First recipients of AcademyHealth's Presidential Scholarship announced

AcademyHealth announced today the inaugural class of its Presidential Scholarship for New Health Services Researchers, which provides early career researchers with financial support to attend the organizations Annual Research Meeting (ARM) and offers exclusive networking and mentoring opportunities with AcademyHealth leadership and staff, and distinguished leaders in the field.

"The presidential scholarships are an opportunity for AcademyHealth to nurture the careers of budding researchers in an important new way," says AcademyHealth President and CEO Lisa Simpson, M.B., B.Ch., F.A.A.P. "This scholarship gives promising junior researchers unique access to the premier meeting for the field of health services research. It's an opportunity for them to interact with leaders in the field in new ways, and for us to learn from them about the challenges facing early career researchers and how AcademyHealth can better serve their needs, and more broadly, the changing needs of the field."

The 2012 Presidential Scholars are:

• Steven M. Belec, M.P.A., Boston Public Health Commission
• Evelyn Chang, M.D., VA Health Services Research Fellow, VA Greater Los Angeles Health System
• Rob Lieberthal, Ph.D., Jefferson School of Population Health, Thomas Jefferson University
• Yea-Jen Hsu, Ph.D., M.H.A, Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, John's Hopkins University
• Sean Phelan, Ph.D., M.P.H., University of Minnesota Medical School

The recipients of the Presidential Scholarship are either health services researchers within two years of completing a Ph.D. or Master's degree, or health professionals within two years of completing health services research training. AcademyHealth membership was required for consideration and previous AcademyHealth scholarship recipients were ineligible. The selected scholarship winners illustrated a clear connection between their career goals and the benefits of attending the ARM, demonstrated leadership ability among peers and colleagues, and exhibited significant potential to contribute to health services research and/or health policy.

"We're thrilled with the excellent caliber of applications received and the diversity of experience and interests this class of scholars represent," said Simpson. "I am personally delighted to see this expression of the tremendous new talent in our field and we look forward to learning with and from these scholars."

Provided by AcademyHealth