Project L/EARN featured on the Rutgers University Research Highlight
Project L/EARN featured on the Rutgers University Research Highlight web site. The article describes how the Project L/EARN summer training program enables sophomores and juniors from underrepresented populations to explore graduate training and career opportunities in health, mental health and health policy research.
Dawne
Mouzon wins graduate student paper award
Dawne Mouzon a doctoral student in medical sociology and long-time Project L/EARN instructor, was
the 1st place winner of the Mental Health Division’s Student Paper Competition at the
annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Social Problems. She presented her
award-winning paper “Marriage and Mental Health: Exploring Potential Race/Gender
Variations” on August 9 in San Francisco. Dawne’s graduate study at Rutgers is
funded by a Minority Fellowship from the American Sociological Association.
Karen Hidalgo receives Guarnaccia “Intern of the Year” Award
Karen Hidalgo is the 2009 recipient of the Peter J. Guarnaccia Intern of the Year
Award from Project L/EARN. She was chosen by vote of her peers in terms of dedication,
passion, tenacity and work ethic – characteristics that Dr. Guarnaccia brought to the
program and modeled to the interns in his role as director, guest lecturer, writing
workshop teacher, and mentor.
Project L/EARN students meet with former U.S. Surgeon General
October 2008: Three Project L/EARN alumni were among six undergraduate Rutgers
students from health fields who had an opportunity to present their research
to former Surgeon General of the United States, Dr. C. Everett Koop during his
recent visit to Rutgers for a conference on Biology and Biomaterials.
From left to right: Jacqueline Palmer (L/EARN ’08, Ernest
Mario School of Pharmacy; faculty mentor: Dr. Derek DeLia), Jennifer Lugris
(L/EARN ‘07, sociology major; faculty mentor: Dr. Helene White), Dr. Koop,
and Datrell Ward (L/EARN ’07, biology major; faculty mentor: Dr. Howard
Leventhal).
New “Intern of the Year Award” named for Peter Guarnaccia
August 2008: To honor Dr. Peter Guarnaccia for his dedication to developing
and overseeing Project L/EARN, a new award for best intern of the year has been
created. The Peter J. Guarnaccia Award recipient will be chosen annually from
that summer’s cohort of Project L/EARN interns by vote of his/her peers
in terms of dedication, passion, tenacity and work ethic – characteristics
that Dr. Guarnaccia has brought to the program and modeled to the interns in
his role as director, guest lecturer, writing workshop teacher, and mentor.
Fittingly, the first recipient was 2008 Project L/EARN intern Samia Ortiz-Hernandez
– Dr. Guarnaccia’s intern – who hails from the University
of Puerto Rico.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Awards Rutgers’ Institute for Health Research
$2.95 Million to Increase Diversity among Future Health Researchers
April 2008: The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has awarded a six-year,
$2.95 million grant to continue support for Project L/EARN, an intensive summer
research training internship for undergraduate students that is housed at Rutgers
Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research (IHHCPAR). Under
RWJF funding, Professor Jane Miller will assume the Faculty Directorship from
Professor Peter Guarnaccia who has led Project L/Earn for the past 12 years
under funding from the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH). Miller –
a research professor at IHHCPAR and the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning
and Public Policy – will co-direct the program with long-time Program
Director Diane (Deedee) Davis.
