Vanderbilt University School of Nursing faculty have expertise in subjects that include health equity, health and well-being, education and nursing practice. From helping women with HIV to increasing breastfeeding by Black mothers, our faculty are seeking answers, building evidence-based knowledge and helping implement changes and care that touch patients, their families, communities and populations.
As befitting an institution with more than 100 years of educating nurses, we have faculty experts in education best practices, simulation in nursing and distance learning. VUSN faculty don’t just teach practice—they model it, with one of the largest faculty practices in the country.
The following list includes our research faculty, administration and faculty who have been named fellows by their professional organizations. If there’s an area of expertise—or a faculty member—you don’t see, please email VUSN-Communications@vanderbilt.edu.
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Acute & Chronic Illness
- Julie Barroso, Julia Eleanor Blair Chenault Professor of Nursing
HIV-related fatigue; stigma reduction for women living with HIV; long-term survivors of AIDS; COVID-19 long haulers - Leanne Boehm, Assistant Professor
Post-intensive care syndrome (PICS); ICU recovery clinics; ICU impact on patients, staff and families; interventions to reduce burden of PICS such as peer support groups and ICU diary keeping; telehealth for intensive care survivors - Kate Clouse, Associate Professor
Patient engagement in HIV care, including use of mobile health (mHealth), case management, point-of-care technology and financial incentive strategies; interventions to support vulnerable populations such as homeless or recently homeless people. - Makayla Cordoza, Assistant Professor
Sleep and neurocognitive function; circadian neurobiology; acute and critical illness; hospitalization outcomes - Monica Do, Assistant Professor
Cardiology; cardiac electrophysiology; arrhythmia management - Michael Gooch, Assistant Professor
Emergency and transport nursing; trauma management; critical care - Karen Hande, Professor
Cancer pain; oncology palliative care; opioid misuse and abuse; nursing faculty development and transition to practice - Betsy Kennedy, Professor and Associate Dean for Academic & Curriculum Affairs
Faculty development and mentorship in the academic role; educator professional identity formation; optimizing the health professions’ learning environment; nursing education; high risk and critical care obstetrics - Ruth Kleinpell, Independence Foundation Professor of Nursing Education
Patient and family-centered care research; advanced practice nursing; care roles and scope of practice of nurse practitioners and physician assistants in acute care settings - Mulubrhan Mogos, Assistant Professor
Women’s health; cardiovascular health; hypertensive disorders of pregnancy; pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes; data science - James Muchira, Assistant Professor
Environmental impact on health; social determinants of health; mother-child heart health; CVD inflammatory markers; air quality and health - Shelagh Mulvaney, Associate Professor and Director of VUSN Health Equity Initiatives
Technology-assisted behavior change systems; self-management in pediatric diabetes, obesity and other chronic illnesses; social learning mechanisms to support diabetes self-management; design and testing of mobile behavioral assessment systems; health equity - Mariann R. Piano, Nancy and Hilliard Travis Professor of Nursing
Adverse effects of alcohol on the cardiovascular system and biomarkers of unhealthy alcohol consumption - Bethany Rhoten, Assistant Professor
Health policy; survey and polling design; conceptual foundations for health research; informatics for scholarly inquiry; mental health issues associated with illness, identity and lived experience; cancer-related body image - Ying Sheng, Assistant Professor
Cancer survivorship; heart palpitations in breast cancer survivors; cardio-oncology; menopausal symptoms; symptom science and management - Meg Shifrin, Associate Professor
Interdisciplinary end-of-life patient management in intensive care unit settings, critical care - Doug Smith, Instructor
Advanced practice critical care - Markie Sneed, Assistant Professor
Type 2 diabetes prevention in families; dietary interventions; childhood obesity prevention; food as medicine for diabetes prevention; health promotion and disease prevention - Han Su, Assistant Professor
ICU survivorship; post intensive care syndrome; social determinants of health; health disparities - Brian Widmar, Associate Professor
Quality of life after ventricular assist device implantation; patient and family-centered care and self-care education in cardiothoracic transplant and ventricular assist device patient populations; advanced health assessment and clinical reasoning; advanced cardiovascular and critical care nursing; procedural training for nurse practitioners; professional practice transition for new nurse practitioners
- Julie Barroso, Julia Eleanor Blair Chenault Professor of Nursing
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Data Science & Health Technologies
- Kelly Malapanes-Aldrich, Professor
Nursing Informatics, advancing education and adoption of technology; interoperability, clinical informatics infusion; operations planning and transformation as supported by informatics; immersive virtual environments that support nurses' well-being and self-care (VUSN MIND Lab) - Cathy Ivory, Associate Professor
Implementation science; evidence-based, data-informed decision making; nursing leadership; nursing value; nursing informatics education - Mulubrhan Mogos, Assistant Professor
Women’s health; cardiovascular health; hypertensive disorders of pregnancy; pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes; data science - Shelagh Mulvaney, Associate Professor and Director of VUSN Health Equity Initiatives
Technology-assisted health-related behavior change systems; self-management in pediatric diabetes, obesity and other chronic illnesses; social learning mechanisms to support diabetes self-management; design and testing of mobile behavioral assessment systems; health equity - Jeremy Neal, Associate Professor
Birth outcomes for mothers and babies; physiological differences between active versus early labor; inflammatory biomarkers as predictors of active labor; and patterns of normal labor progression among laboring women - Bethany Rhoten, Assistant Professor
Health policy; survey and polling design; conceptual foundations for health research; informatics for scholarly inquiry; mental health issues associated with illness, identity and lived experience; cancer-related body image - Lori Schirle, Assistant Professor
Genomic influences on postoperative opioid consumption; pain phenotypes in surgical populations; utilization of electronic health records to identify opioid use; advanced practice nurse workforce and work environment; health policy - Deonni Stolldorf, Associate Professor
Health services research; social determinants of health; hospital at home implementation and caregiving; research methods
- Kelly Malapanes-Aldrich, Professor
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Genomics
- Laurie Connors, Professor
Translation and integration of genetic and genomic data in academia and health care; quality health care of cancer survivors and previvors; DNP education, scholarly practice, and workforce outcomes - Rolanda Johnson, Joseph A. Johnson, Jr. Distinguished Leadership Professor and Associate Dean for Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
Health promotion of African-Americans; Black racial identity; genetics & obesity; equity, diversity and inclusion in nursing and the academic environment; advancing leadership of diverse nurse leaders - Tonia Moore-Davis, Instructor
Transgenerational epigenetics related to recurrent preterm birth in families; genomics of human birth timing; preterm birth prevention, midwifery
- Laurie Connors, Professor
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Health Equity
- Julie Barroso, Julia Eleanor Blair Chenault Professor of Nursing
HIV-related fatigue; stigma reduction for women living with HIV; long-term survivors of AIDS; COVID-19 long haulers - Kate Clouse, Associate Professor
Patient engagement in HIV care, including use of mobile health (mHealth), case management, point-of-care technology and financial incentive strategies; interventions to support vulnerable populations such as homeless or recently homeless people. - Stephanie DeVane-Johnson, Associate Professor
Breastfeeding and health disparities in the African American/Black community; Black doulas; doula training; midwifery - Rolanda Johnson, Joseph A. Johnson, Jr. Distinguished Leadership Professor and Associate Dean for Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
Health promotion of African-Americans; Black racial identity; genetics & obesity; equity, diversity and inclusion in nursing and the academic environment; advancing leadership of diverse nurse leaders - Sharon Karp, Professor
Prevention of childhood obesity; maternal psychosocial factors and parenting practices; community and home-based interventions for at-risk parenting - Jana Lauderdale, Associate Professor
Health disparities; Native American women's health; minority nursing students' educational issues - James Muchira, Assistant Professor
Environmental impact on health; social determinants of health; mother-child heart health; CVD inflammatory markers; air quality and health - Shelagh Mulvaney, Associate Professor and Director of VUSN Health Equity Initiatives
Technology-assisted health-related behavior change systems; self-management in pediatric diabetes, obesity and other chronic illnesses; social learning mechanisms to support diabetes self-management; design and testing of mobile behavioral assessment systems; health equity - Julia Phillippi, Professor
Access to perinatal care; birth center model of care; midwifery care and outcomes; teaching and learning environments - Bethany Rhoten, Assistant Professor
Health policy; survey and polling design; conceptual foundations for health research; informatics for scholarly inquiry; mental health issues associated with illness, identity and lived experience; cancer-related body image - Deonni Stolldorf, Associate Professor
Health services research; social determinants of health; hospital at home implementation and caregiving; research methods - Han Su, Assistant Professor
ICU survivorship; post intensive care syndrome; social determinants of health; health disparities - Carol Ziegler, Professor
Climate justice and health equity; cooperative entrepreneurship; health and carbon offset co-benefit strategies; planetary health in nursing education; climate change; social determinants of health
- Julie Barroso, Julia Eleanor Blair Chenault Professor of Nursing
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Nursing Education
- Terri Allison, Professor and Assistant Dean for Academics, Doctoral Nursing Practice
Doctoral education; doctor of nursing practice education; DNP executive leadership - Laurie Connors, Professor
Translation and integration of genetic and genomic data in academia and health care; quality health care of cancer survivors and previvors; DNP education, scholarly practice, and workforce outcomes - Mary Dietrich, Professor
PhD program statistical foundations; statistical synthesis and grant proposals; specialized and advanced statistics sessions - Karen Hande, Professor
Cancer pain; oncology palliative care; opioid misuse and abuse; nursing faculty development and transition to practice - Pamela R. Jeffries, Dean and Valere Potter Distinguished Professor of Nursing
Nursing and health care education; experiential learning; innovative teaching strategies; health care simulations; use of technology in nursing education; new pedagogies - Mary Ann Jessee, Professor and Assistant Dean for Academics, Generalist Nursing Practice
Theoretical support of pre-licensure clinical learning; improvement of the pre-licensure clinical learning environment; enhancement of clinical reasoning in pre-licensure nursing students - Betsy Kennedy, Professor and Associate Dean for Academic & Curriculum Affairs
Faculty development and mentorship in the academic role; educator professional identity formation; optimizing the health professions learning environment; nursing education - Angela McNelis, Professor and Assistant Dean, PhD in Nursing Science
Nursing education; evidence-based research for nursing education change; health care simulations; PhD in Nursing Science education - Abby Luck Parish, Associate Professor and Coordinator of Educator Development
Professional formation courses, education theory, nursing education - Regina Russell, Associate Professor and Director for Assessment and Evaluation
Health sciences education; learning and educational quality improvement; education assessment and evaluation; data science - Brian Widmar, Associate Professor
Quality of life after ventricular assist device implantation; patient and family-centered care and self-care education in cardiothoracic transplant and ventricular assist device patient populations; advanced health assessment and clinical reasoning; advanced cardiovascular and critical care nursing; procedural training for nurse practitioners; professional practice transition for new nurse practitioners - Jennifer Wilbeck, Professor
Simulation in nurse practitioner education; emergency nurse practitioner practice issues; ENP competency assessment; ENP curricular design
- Terri Allison, Professor and Assistant Dean for Academics, Doctoral Nursing Practice
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Planetary Health and Human Health
- James Muchira, Assistant Professor
Environmental impact on health; social determinants of health; mother-child heart health; CVD inflammatory markers; air quality and health - Carol Ziegler, Professor
Climate justice and health equity; cooperative entrepreneurship; health and carbon offset co-benefit strategies; planetary health in nursing education; climate change; social determinants of health
- James Muchira, Assistant Professor
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Pregnancy Outcomes, Mother & Infant Health, Family Health
- Terrah Akard, Professor of Nursing and Medicine
Quality of life in pediatric palliative care populations; continuing bonds, grief and coping in bereaved families after death of a child; web-based recruitment and interventions for pediatric palliative care populations - Kate Clouse, Associate Professor
Patient engagement in HIV care, including use of mobile health (mHealth), case management, point-of-care technology and financial incentive strategies; interventions to support vulnerable populations such as homeless or recently homeless people - Melissa Davis, Assistant Professor
Hypertension and stroke in pregnancy; vaginal birth after cesarean; horioamnionitis infection rates; obesity; newborn care, midwifery - Stephanie DeVane-Johnson, Associate Professor
Breastfeeding and health disparities in the e African American/Black community; Black doulas; doula training; midwifery - Hannah Diaz, Assistant Professor
Spontaneous abortion; ultrasound in midwifery - Mary Jo Gilmer, Professor
Pediatric palliative care; animal-assisted interventions with children with advanced cancer; legacy-making for children; songwriting interventions with chronically ill children - Kendra Faucett, Assistant Professor
Neurodiversity in education; heuristics and test-taking strategies; physiologic childbirth; GYN care; midwifery; political advocacy and professionalism - Sharon Karp, Professor
Prevention of childhood obesity; maternal psychosocial factors and parenting practices; community and home-based interventions for at-risk parenting - Marianna LaNoue, Professor
Adverse childhood experiences and adult health; patient-centered outcomes; health services and outcomes research; - Mulubrhan Mogos, Assistant Professor
Women’s health; cardiovascular health; hypertensive disorders of pregnancy; pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes; data science - Tonia Moore-Davis, Instructor
Transgenerational epigenetics related to recurrent preterm birth in families; genomics of human birth timing; preterm birth prevention, midwifery - James Muchira, Assistant Professor
Environmental impact on health; social determinants of health; mother-child heart health; CVD inflammatory markers; air quality and health - Jeremy Neal, Associate Professor
Birth outcomes for mothers and babies; physiological differences between active versus early labor; inflammatory biomarkers as predictors of active labor; and patterns of normal labor progression among laboring women - Julia Phillippi, Professor
Access to perinatal care; birth center model of care; midwifery care and outcomes; teaching and learning environments - Margaret C. Taylor, Instructor
Quality improvement in midwifery care, reducing primary cesarean rate
- Terrah Akard, Professor of Nursing and Medicine