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BH WELL Team Behavioral Health and Wellness Environments for Living and Learning

The mission of the BH WELL is to promote behavioral health and wellness among individuals facing behavioral health challenges.

BREATHE Team Bridging Research Efforts and Advocacy Toward Healthy Environments

BREATHE’S mission is to promote lung health and healthy environments with at-risk populations to achieve health equity through research; community outreach and empowerment; advocacy and policy development; and access to health services.

CHANGE Team Community Health Advocacy Interventions Generating Equity

The CHANGE team is dedicated to the advancement of health equity among racial/ethnic minorities and medically underserved populations through the implementation of service and collaborative community-engaged research interventions and policy changes.

Occupational and Rural Health

The Occupational and Environmental Health Nursing Program works to create a culture of health and safety in workplaces and among workers and their families. Production agriculture specifically – commonly called farming – is a cradle-to-grave industry and consistently ranks among the top four most hazardous occupations.

Perinatal Research and Wellness Center

The Center for Perinatal Research and Wellness uses translational research to inform women, providers and policymakers about current perinatal issues while empowering women to optimize maternal and child health through positive behavioral change.

RICH Heart Research Team/Program

The RICH Heart program offers a framework for data sharing, collaboration and idea generation for dozens of faculty researchers, collaborators and students whose research interests are centered around cardiovascular and pulmonary health.

Rural and Underserved Health Research Center RUHRC

The Rural & Underserved Health Research Center (RUHRC) focuses on issues at the intersection of rurality and poverty.  RUHRC research focuses on subjects including but not limited to access to health care, substance use disorder and treatment, mental illness and treatment, and cancer.  RUHRC researchers are multidisciplinary, with faculty from the UK Colleges of Nursing, Medicine, Pharmacy, and Communication and Information as well as the American Board of Family Medicine.

UK Center for Appalachian Research in Environmental Sciences UK-Cares

The University of Kentucky Center for Appalachian Research in Environmental Sciences (UK-CARES) is a multi-disciplinary National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Core Center to enhance research capacity focused on major environmental health impacts to air & water quality and emerging threats to our environment. The Center provides advanced infrastructure and leading expertise, dedicated career development and mentorship, and community-engaged interactions to facilitate innovative discovery and new understandings of environmental factors in disease initiation, progression, and outcomes and their community impacts.

UK College of Nursing Faculty and Areas of Research

Name Email Research Interest Primary Funding Source
Karen Butler karen.butler@uky.edu Occupational Health Nurse Training NIOSH
Kristin Ashord kristin.ashford@uky.edu Maternal and Child Health KY Cabinet for Health and Family Services
Misook Chung misook.chung@uky.edu Cardiovascular Health: Chronic Patients and Caregivers NIH-NINR; CON Pilot
Amanda Fallin-Bennet amanda.fallin@uky.edu Tobacco Policy and Substance Abuse KDHP, CON Pilot, NCI, UK CHET Pilot
Ellen Hahn ejhahn00@email.uky.edu Tobacco Policy and Environmental Health NIH–NIEHS (P30 and R01), KDPH, UK CCTS, Interact for Health (Subawards), State Medicaid Grant, Radon
Ana Maria Linares am.linares@uky.edu Intervention to Enhance Breastfeeding and Obesity Risk Reduction UKCCTS; CON Pilot
Debra Moser debra.moser@uky.edu Cardiovascular & Cerebrovascular Health – Risk Self-Management NIH–NINR, Jonas, RWJF
Gia Mudd-Martin gia.mudd@uky.edu Cardiovascular Health, Diabetes, and the Family Structure NINR; NIH OD; OBSSR, CCTS
Tyrone Borders ty.borders@uky.edu Rural Health Research HRSA
Julie Marfell julie.marfell@uky.edu Nursing Leadership, Rural Health, Farmer Stress, Nursing Workforce Issues State of Kentucky
Elizabeth Salt elizabeth.salt@uky.edu Chronic Pain Management Pfizer; CCTS; CON Pilot
Zim Okoli ctokol1@uky.edu Tobacco Policy and Substance Abuse KDPH; State Medicaid Grant
Jean Edward jean.edward@uky.edu Promoting equitable access to healthcare; Healthcare access and disparities research CON Pilot; ACS IRG, RWJF
Martha Biddle martha.biddle@uky.edu CV Health: Secondary Prev of CV Disease CON Pilot; UK CCTS Pilot
Lovoria Williams lovoria.williams@uky.edu Interventions to reduce health disparities among underserved populations NIDDK, UK VPR Pilot
Lee Ann Walmsley lee.walmsley@uky.edu Adult Learners and Educational Research  UK Women and Philanthropy
Jia-Rong Wu jiarong.wu2@uky.edu Medication adherence; Health literacy; Health disparity; Family/social support; Family-focused intervention; Self-care behavior; Heart failure NIH/NINR

Other areas of research include:

  • Self-management of chronic illness (especially cardiopulmonary health issues/heart failure)
  • Injury prevention
  • Prevention of preterm birth
  • Health disparities and cancer control
  • Medication adherence
  • Family caregivers
  • Promoting health of persons with persons with persistent mental illness
  • Post-discharge nausea and vomiting
  • Adolescent health care provider communication during cancer treatment
  • Reproductive health of Hispanic women
  • Faith-based approaches to improving nutrition in Eastern Kentucky