Barbara Elliott, Ph.D. to Receive University of Minnesota Outstanding Community Service Award

The University of Minnesota in Minneapolis has announced that Barbara Elliott, Ph.D.  a professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth Campus, will receive a prestigious Outstanding Community Service Award.   Elliott is one of only five faculty members from throughout the University system who will receive an award on April 11 at a banquet at the McNamara Alumni Center in Minneapolis. 

Established in 1999 by University President Robert H. Bruininks when he was Provost, the award honors community outreach and service activities of the University of Minnesota community.  It recognizes members of the University community who have devoted their time and talent “to make substantial, enduring contributions to the community and to improving public life and the well-being of society.”

In his congratulatory letter to Elliott, Victor Bloomfield, the University’s Associate Vice President of Public Engagement said, "We very much value your contribution to the community and recognition to the University of Minnesota for your work in advancing adolescent health care, your involvement with the TeenLife Center, and many other contributions to community service.  It is obvious that your work, while related to your academic field, goes above and beyond what the University considers to be high professional standards."

Announcing the award on the Medical School Duluth campus, Gary Davis, Ph.D., interim senior associate dean of the Duluth medical school campus invited students and staff to “join me in congratulating Dr. Elliott on this wonderful achievement.  Her work reflects positively on the Medical School and all of us.”

A professor of Family Medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School – Duluth Campus, Dr. Elliott focuses her research on social justice issues in health care settings. Currently most of her research evaluates access to health care for at-risk youth. Her research projects and her personal dedication support the:

TeenLife Center (TLC), a program of health care research serving at risk youth. More than 200 adolescents received services through TLC’s safety net during the 2005-2006 school year, while also allowing their records to be used for outcomes measurements.

TLC has two clinics that serve at-risk adolescents in Duluth. One of the clinics, the Health Services, is located at Central High School. It serves pregnant and parenting students in Duluth schools, providing easy access to healthcare; maintaining wellness so students can be successful in school; and helping parenting students learn to use the health care system appropriately.   

The Wellness Center, a partnership with Lutheran Social Services, offers street-health care services to adolescents who no longer have support of their families. Nearly 200 homeless and emancipated youth received health care at the Wellness Center in the Lifeline building in 2006.

Elliott’s other research projects have documented the impact of improving care for those living with family violence in rural settings, as part of a minority ethnic group, with mental health issues, in poverty, and at life's end. Her publications have gained the attention of the American Medical Association, Institute of Medicine, legislature, and media as they describe needed improvements in our health care system.

In 2006, Elliott was presented the UMD Chancellor’s Award for Distinguished Research.  She is a Kellogg National Leadership Fellow, a program of the W. K. Kellogg Foundation that identified and offered training for emerging leaders to better serve communities and catalyze change. 

Last November, Elliott was among a group of international distinguished scholars to walk, for the first time,  Abraham’s Path in the Middle East, a route that retraces the footsteps of the prophet Abraham through the heart of the Middle East.  Harvard University's Global Negotiation Project sponsors the project.