UC College of Nursing researcher accepted for prestigious fellowship for nurse leaders and innovators
Samantha Boch, PhD, RN, assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati College of Nursing and affiliate faculty of the James M. Anderson Center for Health Systems Excellence at Cincinnati Children's Hospital is one of 16 nurse scientists accepted to the fifth cohort of the Betty Irene Moore Fellowship for Nurse Leaders and Innovators. The fellowship program, funded by grants from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, recognizes and advances early-to-mid-career nursing scholars and innovators with a high potential to accelerate leadership in nursing research, practice, education, policy and entrepreneurship.
The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation seeks to prepare nurses as collaborative leaders with the skills and confidence to inspire others, enact change and challenge the status quo. Through the creation of the Betty Irene Moore Fellowship for Nurse Leaders and Innovators, the foundation supports nurse leaders who take ideas to scale that advance high-quality, high-value care and optimal health outcomes.
“Our motto is UC Nurses. We See Leaders,” Interim Dean Gordon Gillespie, PhD, DNP, RN, FAAN, says. “Sam is the epitome of a nursing leader and scholar; I can’t wait to see the impact her project will have in advancing health equity and education in our country.”
As a part of the three-year fellowship program, Boch will receive $450,000 to conduct an innovative project focused on better understanding the health of and use of health services by children in foster care who also experience parental incarceration. Mentored by Cincinnati Children’s Hospital CHECK (Comprehensive Health Evaluations for Cincinnati’s Kids) Foster Care Center Medical Director Mary Greiner, MD, MS, and Scientific Director for Child Welfare Research Sarah Beal, PhD, Boch will leverage CHECK’s data to identify opportunities to better care for those children.
She will also partner with Ebony Underwood, CEO & Founder of WE GOT US NOW, the nation’s leading organization advancing the wellbeing of children and young adults with incarcerated parents, to co-design care guidelines for children who experience parental incarceration.
"I am thrilled to be in partnership with Sam,” Underwood says. “Her commitment to uplifting and elevating the subject matter expertise of those closest to this issue is a testament to her leadership and dedication in advancing the health equity and well-being for the vulnerable population of children impacted by parental incarceration."
A forensic nurse scientist, Boch’s program of research centers on the social determinants of health with particular emphasis on understanding and mitigating the consequences of mass incarceration on child and family health.
“I’m deeply honored to have been chosen as part of the cohort for the Betty Irene Moore Fellowship for Nurse Leaders and Innovators,” says Boch. “This is a unique opportunity to further develop my leadership skills and partner with amazing organizations, mentors, and individuals with lived experiences of parental incarceration to positively impact care and the health of these families.”
Featured top image of the UC College of Nursing. Photo provided.
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