PhD student selected for Schweitzer fellowship
Eric Peprah Osei’s project will provide educational programming to Black individuals in Chicago with type 2 diabetes, focused on health literacy and lifestyle modifications.
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Growing up in the West African country of Ghana, UIC College of Nursing PhD student Eric Peprah Osei, RN, saw how diabetes can lead to serious health complications.
“My grandparents currently have diabetes, and my grandmother is almost blind because of it,” he says. “I lived with my grandmother growing up, so I spent most of my entire life with her. I got to know about the challenges of diabetes at a young age.”
Later, as both a student nurse at the University of Cape Coast in Ghana and as a nurse officer in medical and emergency wards there, his interest was reinforced when he saw the challenges patients faced with diabetes management.
“When I worked as a nurse officer, I saw that many of the patients would resort to unauthorized herbal medicines, so by the time they reported to the facility, they were already falling victim to certain complications of diabetes,” he says.
Now, as a UIC Nursing PhD student, Peprah Osei was selected as a recipient of the 2025-2026 Schweitzer Fellowship Program. He is one of 26 students who will design and implement projects to improve the health and well-being of underserved Chicago communities, and one of five selected from UIC.
Schweitzer project
With a desire to improve patient outcomes through research, Peprah Osei chose UIC Nursing for his PhD studies because of the college’s strength in diabetes management research. His advisor is professor Pamela Martyn-Nemeth, who is a 2025 inductee in the International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame for her scholarship on individuals with type 1 diabetes. Peprah Osei’s undergraduate thesis was focused on factors associated with non-adherence to lifestyle modifications (diet and exercise) of patients with type 2 diabetes.
During the course of his Schweitzer project, Peprah Osei plans to initiate interactive, culturally focused educational seminars in Chicago for Black individuals with type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes. The course will focus on health literacy and lifestyle modifications. The sessions will cover topics such as keeping families healthy as well as treating, managing, and preventing challenges related to type 2 diabetes among this underserved population.
Black adults are more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes compared to non-Hispanic whites, and have higher rates of end-stage renal disease, hospitalization and death, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health.
“We are going to talk about real-life strategies, things like reading food labels, understanding sugar labels and improving physical activity in a way that feels achievable and relatable,” he says. “The goal is to make the information not only accessible, but also meaningful to the people we see.”
Peprah Osei plans to work with the Ghanaian Community Health Clinic in Chicago, where he also volunteers, and churches to enroll participants in his program. Peprah Osei says that most diabetes education programs are not tailored to the unique needs of people of color, and his program will “specifically tackle cultural practices, traditions, fears and attitudes about diabetes.”
“The main objective is to develop an exhaustive strategy that provides the Black community in Chicago with all the information and resources necessary to control and prevent diabetes,” he wrote in his project proposal.
Impact at UIC Nursing
Peprah Osei is also leaving a lasting impact at the college through his leadership, advocacy, and commitment to equity. He serves on the Equity and Inclusion Committee, which functions to cultivate and maintain a more diverse student body, staff, and faculty.
He is also an instructor in the Seminars for Excellence in Nursing Science program, a UIC Nursing Urban Health Program series to help prepare incoming students for the rigors of nursing coursework. He has played a key role in preparing incoming students for academic success, teaching essential study strategies and offering guidance in foundational science courses like pathophysiology.
Peprah Osei shared his experience as an international student when he participated in departmental “FlashTalks,” giving faculty an unfiltered look at the barriers students may face and the power of community in helping them thrive.
“Eric has an extraordinary ability to connect with others, his authenticity, warmth, and leadership have shaped our college in meaningful ways,” says Rosalba Hernandez, PhD, associate dean for equity and inclusion. “We’re so proud of all he’s accomplished and grateful that he continues to help move this work forward as a student leader.”