The American Public Health Association sustains two awards in memory of Dr. Eric D. Bothwell, a public health advocate who served as a clinician, manager, educator, researcher, and planner/evaluator, honing his understanding of the profound health disparities facing Native American communities, and specifically, their men. 

Dr. Eric (Ric) Bothwell, worked for the Indian Health Service as a commissioned officer for over 26 years. He continued his life-long work on behalf of American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) as a consultant on many initiatives and served as a public health advisor for the Men’s Health Network, helping to coordinate the Native Male Health Coalition: The Warrior’s Journey to Wellness.   Ric was a tireless advocate for public health and passionately fought to bring attention to health disparities, particularly those facing Native American males.  He passed away in the Fall of 2016 and has been greatly missed.

Friends, colleagues, and family established a fund in recognition of Dr. Bothwell and his concern for the physical and mental health of AI/AN boys and men and the need to address disparities that compromise their ability to fulfill roles as fathers, husbands, providers, leaders, and contributors to their communities. The award program supported by this fund is dedicated to drawing attention to this issue and promoting scholarship to better understand the causes of disparities and how to effectively address them.

The award program is jointly administered by the APHA’s Mental Health Section, Men’s Health Caucus, and American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Caucus.  Healthy Men, Inc. is pleased to partner with APHA in promoting this award program and providing visibility to its recipients.

 Apply for a Bothwell Award

The Eric D. Bothwell Award in American Indian and Alaska Native Men’s Health will recognize and encourage continued scholarship and development of an early career researcher in the field of American Indian and Alaskan Native Men’s health.

The Eric D. Bothwell Student Award in American Indian and Alaska Native Men’s Health will encourage individuals to begin a career that focuses on the field of American Indian and Alaska Native men’s health.

Nominations for these awards are due May 31 each year.  Presentation of Bothwell Awards occurs at the Annual Meeting of the American Public Health Association each Fall.

Please Please download these PDF instructions for self-nomination for both awards.

For more information about The Eric D. Bothwell Awards in American Indian and Alaska Native Men’s Health, please contact the Committee Chair, William Maas, DDS, MPH at [email protected]

PREVIOUS BOTHWELL AWARDEES

The first year that promising scholars were recognized with Bothwell Awards was 2019.  The Covid-19 pandemic interrupted efforts to promote the Awards, which were resumed in 2024.

Charlene Apok (Iñupiaq)

The 2019 Eric D. Bothwell Student Award in American Indian and Alaska Native Men’s Health was presented to Charlene Apok (Iñupiaq), who is enrolled in the Indigenous Studies PhD Program at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. Charlene’s project is titled Alaska Native Men’s Voices. It will describe how individual Alaska Native men self-identify and analyze cross-cutting themes related to identity, health and well-being.

Jasmine Bullard (Lumbee)

The 2019 Eric D. Bothwell Award in American Indian and Alaska Native Men’s Health was presented to Jasmine Bullard (Lumbee). Jasmine is Quality Research Specialist and Project Manager in the Cooperative Studies Program Epidemiology Center at the Durham VA Health Care System. Jasmine’s current research efforts focus on examining the burden of cancer and quality of cancer care among Veterans, specifically to understand the causes and consequences of disparities along the cancer continuum and effective strategies to eliminate disparities. Her project, Prostate cancer among American Indian/Alaska Native Veterans, was presented at a poster session.