(Philadelphia, PA) - Shiriki Kumanyika,
PhD, MPH, a Professor in the Department of Biostatistics
and Epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania School
of Medicine, has won the 2006 Robert F. Allen Symbol of
H.O.P.E. Award from the American Journal of Health Promotion.
It is presented annually to an individual who has made an outstanding
contribution to serving the health promotion needs of underserved
populations or to promoting cultural diversity in health promotion.
“It is an honor to receive this prestigious national distinction.
Throughout my career, I have advocated for health promotion research
and practices that are respectful of and responsive to cultural
and ecological influences on lifestyles and health status,”
said Kumanyika. “I push for the use of cultural knowledge
to develop and implement initiatives to reduce health disparities
affecting ethnic minority and socially disadvantaged communities.”
She has devoted particular energy to engendering strategies for
effective environmental and behavioral change to reduce obesity
and related disorders in the African American population. Her efforts
have also led her on a successful path of mentoring the next generation
of investigators and advocates for meeting the needs of underserved
populations in the United States with respect to diet and health.
Kumanyika is also currently Associate Dean for Health Promotion
and Disease Prevention; Founding Director of the Graduate Program
in Public Health Studies; Professor of Epidemiology in Biostatistics
and Epidemiology and in Pediatrics (Nutrition); and Senior Scholar
in the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, all at
the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. She is also a
Senior Fellow in Penn’s Leonard Davis Institute of Health
Economics and the Institute on Aging.
Kumanyika has a unique interdisciplinary background that integrates
epidemiology, nutrition, prevention, minority health, aging, and
women's health issues. A native of Baltimore, Maryland, she holds
a B.A. from Syracuse University, Master of Science in Social Work
from Columbia University, Ph.D. in Human Nutrition from Cornell
University, and Master of Public Health from the Johns Hopkins University
School of Public Health.
Kumanyika received the 2006 H.O.P.E. Award at the National Wellness
(Institute) Conference today (July 17) in Stevens Point, Wisconsin.
For more information on the award and the past winners, visit: http://ajhp.com/resource/hope.htm.
It is named in honor of one of the founding editors of AJHP, who
devoted his life to helping people empower themselves through harnessing
cultural norms.
The winner of the Robert F. Allen Symbol of H.O.P.E. (Helping Other
People through Empowerment) Award, presented annually by the American
Journal of Health Promotion, receives $3,500. The cash award is
made possible through grants provided by the California Wellness
Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and individual donors.
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