PHILADELPHIA — Two graduate students from the University of Pennsylvania, along with 13 others from the greater Philadelphia region, have each been awarded an Albert Schweitzer Fellowship. 

These students, members of the 2011-12 class of Greater Philadelphia Schweitzer Fellows, will spend the next year addressing health disparities in the region while developing lifelong leadership skills.

Kenji Taylor, a student in the Penn School of Medicine, will address hypertension in African-American males by coordinating, expanding and providing blood-pressure screenings in barbershops in West Philadelphia through the “Cut Hypertension” program.  Taylor aims to identify hypertensive African-American males, educate them on the dangers associated with high blood pressure, provide preventive lifestyle coaching and facilitate connections with local primary-care providers.

Charles G. Tyson, a student in the Penn School of Social Policy & Practice, will address health disparities and social-justice issues among young men of color who have sex with other men through primary and secondary prevention and outreach interventions.  In addition to co-facilitating a support group for HIV-positive young men, he will assist with developing and evaluating programming for these men.

Taylor and Tyson are among 250 Schweitzer Fellows nationwide who will partner with community-based organizations to develop and implement yearlong, mentored service projects that sustainably address the social determinants of health, in addition to their regular graduate school responsibilities.