UAB Synopsis, Vol. 25, No. 5, February 27, 2006
The UAB Women’s Center and UAB Women’s Studies Program have announced their 2006 outstanding women awards. The awards are conferred annually on women who demonstrate leadership, vision, courage, dedication, a commitment to the university, and advancement of women in the community.
Karen O. Allen is recipient of the Susan D. Marchase Outstanding Woman Administrator Award. Allen is program manager for the Division of Hematology-Oncology. Associate Professor in the Division of Preventive Medicine, Isabel Scarinci-Searles, PhD, MPH, is named Outstanding Woman UAB Faculty Member.
A breast cancer survivor, Allen reached out to other cancer patients through public speaking and visits to hospitals and hospice settings. She compiled a collection of songs by which she was comforted and inspired during the depths of her illness and provides the CD at low cost to others battling the disease.
Scarinci’s work has focused on health disparities, particularly as they relate to Hispanics and African Americans, helping individuals with diverse language, cultural, and educational experiences navigate the health care system. Among numerous initiatives, she developed “Sowing the Seeds of Health,” a program offering Pap smears and mammograms to uninsured Latino women in Marshall County, AL. A native of Brazil, Scarinci suffered from childhood polio. In spite of her own physical disability, she is recognized for extraordinary energy in her work with doctoral candidates in the public health field.
Marchase was director of administration and fiscal affairs for the UAB Department of Medicine, where she worked from 1988 until she lost her own battle with cancer in 2004, when the award was renamed in her honor. An active promoter of women’s issues at UAB, Marchase was named outstanding administrator/staff in 2002 by the UAB Women’s Center and UAB Women’s Studies Program.
Allen and Scarinci will be honored at a reception from 4:30 pm to 5:30 pm on March 9, UAB Green and Gold Room, Bartow Arena. For more information, call 934-6946.