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Linda Koh, assistant professor in the Elaine Marieb College of Nursing, has been named one of the region’s 2025 Healthcare Heroes by BusinessWest and Healthcare News. The honor recognizes her significant contributions to public health, nutrition education and community wellness in Western Massachusetts.

Koh, who earned her doctorate in nursing from UMass Amherst in 2022 and joined UMass as a faculty member in Sept. 2024, was selected in the Community Health category after a nomination by Crystal Neuhauser, chief development officer for the Marieb College of Nursing with the UMass Amherst Foundation.

Koh’s research focuses on holistic health and wellness, and her work extends beyond academia into meaningful collaborations that address food access, health equity and public policy. 

“It is a great honor to receive this award as it recognizes the work that my team and I are doing to help train the next generation of nurse scientists, while also bringing visibility to the need to continue working towards advancing health equity—both in the community and through nutrition and sustainable food systems,” Koh says.

Her Healthcare Hero spotlight notes her leadership in creating partnerships around nutrition and sustainable food systems. For example, Koh is heading a project funded with a grant from the Ardmore Institute of Health to create a parent/teacher facilitator guide and a healthcare provider quick guide for “Full Plate for Kids,” a children’s activity book on nutrition and sustainable food systems. Koh led the team that created “Full Plate for Kids” when she was a postdoc at Stanford University School of Medicine.

Koh was exposed in childhood by her family to the importance of nutrition, and today she advocates for sustainable food practices, culturally responsive education and a plant-based diet, which she has followed for years. 

“I feel like nutrition is one of the ways that people can feel like they’re actually directly impacting their health in a small way,” she told BusinessWest. “And by starting young, I feel those are lessons they can carry with them throughout their entire lifetime.”

“Dr. Koh’s impact is clear: families eating better, students entering the workforce more prepared and communities being heard,” Neuhauser told BusinessWest. “What makes her heroic is not just her scholarship – it’s her radical belief that everyone deserves to live with health, dignity and joy.”

Koh and the other 2025 Healthcare Heroes will be celebrated at an awards gala on Wednesday, Oct. 22 from 5:30-9 p.m. at the Log Cabin in Holyoke.