Meet the First Lady:
Dr. Stephaine Michelle Walker

The former Dr. Stephaine Michelle Hale was previously a Harvard Medical Faculty physician, Neonatologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center [BIDMC] and an Instructor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School in the Department of Pediatrics. Her research focuses on disparities related to neonatal outcomes in the United States as well as on equitable care and quality improvement within the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit with emphasis on those centers serving vulnerable populations.

Dr. Walker’s goal is to be an advocate for the healthcare of all children and to develop successful programs and policies that will improve the health and survival of infants and children in underserved communities across the nation.

She was the recipient of several honors and awards, including the Commonwealth Fund Fellowship in Minority Health Policy at the Harvard School of Public Health in 2006-2007, the Presidential Scholars Award at Harvard University 2006-2007 and the Dr. Milton Rosenbluth Fellowship at Cornell University Medical College. The fellowship through Cornell enabled her to spend two months working in Argentina in various pediatric hospital and clinical settings. She was also selected to represent BIDMC as a Fellow in the 2008 Partnership, Inc. Program.

While residing in the Northeast, her record of volunteerism included mentoring teenage girls interested in science in Boston, mentoring pregnant teens at Inwood House in New York, and teaching STD/AIDS educational programs to youth in Philadelphia and New York City schools.  While studying in the South, Dr. Walker’s record of volunteerism included mentoring teens in Nashville’s “Lifting as We Climb” Program. In addition, she has and continues to mentor numerous medical students, residents and fellows in both the Boston and Nashville area.

Dr. Walker, a native of Los Angeles, California, received her Bachelor of Science degree from Vanderbilt University in 1997 and her medical degree from Cornell University Medical College in 2001. She completed her residency in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine at the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles/University of the Southern California Medical Center in 2006. Afterwards, while a Commonwealth Fund Fellow in Minority Health Policy, she completed a Master of Public Health degree with a concentration in Health Policy and Management at the Harvard School of Public Health in 2007. Currently, on faculty at Vanderbilt University Children’s Hospital, she is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Neonatologist.

As Mt. Zion’s First Lady, Dr. Stephaine—as she is fondly called—believes that “everything happens for a reason.” Wanting to make the most of her new life with husband and pastor, Bishop Joseph Walker, III, she teamed with him and collaborated with other visionaries in the Nashville community who share her passion for health policy, health disparities and community action to seek solutions and to improve lines of communication among leaders.

Believing that finding one’s calling is about making the community in which you live better, she launched Full Circle Health Community Coalition in early 2010 to bridge the gap and bring together diverse partners to improve health conditions for at-risk individuals.

Targeting obesity and actualizing the 2011Vision of the House “Healing the House in 2011,” she is also committed to Church-Fit, a Mt. Zion local fitness awareness regime announced nationally in January 2011. Church-Fit was revealed by Mt. Zion Baptist Church in partnership with Full Circle to help the church’s 25,000 plus congregation preserve good health, revive fitness goals and promote and improve overall health and wellness.

Like Joseph, she agrees, “At the end of the day, if you can’t say you’ve contributed to your community, then what was your life really about?”

Learn more about Full Circle Healthy Community Coalition at www.fullcirclenashville.org.