Manhattanville University Nursing Student Selected for American Heart Association Hispanic Serving Institutions Scholars Program
Luiza Alves de Oliveira, a first-year nursing student at the Manhattanville University School of Nursing and Health Sciences, has known from a young age that she wanted to take care of people.
In her native country of Brazil, Alves de Oliveira helped care for her grandmother and uncle. When she moved to the United States in 2019 to work as an au pair, she helped take care of a newborn with congenital heart disease. She also enjoyed studying subjects like biology and math. Her experiences in Brazil and the U.S., along with her interest in science, led her to pursue an academic path where she could learn how to make a difference in healthcare, particularly in cardiology. Now, Alves de Oliveira has been selected as one of just 34 recipients nationwide of the prestigious American Heart Association (AHA) Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) Scholars Program for the 2024-2025 academic year. Additionally, Luisa is the only 2024-2025 scholar to come from a 4-year educational institution in New York State.
This highly competitive program, which drew more than 150 applicants from across the U.S., provides students at Hispanic Serving Institutions, like Manhattanville, with an array of resources, including scholarships and mentoring opportunities. Students accepted into the program engage in a leadership and professional development series to enhance critical skills. They learn about health disparities in Hispanic communities, how cultural sensitivity can provide safe and reassuring clinical spaces, and how inclusivity is essential in science.
“Being part of this program is an incredible honor and will help me prepare for my future career in nursing, specifically in cardiology,” said Alves de Oliveira. “I am excited to learn more about research and how nursing professionals can make a difference in the lives of patients, especially those from underserved populations.”
As part of the program, Alves de Oliveira is working closely with a mentor, Christa Hartch, PhD, RN, FNP-C., an Assistant Professor in the School of Nursing and Health Sciences at Manhattanville. Dr. Hartch has been nationally recognized for her research advances in medication adherence using an app called Medisafe. Alves de Oliveira will help Dr. Hartch conduct further research on the use of specific features of the app, which will shed light on the role that social support and cultural factors play in health outcomes, which are critical issues in Hispanic communities.
“I am delighted to serve as a mentor to Luiza,” said Dr. Hartch. “She is beginning this program in the early phase of the study and will continue to help through data collection and analysis. She’s learning a lot about the nursing research process.”
As part of the AHA HSI Scholars Program, Alves de Oliveira will also attend monthly workshops on health equity, develop research skills, and prepare for poster presentations at national conferences, including a trip to Dallas, Texas, in March 2025, further enhancing her professional development and providing opportunities to connect with other scholars who share her passion for healthcare equity.
Manhattanville University has earned a designation as a Hispanic Serving Institution by the U.S. Department of Education, evidence of the increasingly diverse student body and commitment to inclusive excellence. Hispanic Serving Institutions play a pivotal role in fostering opportunities for diverse student populations to succeed in the workforce of tomorrow. To be designated as an HSI, an institution of higher education must have a full-time equivalent (FTE) undergraduate student enrollment that is at least 25 percent Hispanic. Manhattanville’s student body is more than 35% Hispanic. Manhattanville has also earned an Equity and Inclusion badge from Colleges of Distinction.
About Manhattanville University
Manhattanville University (formerly Manhattanville College) is a private liberal arts institution dedicated to academic excellence, purposeful education, and social responsibility. For three years in a row, U.S. News and World Report has ranked Manhattanville the number one private, non-profit institution in New York among Top Performers of Social Mobility in Regional Universities North. The university has been recognized among the best colleges in The Princeton Review for close to 20 years. Located 30 miles from New York City on a 100-acre suburban campus in the heart of Westchester County, Manhattanville enables easy access to entertainment offerings, educational resources, and business opportunities for its diverse student body. The university serves more than 1,400 undergraduate students and nearly 1,000 graduate students from more than 44 countries and 33 states. Founded in 1841, the university offers more than 75 undergraduate and graduate areas of study in the arts and sciences, education, nursing and health sciences, business, and creative writing, as well as continuing and executive education programs. Graduate students can choose from over 70 graduate and certificate programs. Extracurricular offerings include more than 45 clubs and activities and 23 NCAA Division III teams.