Community Fellow
Nicole Stratchan
Howard University
Nicole's Story
Nicole E. Stratchan is a clinician, scholar, minister, and consultant. She currently serves as a neonatal therapist at Howard University Hospital and MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, where she delivers neurodevelopmentally supportive, family-centered care to infants and toddlers.
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Nicole is pursuing a Ph.D. in Communication Sciences and Disorders at the Cathy Hughes School of Communication at Howard University. Her research sits at the intersection of historiography, ethics, and the neuroaesthetic dimensions of communication—particularly as they unfold through the arts and culture in religious, clinical, and public spaces.
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With over 15 years of experience as a speech-language pathologist, she has worked across hospital systems, community health settings, schools, and international medical missions. Her leadership experience includes serving as an Eileen P. Sweeney Intern on Disability Policy at the National Academy of Social Insurance and as a LEND fellow through the Maternal and Child Health Bureau’s Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD).
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Ordained as an itinerant elder in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, Nicole also serves as a Commissioner for the Committee on Health Equity for District of Columbia. She was formerly an Ethical Leadership and Racial Justice Fellow at the Howard University School of Divinity and an invited member of the Bioethics Committee at Montefiore Health System in the Bronx, NY.
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She holds certification as a Neonatal Therapist and a certificate in Image Consulting from the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT). In 2025, she co-authored a peer-reviewed article titled Artificial Intelligence-Enhanced Interview Success: Leveraging Eye-Tracking and Cognitive Measures to Support Self-Regulation in College Students with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, published in Education Sciences.
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Nicole earned her B.A. and M.S. in Communication Sciences and Disorders from St. John’s University and New York Medical College, respectively; an M.S. in Bioethics from Columbia University; and a Master of Divinity from the Howard University School of Divinity.
Nicole's Research
Cradles and Corners: A Neuroaesthetic Reimagining of Care and Connection in DC’s NICUs and Neighborhoods
Nicole’s MHHJ project is an interdisciplinary exhibition exploring the experiences of children and families in medical settings such as the NICU, with special attention to those impacted by substance use disorders. Drawing from the arts, sciences, humanities, and theology, the exhibition reimagines clinical spaces and narratives to challenge stigma, humanize care, and increase awareness.
Through multisensory storytelling and community engagement, the project invites embodied reflection on how illness, caregiving, and recovery are experienced and represented—particularly at the earliest and most critical stages of life. It considers how visible and invisible networks: familial, medical, and cultural shape health journeys and community resilience.
Ultimately, this work hopes to inform future policy, education, and public health dialogue by reimagining the art and science of healing and strengthen networks for children and their families from the NICU to neighborhood.