Scholarship Supports Promising
UConn Foundation newsletter Momentum, Summer 2006 issue
A new scholarship fund will benefit students researching women’s health issues, thanks to a $25,000 endowment from a UConn alumna who was once helped in her own studies by similar support.
Christine N.Witzel, Ph.D. ’81 (CLAS) of Palo Alto, CA, recently made the gift to support promising graduate and undergraduate students working with the innovative Center for Health, Intervention, and Prevention (CHIP) in Storrs. It is the Center’s first major gift since the program’s expansion in 2002.
During her own graduate studies at UConn in the late 1970s and early 1980s,Witzel was aided by a fellowship that allowed her to focus on research in women’s health and healthcare evaluation. She sees her gift, especially in the face of the global growth of HIV/AIDS, as a means of ‘giving back’ by supporting emerging research.
“I’d love for the scholarships to promote new talent who may otherwise not be able to conduct their research,” she says. “I hope it helps young people find a career, and for that career to benefit a lot of people.”
Witzel has been personally active in the fight against HIV/AIDS in the San Francisco Bay Area for many years. She became involved in women’s health issues in the 1970s by helping to found Connecticut DES Action, an organization for those affected by the use of the drug diethylstilbestrol during pregnancy. Witzel, a ‘DES daughter,’ sees research and social change as the key to preventing similar healthcare crises.
“HIV/AIDS is a terrible pandemic that doesn’t have to be. Many of the reasons for its spread are actually cultural and social values. Good research can help drive change,” says Witzel.
Part of the Department of Psychology in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, CHIP is a multidisciplinary research center studying the dynamics of health behavioral changes in individuals and targeted at-risk populations. Its researchers create new theoretical frameworks and behavior change interventions for preventing the spread of HIV infection, increasing medical adherence, diabetes management, cancer prevention, nutrition and other health risks.The Center’s faculty represents nearly all the schools and colleges within the University, as well as individuals in other University systems. In addition to supporting research focused on American health issues, CHIP also has projects planned or underway in Africa, Asia and Europe.
When seeking an appropriate venue for her philanthropy,Witzel was pleased to learn more about CHIP.
“I shared my values and priorities with the organization, and I’m confident they’ll use the gift in the best way possible to honor those values,” she says.
To qualify for the Christine N.Witzel Awards, students must be recommended by a CHIP faculty member and write a three- to five-page draft proposal for innovative research in the area of women’s health.The proposal must also show particular promise for future funding from a private foundation or a federal agency such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Jeffrey Fisher, Ph.D., professor of social psychology and the director of CHIP, says that because of the gift’s focus on research, it is not only supporting the students of today, but the entire field tomorrow.
“We have many marvelous graduate students, with great ideas for projects, but there’s never enough available funding for pilot research, which is often needed before they can apply for external funding,” he says.“Christine’s support is an engine that drives that preliminary research and is very helpful for those working in the areas of HIV and cancer prevention.”
For more information about the Christine N. Witzel Award Fund scholarship, interested students should contact the Office of Student Financial Aid Services at 860.486.2819 or online at http://financialaid.uconn.edu. For more information about the Center for Health, Intervention, and Prevention, please call 860.486.2438 or visit their web site at http://www.chip.uconn.edu.
