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Adina Bercowicz, B.A., project assistant in the Maine Area Health Education Center (AHEC) within UNE’s Center for Excellence in Public Health (CEPH) was recently selected by the National Area Health Education Center Organization for the new role as state advocacy leader for Maine.

As state advocacy leader, Bercowicz will serve as the point of contact for AHEC legislative advocacy efforts in Maine. In this volunteer role, she will advocate on behalf of the National AHEC Organization with Maine’s congressional legislators for increased funding to help provide critical opportunities to support AHECs nationwide.

The national AHEC network consists of more than 300 AHEC program offices and centers, serving over 85% of the counties in the United States. Maine’s AHEC Network program office is located within CEPH, with three additional centers located around the state.

AHECs meet the current and emerging needs of the communities they serve through robust community-academic partnerships, with a focus on education and training of the current and future health care workforce.

Bercowicz has in-depth knowledge of health policy approaches and has extensive experience advocating for equitable access to health care, disability, and patient rights and tick-borne disease education and research. In her role at CEPH, she works on programs with the Maine AHEC Network and its community partners at the Maine Access Immigrant Network (MAIN) and the New Mainers Public Health Initiative (NMPHI) to advance diversity and equity in the health care workforce.

She is also currently a (MPH) candidate with a focus on epidemiology and a 2022 cohort Care for the Underserved Pathway AHEC Scholar — an honors distinction program. Outside of her role at CEPH, Bercowicz brings a strong record of expertise surrounding tick-borne disease prevention and education and had a pivotal role in the passage of legislation outside of Maine for tick-borne education safety in the mainstream K–12 health sciences curricula.