Public Invited to Vote on 2020 AbbVie CF Scholarship Awards

The public is being invited to vote on 2020 AbbVie Scholarships for students with cystic fibrosis (CF). Voting is now open to award two meritorious students with scholarships totaling $25,000 each.

Until Sept. 30 (at 11 a.m. ET), the public may visit the official AbbVie CF Scholarship website to view profiles of the 40 candidates and vote for their top choice. Votes also can be submitted via text message by texting the student’s personalized ID code to “60193.”

These 40 undergraduate and graduate students already have received $3,000 scholarships earlier this year to be used during the 2020–2021 academic year. If selected as Thriving Undergraduate or Thriving Graduate students, they will have the opportunity to earn an additional $22,000 in scholarship funds.

“These students living with CF are committed to succeeding both in and out of the classroom and are determined to ultimately overcome challenges” John Duffey, AbbVie’s vice president of U.S. Specialty, said in a press release.

The 40 students were selected based on their academic excellence, creativity, and community involvement/extracurricular activities. The two winners of this year’s scholarships will be elected based on the same parameters, along with the number of votes they receive from the public, and the scores on their essays and presentations.

“I have dealt with cystic fibrosis my entire life. While at times it is challenging, I believe it has made me a stronger person and has encouraged some of my true passions, such as singing. I started singing early on and now I am pursuing a degree in music,” said Sean Dean, an undergraduate student who won the AbbVie CF Scholarship in 2019.

“After receiving the AbbVie CF Scholarship, I was less worried about pursuing higher education because it helped alleviate a financial burden. I am grateful that the AbbVie CF Scholarship is helping me achieve my dreams,” Dean said.

AbbVie will announce the 2020 Thriving Undergraduate and Graduate Students Oct. 22. During the voting period, people also may show their support on Twitter.

AbbVie is an American biopharmaceutical company focused on several major therapeutic areas such as immunology, oncology and neuroscience. One of their missions is making a positive impact in patient communities.

AbbVie CF Scholarships were stablished 28 years ago to recognize the academic success of students with CF and financially support their families. Since then, this scholarship program has awarded more than $3.3 million to more than 1,000 students.

According to AbbVie, the CF community in the U.S is estimated to have more than 30,000 people, with more than half being 18 or older.

“AbbVie continues to demonstrate our commitment to students with CF pursuing higher education through the AbbVie CF Scholarship, as it has for the past 28 years,” Duffey said.

Scholarship candidates do not need to have taken, currently take, or intend to take any medicine or product marketed by AbbVie; it is not a selection criterion.