An industrial design student has submitted a health initiative proposal to the Pepsi Refresh Project with hopes of winning $50,000 to bring free health screenings to rural populations.
"My passion is to address a critical and societal problem by saving lives of the poor and underserved," said senior Arissa Wheeler in her project write-up.
According to the Pepsi website, the Pepsi Refresh Project will award more than $1 million to the public in 2010. The goal is to encourage refreshing and innovative ideas to improve the community.
Wheeler's project design consists of a donated Honda Element to transport a free pop-up medical clinic in the back of the vehicle. The project's current name is the Auburn Health Initiative.
If Wheeler wins the grant, she plans to make her idea a reality within a 50-mile radius of the Auburn campus.
"At first, it started out as a regular project in studio, but after hearing stories and getting to know what was really going on behind the scenes in the health profession and the health problems that we are facing, it motivated me more," Wheeler said.
Wheeler said she started the project last spring and has been working on it every day since.
She has attempted to submit her project online six times.
Only 1,000 people are allowed to submit a proposal at a specific time each month. After 20 seconds, the submission window is shut.
Kenneth Nusbaum, professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine, said the initiative is relevant and important because health care accounts for one out of every $7 in the U.S. economy.
"Arissa's project would provide diagnostic interventions to prevent people from developing clinical disease, which is more costly than disease management," Nusbaum said. "Many of these diseases are discovered when a patient is admitted to an emergency room, and that is the least efficient form of health care."
Nusbaum said he believes the diagnostic screenings would enable management of disease and place less strain on health care resources.
Wheeler's project also has the potential to connect students with the real world.
"If Arissa's project is funded, it has the possibility of giving students in our college studying in health-related areas the ability to engage with the community to solve real problems," said Paula Bobrowski, associate dean of research in the College of Liberal Arts. "They will have an opportunity to work with an interdisciplinary team of faculty and students to provide health screening to those that are underserved in our area."
Wheeler won't know if her project will be approved until Dec. 1.
If the idea is approved, the project will be posted on www.refresheverything.com to compete with the other projects in the health section of the Pepsi competition.
The public will vote on the projects to determine the winner.
Wheeler and her support system want to encourage the Auburn student body to vote. People will be able to vote via text, Facebook or the website starting in December.
Wheeler said the grant money would be used to cover the cost of two mobile screening clinics along with equipment, supplies and maintenance.
"The project seemed like a perfect candidate for it (the Pepsi grant)," Wheeler said. "There is no reason it shouldn't be submitted, shouldn't be heard and voted on."
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