Second-year Ph.D. students in Penn's School of Nursing Levia Sutton and Enmanuel Fernandez were selected to participate in a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation leadership program.
Sutton and Fernandez joined this year's cohort of Health Policy Research Scholars, an initiative for full-time doctoral students from historically marginalized backgrounds. The program supports students in applying their research to advance health equity, according to the Health Policy Research Scholars website.
HPRS promotes interdisciplinary research, and scholars participate in policy and leadership development training with an annual award of up to $30,000 for up to four years.
Sutton is a nurse anesthetist with over 15 years of anesthesia experience and has served diverse populations in Philadelphia and areas of Northern California. She is also a Penn Presidential Fellow and Fontaine Society Fellow. Sutton’s research focuses on the impact of community violence on marginalized communities’ wellbeing.
Fernandez, a Philadelphia native, is an Eidos Predoctoral Research Fellow and Fontaine Fellow. His research aims to further develop sexually transmitted infection prevention for disproportionately affected communities by increasing STI testing rates.
Sutton told The Daily Pennsylvanian that she was grateful for the decision, which she said felt like an affirmation of her capabilities.
“[I feel] really humbled by it and also grateful for the acknowledgment of my potential, because I do see that getting selected for that program means that the program administrators and leaders see the potential that I bring to what they have curated for our scholars,” Sutton said.
She added that she is excited to join the "community of scholars" that make up the HPRS program and looks forward to learning from other disciplines.
"I'm a nurse in the Ph.D. program of nursing, but it's an interdisciplinary leadership program, so my understanding is that I’ll have access to thinking about larger problems facing people in their health with other scholars across disciplines, which I think is one of the best ways to start tackling these bigger problems," she said.
The application process for the HPRS program includes a partnership with a home institution mentor, an interview, and more. HPRS is selecting up to 40 scholars worldwide for 2025.
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