PhD, RN, FAAN Dean and Professor, CONHI Executive Director of Center for Rural Health and Nursing
Professor emeritus from the University of Virginia. Prior Director/PI of NIH Funded Rural Health Research Center.
Previously, Executive Vice Dean at Duke University School of Nursing, where she is currently a Consulting Professor
Previous President, Rural Nurse Organization
Founding Member and a Leader of Global Rural Nursing Network
Performed specialized research in areas including rural health, mental health, and health disparities in under-served communities
Held leadership roles and management positions in both academia and health care delivery systems
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. Elanda Douglas
DNP, APRN, FNP-BC Clinical Nurse Practitioner Faculty Center for Rural Health and Nursing
Adjunct Faculty at UTA since 2015 in AO Bachelors Program and the Family Nurse Practitioner Program
Continue to work 1 day/week as FNP at Marathon Health Onsite Health Center
Registered Nurse since 1999 (22 yrs.)
Worked as Medical Surgical Nurse for 1 year
Work in Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit (CVICU) for 12 years
Worked as Family Nurse Practitioner for the past 9 years
As an FNP, has been a provider in family practice, retail health, occupational health, and managed and ran a heart/valve clinic
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.
Wei You
MSTAT Statistician III of Center for Rural Health and Nursing
Worked as a web developer & data analyst for 3 years. Developed and maintained data-driven web applications. Analyzed business data and generated reports, utilizing C#, VB, SAS and SQL. Designed, implemented and maintained database.
Research Statistician III at Duke University School of Nursing, supported the project of reducing health disparities in rural communities
As a statistician, prepared, manipulated, analyzed data, provided statistical support and data solutions for other researchers, specializing in SAS programming. Experiences in Stata, R, Python, SPSS, Tableau, and ArcGIS pro.
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
Additional Staff
Student Assistants:
Jasandeep Kaur – Pursuing Bachelor of Science in Nursing
Caroline King – Pursuing Bachelor of Science in Nursing
