First Row, Left to Right: Riley Carbone MED’27, Jennifer Shah MED’27, Alyssa Fayerman MED’27, Neelima Paleti MED’27, Alexander Walkon MED’27
Nine medical students from Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine are among 26 new Schweitzer Fellows from New Hampshire and Vermont. Working under the guidance of their community or academic mentor, fellows collaborate with either community-based health or social service organizations to develop and implement yearlong projects to address the root causes of health disparities in under-resourced communities throughout the region.
Supported by a Community Advisory Board funded entirely on partnerships, grants, and charitable contributions, the New Hampshire/Vermont Albert Schweitzer Fellowship was founded in 1996 and is one of thirteen Schweitzer program sites across the U.S. Fellows are competitively chosen from graduate health professional and law students enrolled at institutions in New Hampshire and Vermont.
The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship, founded in 1940 and named after physician-humanitarian and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Dr. Albert Schweitzer, provides leadership development by giving fellows an opportunity to serve as an inspiration to their peers, and others, to improve the health of those experiencing barriers to care.
Geisel’s 2024-2025 Schweitzer Fellows and their service projects and community partners:
Riley Carbone and Jennifer Shah
Carbone and Shah are partnering with Moms in Recovery to enhance the childcare and nutrition education services offered by the program. Their project aims to support the comprehensive well-being of mothers with substance use disorders and their families in the Upper Valley.
Community Partner: Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) Moms in Recovery
Erikson Nichols and Alexander Walkon
Nichols and Walkon are developing an adaptive sports and fitness program for adults with developmental disabilities in a collaborative partnership between Dartmouth Athletics, the Geisel School of Medicine Disability Advocacy Group (DAG), and Visions. Their program aims to coordinate tailored events with specific Dartmouth sports teams to allow residents of Visions to interact with Dartmouth athletes and gain exposure to the health benefits associated with physical fitness in an inclusive environment.
Community Partner: Visions for Creative Housing Solutions
Isabella Marchal and Corbin Dameron
Marchal and Dameron are partnering with the Dartmouth Cancer Center Food Pantry during its period of expansion into a larger, dedicated space within DHMC. Their efforts will focus on optimizing this new physical space, digitizing the pantry’s systems, and conducting outreach to broaden its impact.
Community Partner: DHMC Cancer Center Food Pantry
Alyssa Fayerman
Fayerman aims to improve the support available to peripartum women and new families in the Upper Valley by improving the delivery of educational materials and increasing successful connections to community resources for pregnant and parenting people. She also plans to work with several community organizations to achieve these goals by increasing integration and reducing siloing among related organizations.
Community Partner: Good Beginnings of the Upper Valley
Neelima Paleti and Pranav Prabhala
Paleti and Prabhala are partnering with the Upper Valley Haven and Moms in Recovery program to address the challenges of food insecurity and limited access to nutritious foods faced by mothers recovering from substance use disorders. They aim to enhance utilization of the Haven’s food pantry services and support mothers with the information and resources necessary to prepare healthy meals using what they already have on hand.
Community Partners: Upper Valley Haven and DHMC Moms in Recovery
