Ann-Margaret Navarra, PhD, CPNP, Associate Professor in the Stony Brook University School of Nursing, has been named to a national fellowship program that will examine social determinants of health (SDOH) in the context of eliminating healthcare inequities in the United States.
She is among the first of 10 “innovators” selected by the Institute for Policy Solutions (IPS) at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing for the Nursing Science Incubator for the Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Solutions (N-SISS) Fellowship. The N-SISS will be comprised of a cohort of nurse scientists and other scientists in aligned fields from around the country.
Navarra, who resides in Smithtown, NY, was selected by Johns Hopkins because of her outstanding qualifications, innovative research focus, and her commitment to eliminating healthcare inequities in the U.S. through the lens of the SDOH.
At Stony Brook Nursing since January 2024, Navarra is also the School’s Associate Dean, Nursing Research and Innovation. Her main areas of research have been in the clinical areas of HIV/AIDS, pediatrics, chronic disease, and the underserved.
In the 1990s she was one of the first advanced practice pediatric nurses leading care initiatives for youth living with HIV/AIDS. This pioneering work became the impetus for her significant contributions to the HIV behavioral sciences and advancement of health equity for youth living with HIV.
The N-SISS Fellowship will operate for three years and will eventually include 30 plus innovators to be selected by Johns Hopkins. It will be an active incubator to assess the SDOH nationwide. The program will also include a mix of virtual and on-campus courses and guided self-study, along with applied research training and individualized and team mentoring, all of which will lead to each participant’s development of a SDOH-focused grant proposal to a National Institutes of Health agency.
Navarra and each of the first 10 professionals selected for the fellowship will begin a two-week intensive training program in Washington, DC, beginning February 3.