Caroline Darlington (’16)

Category: Alumni Promise | Awards

2021 Alumni Promise Award Winner

Though her career is young, Caroline Darlington has had a powerful impact in health care, with her efforts receiving well-deserved recognition.

Darlington, who graduated from the College of Nursing in 2016, finished her MS in the Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner program at the University of Pennsylvania in 2019. She is currently pursuing her PhD in nursing at the University of Pennsylvania and works as a nurse practitioner on the maternity floors at Abington Hospital outside Philadelphia. Her clinical and research focus is on the health of underserved women, especially those who face the challenges of abuse and addiction.

While at UT, Darlington was part of a research project investigating the needs of persons living with HIV/AIDS in Appalachia. Her research focused on the stigma directed at HIV positive women in Tennessee and Alabama. This work received funding from Sigma Theta Tau, the Chancellor’s Honors Program, and UT’s undergraduate research department. Her research was also recognized by the Global Undergraduate Awards program.

During her time at the University of Pennsylvania, Darlington joined a National Institute of Mental Health research study developing a women-focused intervention to promote access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). In this role, she directly counseled women most at risk for HIV in Philadelphia and connected them with local PrEP resources. Her current doctoral research focuses on enhancing inpatient hospital care for pregnant and postpartum women with opioid addiction.

Many organizations have benefited from Darlington’s Volunteer spirit. She has served with Hope Resource Center, Samaritan Ministries, True Light Childcare Project, and the Penn Nursing Center for Global Women’s Health. She volunteers with a weekly women’s program at Prevention Point, which serves women struggling with intravenous drug use, street-based sex work, and homelessness in North Philadelphia.