Claudia Davis, an associate professor in the Cal State San Bernardino Department of Nursing and interim chair of the Department of Health Science & Human Ecology, has been selected to receive the Health Award from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Riverside Branch.
 
Davis, who joined CSUSB in 2012, will be among the honorees at the local branch’s Annual Freedom Fund Award Celebration on Thursday, May 23, at the Riverside Convention Center.
 
Davis was chosen for the award “based on her academic achievements and the body of research she has conducted to improve the health disparities in minorities, especially among African-American women,” said Madelyn Milen, who serves on the NAACP Riverside Branch and is a member at-large of the chapter’s executive committee.
 
Davis will also be recognized for her work with students, Milen said.
 
“She mentors students from underrepresented groups at the university and in the community, especially students interested in the medical and dental fields,” Milen said.
 
This year’s NAACP celebration will honor the legacy of longtime activist and educator Waudieur “Woodie” Rucker-Hughes, who led the branch for two decades and died in July 2018. The theme for 2019 is “Never Let It Rest! …Until the Good is Better and the Better is Best,” in remembrance of Rucker-Hughes’s favorite saying.
 
The keynote speaker will be lifetime NAACP member and attorney Virginia Blumenthal. 
 
Davis has been recognized for her work and research. In 2018, she received the Minority and Minority-Serving Institution Faculty Scholar in Cancer Research Award from the American Association for Cancer Research. Davis was honored for her research on the role of biological predictors and the impact of breast cancer among African-American women.
 
Davis was one of 20 faculty scholars from across the country to receive the distinguished award from the American Association for Cancer Research, which is the world’s oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research.