MEET THE 2019 GIA FINALISTS: DR. SHERRI BUCHER
The Global Impression Award (GIA) recognizes individuals whose professional accomplishments are strengthening ties between Indiana and the global community.
Overview
2019 GIA finalist Dr. Sherri Bucher embodies the type of individual the Global Impression Award seeks to recognize. As an Associate Research Professor of Pediatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine, Bucher has focused her work on improving healthcare for women and children around the world, particularly sub-Saharan Africa.
She leads the NeoInnovate Collaborative Consortium which is comprised of faculty and students from Moi University College of Health Sciences in Kenya and from throughout the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute. Their mission is to reduce preventable deaths and illnesses among mothers and babies around the world. Though most would see Dr. Bucher’s work so far as a huge success, Dr. Bucher herself says, “I will not feel personally successful in my career until, through the collective efforts of the global health community, we significantly reduce the number of preventable maternal and newborn deaths – to near zero, if possible.”
Career Highlights
Dr. Bucher served as a facilitator and mentor for Helping Babies Breathe and led trainings throughout sub-Saharan Africa. A Kenyan nurse, whom she trained, was the first recorded healthcare professional to use the techniques she learned from Bucher to save a newborn baby. Without the techniques that Bucher taught the nurse, the baby would have died. The baby is now 10 years old and has two younger siblings.
In addition to her continued work with Helping Babies Breathe, Dr. Bucher and her colleagues are testing a new mobile app called “Helping Babies Survive” to be used throughout Kenya and Nigeria. The app is used to collect data, provide training and education and improve care.
Dr. Bucher recently received a US patent for a biomedical device that she invented called NeoWarm, which will provide thermal care support and monitor vital signs for newborns. “There is a lot of work still to be done,” says Dr. Bucher, “but I believe that NeoWarm has the potential, at scale, to alleviate suffering and save thousands of newborn lives, not only in low/middle-income countries, but also within North America and Europe.”
Do you know a young professional or emerging leader in Indiana that’s making a big global impact? Nominations for the 2020 award are open June 1 through July 15.
