UNMC Research Coordinator Receives Fulbright
Jill Brown, a research coordinator in geriatrics at UNMC, has been awarded
a Fulbright Fellowship to study for nine months in India.
In September, Brown will travel to Varanasi, India, where she will do
a creative writing project centered on perspectives of death and dying.
Located on the banks of the sacred Ganges River, Varanasi is one of the
most important pilgrimage sites in India. Dying in Varanasi is said to
provide a direct route to heaven.
“Varanasi is one of the holiest cities in India,” Brown said. “If you
die there, the Hindus believe you escape reincarnation.”
Brown, 27, is one of only 10 Fulbright Fellows to be accepted into
the country by the Indian government. “I’m really honored,” the Minden,
Neb., native said.
During her stay, a poet from the University of New Delhi will mentor
Brown, who also hopes to live with an Indian family and work in hospice
care.
Brown is a 1995 graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where
she obtained a bachelor’s degree in psychology. From 1996 to 1998, she
was a Peace Corps volunteer in Namibia, Africa, where she helped educate
natives about HIV/AIDS. She joined UNMC this past spring.
Her mother, Opal Brown, still lives in Minden.
The U.S. Fulbright Program is designed to give college graduates, students
pursuing master’s or doctoral programs, and young professionals and artists
opportunities for personal development; intellectual, professional and
artistic growth; and international experience. Fulbright Fellows receive
full grants, travel grants and/or teaching assistantships which allow them
to pursue one academic year of self-designed study and/or research in a
foreign country. More than 4,000 applicants compete annually for approximately
800 awards.
UNMC is the only public academic health science center in the state.
Through its commitment to research, education, outreach and patient care,
UNMC has established itself as one of the country’s leading centers for
cancer research and treatment, solid organ transplantation and arthritis.
During the past year, nearly $31 million in research grants and contracts
were awarded to UNMC scientists, and UNMCs funding from the National Institutes
of Health increased by 28 percent, going from $16.2 million to $20.7 million.
UNMC’s educational programs are responsible for training more health professionals
practicing in Nebraska than any other institution.