Source: Dianna Schalles, 785-532-5240, diannas@k-state.edu

Thursday, May 13, 2010

STUDENT FROM TOPEKA RECOGNIZED FOR SERVICE TO K-STATE'S LAFENE HEALTH CENTER

MANHATTAN -- Kansas State University's Lafene Health Center is recognizing a student from Topeka with its 2010 Outstanding Student Leadership Award.

Diana Hylton, May 2010 graduating senior in microbiology, nutritional sciences and pre-medicine, earned the award for her volunteer service and leadership while participating in a Lafene Health Center-sponsored student organization. Hylton was a member of Lafene's Sensible Nutrition And body image Choice peer education program, also known as SNAC.

"Diana demonstrated excellent leadership skills during her very first semester as a freshman and continued to serve as a leader in the organization throughout her entire time at K-State," said Dianna Schalles, a registered dietitian at Lafene and adviser to the student organization.

Hylton served as co-coordinator of the organization's Eating Disorders Awareness Week twice during her four years as a peer educator for the group. She also was one of two peer educators to help pilot the organization's eight-week after-school program aimed at eating disorders prevention in elementary-age girls, and she helped lead training sessions for future program volunteers.

"Diana has been dedicated to promoting SNAC's mission by participating in nearly every opportunity presented to her in the past four years," Schalles said. "She has enthusiastically participated in and led numerous campus awareness events and has given presentations to a variety of student groups in her role as peer educator. Diana's dedication as a student leader despite the demands of her research and pre-medicine curriculum has been a true testimony of her commitment to SNAC's mission. She is most deserving of this award."

In addition to her involvement in the Sensible Nutrition And body image Choice peer education program, Hylton has served as vice president of Alpha Epsilon Delta, the pre-medicine honor society; was an undergraduate immunology researcher in the laboratory of Sherry Fleming, K-State assistant professor of biology; served as a peer tutor; and volunteered at the Flint Hills Community Clinic. She was the recipient of the Division of Biology Haymaker Award as the outstanding 2010 senior and received research awards from K-State's Johnson Center for Basic Cancer Research in 2009 and 2010.

Hylton, a 2006 graduate of Cair Paravel Latin School, will attend the University of Kansas School of Medicine in the fall.