Karen Walsh Honored With Distinguished Mentor Award

Assistant Professor Karen Walsh, DHSc, MS, MBA was recently honored with the Distinguished Mentor Award (DMA) at the 15^th Postdoctoral Research Symposium. The DMA was established by Jefferson’s Office of Postdoctoral Affairs to recognize the commitment and effort of Jefferson faculty members for outstanding mentorshp of postdoctoral fellows. 

Dr. Walsh is Program Director of the Masters in Health Data Science Program, and Assistant Director of the Health Economics and Outcomes Research (HEOR) Fellowship program where she guides and mentors numerous postdoctoral fellows. Dr. Walsh explains, “Mentorship is a labor of love, and the best part of my job. Mentees bring energy and new ideas to that table that I may not have thought about. Post-doctoral mentorship is important because I can assist fellows with real-world research to propel and launch their career trajectory.”

Dr. Walsh joined JCPH in 2018 as a statistician with a focus on predictive modeling, clinical informatics, and health services research. She brings extensive experience in the healthcare industry which has proven to be important to HEOR fellows as they navigate academia and industry and fine-tune their career goals. “Helping postdoctoral fellows develop soft skills including presentation, communication, teamwork, time management, adaptability and stress management are key components of mentorship” explains Walsh.

Postdoc fellows and colleagues recognize that Dr. Walsh’s leadership and mentorship shined through the challenges of the pandemic. She helped to develop relationships and provided invaluable opportunities for the fellows, who had never met in person.

Dr. Walsh reflects on the DMA, “I am honored and delighted to receive this recognition, which involved post-doctoral fellows submitting the nomination independently, so I was very surprised when I found out I was nomintated. This means that the fellows have truly benefited from the mentorship process and value our relationship as much as I do, which means the world to me.“