Imani Baker, a public health and pre-nursing major at the Bloustein School, was recently named the 2012 Project L/EARN “Intern of the Year.” Ms. Baker worked under the guidance of faculty mentor Dr. Judith Lucas at the Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy, and Aging Research (IHHCPAR) on a paper “The Association between Nursing Home Culture Change and Quality Indicators: Deficiency Citations and Antipsychotic Medication Use.” She is applying to BSN/MSN programs for next fall.
Project L/EARN is an intensive summer research training program for undergraduate students from groups that have historically been underrepresented in graduate education and health research careers. The award was created to honor Dr. Peter Guarnaccia for his dedication to developing and overseeing Project L/EARN. Each summer’s recipient is chosen by vote of his/her peers, based on their rankings of all interns in terms of dedication, passion, tenacity and work ethic – characteristics that Dr. Guarnaccia has brought to the program and modeled to the interns in his role as director, guest lecturer, writing workshop teacher, and mentor.
Dr. Guarnaccia is a medical anthropologist at the Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research, and the Department of Human Ecology at Rutgers University. He stepped down as Faculty Director of Project L/EARN in 2008, after 12 years in that role under funding from the National Institutes of Mental Health.
Applications for summer 2013 will be available in December and are due in mid-February. More about Project L/EARN.