Dr. Diane Hill Presented with Freedom Fund Community Award by the NAACP New Brunswick Area Branch

Dr. Diane Hill, assistant professor of professional practice at the School of Public Affairs and Administration (SPAA) and the assistant chancellor for the Office of University-Community Partnerships (OUCP) at Rutgers University–Newark, was recently presented with a 2024 Freedom Fund Community Award from the NAACP New Brunswick Area Branch (NBAB) at their 47th Annual Freedom Fund Community Service Awards Luncheon. This year's theme was “Power of Unity: Thriving Together,” recognizing those who work toward equal opportunity for all people and help communities to thrive. NBAB President Bruce Morgan Sr. welcomed the honorees and bestowed their awards.

Dr. Hill, along with Dr. Shawna Hudson from Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, received the Health Advocacy award for their work with the NJ HEROES TOO Project, a program of the New Jersey Alliance for Clinical and Translational Science (NJACTS). The New Jersey Healthcare Essential Worker Outreach and Education Study – Testing Overlooked Occupations (NJ HEROES TOO) has gained a wealth of data on COVID-19's effects, gleaned valuable insight into attitudes toward testing and vaccines, and improved COVID-19 awareness in underserved communities. Drs. Hill and Hudson served as principal investigators for the $5 million study, which was made possible through funding from the NIH Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics Underserved Populations (RADx-UP) Initiative. Dr. Hill led 20 community partners for the "Community Collaborations" component of the study, utilizing OUCP and the Center for Health Equity and Community Engagement's (CHECE) Transdisciplinary Intergenerational Community Engagement (TICEM) framework. 

As head of the Office of University-Community Partnerships at Rutgers-Newark, Dr. Hill fosters strategic collaborations connecting students, faculty, and staff with communities. For over a decade, she served as the co-director for African American Alzheimer’s Brain Health Initiative, which promoted research, memory health, and a better understanding of Alzheimer’s among minority and economically disadvantaged seniors. She continued her work with the aging population, having created the Advocates for Health Living Initiative (AHLI), that focuses on senior health care in Newark and beyond. She is a faculty member at Rutgers SPAA and also contributes to the Rutgers Institute for Global Health.