Meet the Team

Aspen Drude

MBA
Manager of Center for Rural Health and Nursing

• Holds an MBA from the College of William and Mary with a concentration in Management Engineering and Technology Development

• Worked in hospitality for 11+ years, managing for 4 of those:
  – Managed multi-million-dollar stores and 30+ employees at a time

• Experience in multiple sectors including hospitality, automotive, retail, and healthcare

Dr. SuLynn Mester

DNP, RHCNOC, RN
Clinical Assistant Professor

Liaison Team Member – Southwest Texas
Center for Rural Health and Nursing

• Adjunct faculty at UTA since 2020, teaching in the AO doctorate program and serving as faculty advisor for DNP students.
• Registered Nurse since 1987, specializing in critical care, CVICU and Level 1 trauma prior to working the past 14 years as a CNO at a rural Texas hospital
• Past recipient of Texas Organization of Rural and Community Hospitals (TORCH) Policy Fellowship, National Rural Health Association (NRHA) Leadership Fellowship, and Coldiron Senior Nurse Executive Fellowship
• Advisory Board Member of Clarendon College School of Nursing, Area for Health Education Center (AHEC) of the South Plains and NRHA Rural Hospital Chief Officer Certification Program
• Involved in rural health advocacy issues serving on the Texas Nurses Association as the Governmental Advising Liaison, as well as the Hospital and Health Systems Constituency Group Representative for NRHA Rural Health Congress.

Dr. Suzanne Daly

PhD, RN
Assistant Professor of Research
Quality Outcomes Researcher for Center for Rural Health and Nursing

• Assistant Professor of Research at UTA since 2019
• Previous work as Consulting Associate at Duke University School of Nursing
• Research areas of interest: rural health, rural health disparities, racial disparities
• Worked as a Public Health Nurse with the Durham County Health Department
• Worked as a Registered Nurse on the Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at Duke University Hospital

Mayanda Serhan

RN
Grant Writer II

• Holds B.S. in Nursing with minor in Technical Writing from the University of Texas at Arlington
• Worked as a Registered nurse specializing in women’s health
• Instructional facilitator of grant writing course offered by the center
• Experience with grant funding and assistance in crafting proposals
• Enhances healthcare access and services for underserved rural communities by identifying and securing appropriate funding opportunities

Midori Hrinda

Community Outreach Coordinator – Rural Texas
Center for Rural Health and Nursing

• Holds a B.A. in Advertising and Public Relations from the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA)
• Over 2 years of experience in healthcare marketing
• Experience in executing rural outreach initiatives

Jill Whitfill

MSN, RN

Assistant Professor of Practice –                                          Rural Simulation Consultant
Center for Rural Health and Nursing

• Lead in the development and deployment of the first mobile simulation program in a college of nursing within the United States.
• Responsible for the development and delivery of rural educational curriculum in the SMART Hospital IGLOO; first in a college of nursing in the United States.
• Extensive nursing experience serving underserved communities in both rural and urban settings. Areas of expertise include working for a level 1 trauma hospital in medical-surgical, ICU and physical rehabilitation. Also served and led alongside colleagues trained at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago gaining expertise in traumatic brain and spinal cord injury nursing.
• Areas of research include rural health, abelism in nursing and medical education, mental health and health disparities.