Alumni Accolades April 2016

Roberta Capp (1999) won the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science. Watch a video about her here!

As summarized by the Vilcek Foundation, Roberta found that, largely due to systemic barriers to primary care, many patients on Medicaid often depend on emergency departments for non-urgent conditions. To address the issue, Roberta conducted a trial program with patient navigators, trained professionals who work closely with patients to help them obtain timely primary care from diagnosis to follow-up. The trial showed that such services made a significant dent in emergency-department use and hospital admissions. Roberta is working with Medicaid officials in Colorado to improve health care access and delivery for underserved communities. Her work has implications for making health care accessible, affordable, and patient-centered. Roberta is an assistant professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, and she was born in São Paulo, Brazil.

The Vilcek Foundation awards the Vilcek Prizes annually to immigrants who have made lasting contributions to American society through their extraordinary achievements in biomedical research and the arts and humanities. Two prizes are awarded, one in biomedical research and one in the arts and humanities, in a field designated by the Foundation. They are currently accepting applications for 2017 Vilcek prizes. Learn more and apply.

Joelle Murchison (1991) has been named Associate Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer at University of Connecticut. She begins her new role on July 5.

Merry Willis (2000) was offered a Fulbright Distinctive Awards in Teaching grant to New Zealand! She will leave this fall and be there for a year studying how technology impacts learning.

LaToya Franklyn (2003) authored College As Reality, a step-by-step guide through the college and scholarship application process. The book documents her own experience with the process and gives the reader an intimate view into her life growing up as a Trinidadian immigrant in Brooklyn, New York.