Lovoria Williams, PhD, FNP-C, FAANP, FAAN

Professor, Sally Humphrey Research Professor in Cancer Health Equity

Dr. Lovoria B. Williams is a professor in the College of Nursing and Graduate Studies. She is the Director of the Community Health Advocacy iNterventions Generating Equity (CHANGE) Team and the Associate Director of Cancer Health Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at the NCI-designated Markey Cancer Center (MCC), where she holds the endowed Research Professorship in Cancer Health Equity. Dr. Williams is Chair of the MCC Diversity & Inclusivity Committee and the Cancer Prevention Program. Dr. Williams received her undergraduate degrees in nursing from Union University and the Medical College of Georgia. She earned a Master’s of Nursing [Family Nurse Practitioner] from Georgia Southern University and a PhD in Nursing with Distinction from Georgia Regents University. Her research aims to advance health equity among racial/ethnic minority and medically underserved populations through community engaged research methods to affect improved diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer outcomes. She is nationally-recognized for developing culturally-adapted interventions for implementation by community health workers in church settings. Dr. Williams’ work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation. Clinically, she is an active Family Nurse Practitioner. She affects tobacco prevention behaviors through her practice as a Tobacco Treatment Specialist. Dr. Williams adeptly integrates student teaching and research into her family nurse practitioner role. 

Dr. Williams is the recipient of numerous awards and honors such as Nurse Researcher of the Year National Black Nurses Association (2019) and the Kentucky Nurses Association (2019); Excellence in Research and Outstanding Published Writing. She is a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, and a Member of Phi Kappa Phi. She has published in peer-reviewed journals and presented her research nationally and internationally.

She is a member of multiple professional organizations such as the American Nurses Association, the Southern Nursing Research Society where she serves on the Board of Directors and she is President of the Lexington Chapter of the National Black Nurses Association. A strong advocate for diversity, inclusivity and equity, Dr. Williams was appointed by Lexington’s Mayor Linda Gorton as Co-Chair of the Health Disparities Subcommittee on the Commission on Racial Justice & Equality. She also serves on the UNITE Research Priority Area Internal Advisory Board and on the Kentucky Nurses Action Coalition (KNAC) External Advisory Committee.

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