Dr. Pamela Payne-Foster, a professor of community medicine and population health with The University of Alabama College of Community Health Sciences, received the prestigious 2023 Lahoma Adams Buford Peace Award May 8 at the Tuscaloosa River Market in recognition of her professional and personal advocacy in causes that promote peace and justice.
Payne-Foster is also a preventive/public health physician and deputy director for Community Outreach for the CCHS Institute for Rural Health Research. She conducts research in rural and underserved communities in Alabama, focusing on health disparities, including HIV/AIDS. Her research interests also include bioethics and medical ethics, and diversity and cultural competency issues in health care.
Payne-Foster is also active in local and statewide organizations including the Alabama Poor People’s Campaign and Moms Demand Action, which seeks public safety measures that can protect people from gun violence. She is a founding leader of AframSouth, a Montgomery-based organization dedicated to improving the quality of life in African American communities.
The Lahoma Adams Buford Peace Award was established in 2002 by Montgomery native Tony Walker, a graduate of the UA School of Social Work. It is named for Lahoma Adams Buford, also a Montgomery native, who served her community without desire for recognition and dedicated her life to building a better, more just and peaceful world.
The Buford Peace Award is housed in the School of Social Work and is supported by the Lahoma Adams Buford Endowed Support Fund. The award is given annually to a UA faculty member who is professionally and personally active in causes that promote peace and justice. Recipients receive a medal and $1,000.