SCHOLAR DIRECTORY

Heather Rice is a Cleveland native who completed her Bachelors of Science in biology from Wittenberg University in May 2007. After graduation, she obtained her Accelerated BSN from Lakeview College of Nursing in December 2009. Recognizing early in her nursing profession her passion to work in pediatrics, Heather completed her MSN concentrating on the Pediatric Nurse Practitioner track from Case Western Reserve University (CWRU)-Frances Payne Bolton (FPB) School of Nursing in May 2012. Heather currently works as a child and adolescent psychiatric nurse for the Centers for Families and Children assisting with mental health assessments, pharmacologic management and health education. Heather also works as a research assistant with Dr. Carol Musil at FPB, Dr. Mark Singer and Dr. Jeff Kretschmar at the CWRU Begun Center for Violence Prevention Research and Education. She is currently assisting with the Grandmother Study, Behavioral Health Juvenile Justice (BHJJ) Program and Defending Childhood Initiative. Heather is a third year PhD Legacy Fellow at CWRU FPB. Her dissertation will focus on a secondary analysis of the BHJJ program creating a model assessing neighborhood conditions, mental health and risks behaviors in a group of adolescents in the juvenile justice system. As a future nurse scientist, Heather intends to study neuro-cognitive development, social functioning and mental health in children and adolescents exposed to violence and trauma. Outside of her academic and professional commitments, Heather is a volunteer for MEDWORKS free health clinics and a Big Sister for Big Brother Big Sister (BBBS) of Greater Cleveland.