Erickson Explorer Awardees 2021
Congratulations on the 2022 recipients of the Erickson Explorer Awards! The Erickson Explorer Award supports trainees doing elective rotations in low- and middle-income countries to support humanitarian medical care, advance global health research, or provide capacity building or other educational programs. The support is provided by the founder of the UIC Center for Global Health, Dr. Timothy Erickson, and the founding Director of the UIC Global Medicine (GMED) Program, Dr. Valerie Dobiesz.
This year’s recipient of the medical student award is Claudia Kazmirak, a GMED M4 student who is spending the year as a Fogarty Scholar in Lima, Peru. Claudia is participating in a study to assess social and behavioral determinants of HIV risk, experiences with the healthcare system, and preferences for HIV testing, treatment and prevention services among transgender women and their sexual partners. She will use the funds to help pay for costs related to research participant surveys and interviews.
The recipient of this year’s resident award is Dr. Jessica Wilson, a 4th year neurology resident at UIC. Dr. Wilson will be completing a global neurology rotation in Lusaka, Zambia in April. She hopes to gain medical knowledge and clinical expertise as a neurologist working in a limited resource setting and cross-cultural context to support the long-term goal of practicing neurology in remote and resource-limited settings and ethically contribute to global health care capacity building within the field of neurology.
We are excited that these UIC trainees have the opportunity to build their clinical and research skills while also contributing to advancing equitable care for all globally!