Experience

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  Blue ridge mountain rescue group

  Jan 1998 - Jan 2002

  Wilderness search & rescue trainer/field team member

  Wilderness First Aid, search & rescue operations, land navigation, technical & semi-technical rescue, basic training of new members

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  Scottsville volunteer rescue squad

  Jan 2000 - Jan 2002

  Emergency medical technician (emt)

  Direct emergency medical care to residents of rural central Virginia

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  Peace corps

  Jan 2002 - Jan 2004

  Peace corps volunteer / trainer of trainers

  Needs assessment, health education related to HIV and maternal/child health, peer educator training, grant writing in rural and urban areas of Mali, West Africa. Implemented a lay health worker training & network in 14 rural villages in partnership with local leaders, clinicians and midwives. In 2004, developed & delivered multilingual (French, Bambara & English) training of 30+ Peace Corps volunteer trainees and their host country counterparts over 8 weeks in 3 village sites around capital city of Bamako. Show less

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  Veterans affairs hospital

  Jan 2005 - Jan 2007

  Valor student nurse scholar

  Direct patient care on a cardiac step-down unit; unit-level quality improvement activities

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  Johns hopkins sidney kimmel comprehensive cancer center

  Jan 2007 - Jan 2009

  Nurse clinician

  Direct patient care; chemotherapy & stem cell infusion; patient and family education

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  Johns hopkins school of nursing

  Jan 2008 - Jan 2013

  Phd candidate/research nurse

  Intervention delivery for a randomized controlled trial involving prostate and breast cancer survivors and their support persons; dissertation study research on transitional cancer survivorship for rural older adults and their support persons; protocol development; data collection & analysis; manuscript development & publication; grant-writing; lecturing & development of educational materials; training lay health workers

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  Johns hopkins university school of nursing

  Jun 2013 - Aug 2014

  Postdoctoral fellow, center for innovative care in aging

  First postdoctoral fellow for the Center for Innovative Care in Aging, in collaboration with mentor Dr. Sarah Szanton, Center Director Dr. Laura Gitlin, and multiple center faculty. Lead or participated in multiple efforts addressing research, education, and policy on aging, health disparities, and living with chronic illness, including the annual Summer Research Institute on Developing Behavioral Interventions, working groups on activity & aging and cancer & aging, and the Community-Aging-in-Place, Advancing-Better-Living-for-Elders or CAPABLE study (PI: Szanton) - an NIH & CMS-funded nurse-led intervention designed to enable older adults to age-in-place. Show less

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  University of massachusetts amherst

  Sept 2014 - now

  Faculty, UMass Institute for Applied Life Sciences (IALS) Center for Personalized Health MonitoringFaculty & Pilot PI, UManage P20 Center for Building the Science of Symptom Self-managementAssistant Professor/Scientist, Pioneer Valley Life Sciences Institute @Baystate MedicalMember, UMass Medical Center for Clinical and Translational ScienceUMASS Institute for Social Science Faculty Scholar, 2015-2016Johns Hopkins Institute for Clinical and Translational Science Postdoctoral Fellow, 2013-2014John A. Hartford Patricia G. Archbold Building Academic Geriatric Nursing Capacity Scholar 2011-2013Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (F31) Fellow 2010-2013Health Disparities & Inequalities T32 Predoctoral Fellow 2008-2010Dr. Walker's research focuses on symptom management and activity promotion through the use of sensors & personalized health monitoring, behavioral interventions, environmental modifications, and support for aging cancer survivors and their families. This includes finding strategies to foster the hope and dignity of persons living with chronic illness. She currently teaches doctoral-level courses on measurement in health research and qualitative methods. She advises PhD and DNP students, and graduate and undergraduate honors students from nursing and a variety of other disciplines, including kinesiology, psychology/brain sciences, public health, engineering, and computer science. Show less

  • Associate Professor & PhD Program Director, Elaine Marieb College of Nursing

    Sept 2019 - now

  • Associate Director, IALS Center for Personalized Health Monitoring

    May 2018 - now

  • Assistant Professor, College of Nursing

    Sept 2014 - Oct 2023
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  Ials center for personalized health monitoring, university of massachusetts amherst

  Sept 2023 - now

  Co-founder & director, health tech for the people (ht4p)