provide research and educational activities focused on Hispanic health. In 2000, the name was chang
