by Abby Arcuri
Learning about the people behind our research is important to us at CHER. Behind some of our projects is Samantha Hoelzer.
From being a researcher in translational science projects to being a frequent book reader, she brings a new perspective to our work.
Read about how Samantha supports our researchers while decreasing research barriers.
Tell us about your role at CHER. What’s your position and focus?
I am an Evaluation Research Specialist II at CHER. I focus on working specifically with NC TraCS projects.
Within NC TraCS, I have started working on the K and T scholars programs, CaSE (Community and Stakeholder Engagement) and the workforce development programs.
These programs are geared towards supporting researchers and would-be researchers in translational research. Also, I work on decreasing barriers to translational research.
What do you like best about working at CHER?
I just started working at CHER a few weeks ago, but so far, I’ve loved getting to know everyone and learning about everyone’s projects and research.
Everyone has been so welcoming, and it’s great working with the team!
What’s the most important thing for people to understand about what you do?
I am currently helping to support the evaluation of translational science projects.
I’ve learned in the past few weeks that as important as translational research is (“bench to bedside”), translational science can often be the missing link that actually makes the solution accessible (i.e., affordable, available to a diverse population, equitable, faster, etc.).
Ideally, translational science and translational research work synergistically to create the best patient outcomes.
What are some challenges you face?
So far, I’ve mostly run into the challenges related to getting onboarded: figuring out Asana, navigating Sharepoint and learning the difference between translational research and translational science!
What’s a fun fact about you?
A fun fact about me is that I have no social media except for LinkedIn (for work) and Goodreads (in fact, I am very active on Goodreads and update my book status regularly!).
I’ve had friends try to make me Facebook and Twitter accounts over the years, but I usually log in just to delete them!