Meet this week’s featured fellow, John Cordier!
John is a 3rd year graduate student at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health. For his Schweitzer project, John will be running an after school health science club for high school students.
John is originally from Erie, Pennsylvania. He came to Pittsburgh to study neuroscience and sociology at the University of Pittsburgh, where he played varsity soccer and worked in student government. Following his undergraduate studies, John pursued a professional soccer career in Texas, where he also worked for Teach for America.
John loves Pittsburgh not only because of the incredible innovations happening here, but also because of Pittsburghers can-do attitude. He says that “if you want to make a difference you can, and I like that in the Pittsburgh attitude.”
In his free time, you’ll find John spending time in the outdoors. He loves staying physically active, especially by hiking and backpacking. He has hiked the John Muir Trail and part of the Appalachian Trail. He’s even going on a two week long canoe trip into Canada later this summer!
John was excited to become a Fellow because of Albert Schweitzer’s legacy. John was not only inspired by Albert Schweitzer’s accomplishments, but also the great impact he made. John said that the Fellowship and Albert Schweitzer’s story was “in perfect alignment with my own values and goals. I was excited to meet other people who were also motivated by similar things as me.”
He says that he is very proud to be a part of the Fellows for Life network because he can connect with like-minded professionals who are all “working toward a common goal of making the world a healthier place.”
John first learned about health science clubs and how impactful they can be when he attended a lecture by Dr. Bob Branch on upstream health. Dr. Branch had run health science clubs for more than a decade in rural West Virginia, and brought the program to Pittsburgh a few years ago with the Pitt Bridge Program. John connected with Dr. Branch, and they have been meeting ever since to discuss the best ways to implement health science clubs in Pittsburgh.
For his Schweitzer project, John will be running a health science club with Propel Schools, a charter school, over the next year, and he will be working to support other health science clubs across the city of Pittsburgh.
The club will focus on teaching teens about health, health disparities, and how to identify disparities. The students will select a health topic and conduct interviews and research about that specific topic. They will then create an intervention specific to their community. John is also hoping to host a community health fair to provide a platform for the students to share their work and increase health disparity awareness.
John says that he is hoping to empower “the students and teachers to let them know that you can make an impact around you.”
To support John’s Health Science Clubs, click here.
