Alumni Spotlight

For more than 20 years, alumna Sarah Looby, MS-NU '00 has combined compassion, curiosity, and clinical expertise to advance care for women living with HIV. Inspired by her early experiences as a patient and her training at the IHP, she has built a career dedicated to improving health outcomes through both research and patient care. This year, she was honored with the 2025 Constance B. Wofsy Women’s Health Investigator Award from the ACTG—recognizing her groundbreaking work to support women navigating menopause while living with HIV.

Tell us a little bit about your career path.
For over two decades, I have conducted clinical research at Massachusetts General Hospital, evaluating endocrine and cardiometabolic complications of HIV, with a special interest in menopause among women living with HIV. My interest in HIV was optimized through the HIV subspecialty program at the IHP, which I completed while obtaining my master’s in nursing under the instruction and leadership of Drs. Inge Corless and Patrice Nicholas. 

What drew you to the nursing profession? 
I discovered my passion for nursing at an early age after being a patient at Boston Children's Hospital. I loved watching the nurses listen to the concerns of patients and families, help with their medical needs, and provide comfort. Also, many of my family members were nurses or worked in health care. 

Nurses provide care for the whole patient in addition to the medical reason for which they were admitted. 

Tell us a little bit about your current research.
Increasing numbers of women living with HIV are entering menopause, and clinicians have limited knowledge and resources for providing care to this population at midlife. Recently, my team and I received a grant from the NIH for a project entitled “EMPOWHer: Embracing Midlife & Menopause Positively—Offerings by Women With HIV.” During this project, I will partner with women living with HIV as well as expert clinicians and researchers from across the United States to create a virtual education program and resource kit for clinicians to improve their knowledge and confidence with providing menopause and midlife care to women living with HIV.

Research is a critical aspect of patient care. I love caring for and helping others, and when there isn’t a direct answer or strategy to do so, research enables me to find one.

What is one step nurse practitioners can take toward adding research into their career portfolio?  
Nursing inquiry stems from the rich interactions we have with patients in the practice setting. Participation in research can range from staying current with the research in a specialty area to inform evidence-based care, to jotting down ideas or gaps in care that are observed in practice, to accessing resources to evaluate those questions to improve patient care.

What does it mean to you to receive the 2025 Constance B. Wofsy Women’s Health Investigator Award from the clinical trials network Advancing Clinical Therapeutics Globally?
To win an award that honors Dr. Constance B. Wofsy’s legacy means so much to me. Dr. Wofsy was a trailblazer who conducted groundbreaking HIV research, served as a passionate advocate for women living with HIV, and prioritized establishing curriculums to educate clinicians on HIV at a time when HIV education was minimal. As nurse researcher, I have had the opportunity to wed my clinical knowledge, community partnerships, and research expertise to design projects that incorporate relevant clinical data, the rich perspectives of women living with HIV, and outcomes that are translatable into clinical practice and education. Dr. Wofsy’s work inspires me to go above and beyond for communities of women with HIV, and to use the education I have been fortunate to receive to optimize care and quality of life for this population.