UCLA Health Equity Challenge awards $100,000 in funding to student projects aimed at eliminating health inequities in Los Angeles
After 10 weeks of working with mentors and community partners to turn their health equity ideas into full project proposals, two UCLA students were named the winners of the Health Equity Challenge, a competition presented by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and The MolinaCares Accord.
Angelica Johnsen and Alma Lopez were selected as the grand prize winners of the inaugural challenge, and their community partners, the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science and SHIELDS for Families, will receive $50,000 each to fund and implement their proposals, which both tackle critical mental health inequities.
“Health equity should never be an afterthought. It is the bedrock of public health. It is both a core value and a responsibility. And it starts right here in local communities,” said Dr. Kathryn Kietzman, director of the Health Equity Program at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.
by Tiffany Lopes