Inaugural UI program names Ambassador as fellow
Through the program, selected faculty will translate public health research into practice and policy. Fellows will attend training workshops, be linked with experts, interact with policymakers and stakeholders, and work as a team to accomplish individualized goals.
“My passion is finding ways to improve the care of preterm, low-birth-weight and sick newborns in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit [NICU],” said Ryckman about her motivation to apply to the program.
Her project is to refine the newborn screening policy for babies in the NICU that will result in fewer false-positive screens. “Through the program, I hope to build consensus based on the evidence and disseminate a uniform set of guidelines for newborn screening in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit that allows for better utilization of resources across the state of Iowa and beyond.”
Each Policy Fellow proposed an Action Learning Project (ALP) as part of their research portfolio. The ALP requires at least one stakeholder meeting and a product – such as a policy brief, proposed legislative language or a how-to guide to be disseminated at the end of the fellowship.
