Latesha K. Harris

Latesha K. Harris, BSN, RN, is a 2024-2025 Johnson & Johnson Edwidge Thomas Scholarship recipient. Latesha graduated from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) School of Nursing with Highest Honors and University Distinction in December 2020. Initially, Latesha was inspired to pursue a career in nursing based on her personal experiences caring for loved ones during health crises. She was most intrigued by nurses' vital role in patient care, advocacy, and emotional support. She recalls witnessing the profound impact of compassionate, skilled nurses on patients and their families, solidifying her commitment to enter the nursing profession.

Latesha chose the PhD program at UNC, particularly the prestigious Hillman Scholar in Nursing Innovation Program (HSNI), a BSN-PhD program, to further her passion for advocacy, teaching, and nurturing. The HSNI program stood out due to its emphasis on developing nurse leaders committed to transforming health and healthcare through innovation and evidence-based practice. As an undergraduate nursing student, Latesha was selected from a highly competitive pool of students to join the UNC HSNI program. Prior to full-time matriculation into her doctoral studies, Latesha completed her Hillman Clinical Fellowship at UNC Hospitals in a Coronary Care Unit and continues to work clinically as a registered nurse in primary care.

As a member of her mentor, Dr. Cortés’ research team, she attends meetings and observes various disciplinary approaches (e.g., epidemiology, social medicine) to understand cardiometabolic risk (CMR) factors, health disparities, and women’s health. Latesha is currently working on a pilot study, “Racism-Related Stress and Cardiometabolic Risk in African American Women,” funded by the Rita Hillman and Alex Foundation. This study builds on work from her mentor’s internally-funded pilot study, “Stress and Heart Health,” which explores the role of various psychosocial stressors (i.e., everyday discrimination, perceived stress, neighborhood vulnerability) on CMR and ankle-brachial index in African American women aged 18-40 years. As the Principal Investigator, she oversees recruitment and enrollment, data collection, management, and analysis.

Latesha was recognized for her dedication to advancing the scientific understanding of cardiometabolic health disparities and improving cardiometabolic health outcomes among African American/Black women by her selection as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Research Scholar. This prestigious national leadership development program focuses on health policy and a predoctoral T32 Trainee in interventions for the prevention and management of chronic illness funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Institutes of Nursing Research ([NINR], T32NR007091.

After completing her PhD, Latesha’s goal is to lead an independent program of research focused on the association between psychosocial stressors (e.g., poverty, early life adversity, discrimination, violence in communities, trauma), structural racism, and cardiometabolic disease in women. She is extremely grateful to receive a Johnson & Johnson Edwidge Thomas Scholarship because it will provide her with the support and opportunity to advance her training and complete her PhD; continue engaging in clinically relevant research; and pursue post-doctoral training at a research-intensive university.