Rutstein receives PEO Scholar Award for women in higher education

April 17, 2015

Sarah Rutstein

Sarah Rutstein, a doctoral and medical student in the department of health policy and management at the UNC-Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health and at the UNC School of Medicine, is one of 85 doctoral students nationwide selected to receive a $15,000 Scholar Award from the Philanthropic Education Organization (P.E.O.) Sisterhood.

The P.E.O. Scholar Awards were established in 1991 to provide substantial merit-based awards for women of the United States and Canada who are pursuing a doctoral level degree at an accredited college or university.

“I was definitely surprised when I found out I had won,” Rutstein said. “It’s a very competitive award, so this is a tremendous honor. I think the mission of P.E.O. is an important one, and I look forward to working with the organization to advance and support women in academics.”

The P.E.O. Sisterhood, founded in 1869 at Iowa Wesleyan College in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, is a philanthropic educational organization interested in increasing opportunities for women in higher education. There are approximately 6,000 local chapters in the U.S. and Canada, with nearly a quarter of a million active members.

When asked about the dual degree she is pursuing, Rutstein replied, “The joint MD/PhD degree offers truly unique training opportunities in both clinical medicine and research. With the support of an outstanding mentorship team, I have been able to see my research on laboratory-based antiretroviral therapy monitoring inform and influence local policies in Malawi. Now, with the P.E.O. Scholars Award, I’m looking forward to continuing my research on HIV prevention and treatment in resource-limited settings.”