Dr. Fisher is an Assistant Professor and neonatologist at Children’s Hospital Colorado and the University of Colorado. She completed medical school at the University of Michigan, pediatrics residency and chief residency at Oregon Health and Science University, and neonatology fellowship at the University of Colorado. During neonatology fellowship, she completed a Master of Science in Clinical Science at the University of Colorado-Anschutz Graduate School. Her research focuses on evaluating disparities in caregiver communication and engagement in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and scholarly efforts have focused on identifying and addressing these disparities to improve family engagement and neonatal outcomes. She is specifically interested in examining and dismantling disparities related to primary language and becoming a leader in NICU family communication, experience, and engagement. As a PEDSnet Scholar, her project will examine facilitators and barriers to consistent in-person and virtual interpreter utilization in a busy level IV NICU. Using themes from qualitative interviews, a multidisciplinary group will work together to develop an intervention to improve the frequency and quality of communication with Spanish-preferring families. Lastly, the intervention will be tested for effectiveness.
Project title: Integration of Interpreter Services in NICU Care to Reduce Disparities for Caregivers with a Primary Language of Spanish.