National Library of Medicine Fellowship

Congratulations to Dr. Michelle Brasure, who has been awarded a fellowship from the National Institute of Health (NIH), National Library of Medicine (NLM) in order to complete a Masters of Library and Information Sciences (MLIS) in preparation for a career as a health informationist. The fellowship is co-sponsored by Mary Wagner, MLIS Program Director, and Linda Watson, Director of the Health Sciences Libraries at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Dr. Brasure is the first fellow from the National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine at the College of St. Catherine.

During the two-year fellowship, Dr. Brasure, who has a MSPH and PhD in Health Policy and Administration, will complement her public health education and experience with education and training in library and information science. In addition to her course work at the College of St. Catherine, Dr. Brasure will complete rotations through several departments of the Health Sciences Libraries at the University of Minnesota to gain practical experience in health informatics. She will also engage in a project to assess the impact among public health workers of My Health MinnesotaGo Local!, a new web resource based on the National Library of Medicine's MedlinePlus. Dr Brasure will design, implement and evaluate outreach and trainings to the public health community in the effective use of the new health promotion tool. The trainings developed and delivered during the fellowship are expected to enhance the capacity of local public health workers to provide high quality health information resources to their community members. These resources can enhance community members’ abilities to make appropriate decisions about health care and health behaviors and improve overall health literacy.