I was born in a small farming community in Southern Maryland at a time when access to health care was determined by class, race and wealth. I was encouraged by parents to find the answers to questions through Great Books, and learned that history is the key to understanding the present. Received a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Dallas in Irving Texas in 1972.
Married a military officer in the Coast Guard led to a family and a deep interest in the world of children, their development, the impact of attachment and parenting, the empowerment of women through childbirth. In 1989, graduated from what was then Shelby County Community College in Memphis, TN with an Associate Degree in Nursing. Continuing my spirit of inquiry, I entered George Mason University for a Master’s in Nursing in Advanced Clinical Practice with a focus on Children with Special Health Needs. Before graduating in 1995 I completed two clinical nurse fellowships in "Infant Development" and "Developmental Needs and Diagnoses in Childhood" in a University Affiliate Program (UAP) at Georgetown University. After completing a Post Master’s Certificate as a Pediatric and School Nurse Practitioner at The Catholic University of America,my family moved to Memphis so I could work at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
For eleven years I worked with infants, children and youth affected or infected with HIV/AIDS in the Department of Infectious Disease as a research pediatric nurse practitioner providing primary and specialty care for this special population that was either perinatally infected or behaviorally infected with HIV. During that time I enjoyed protocol development, recruitment and retention of participants and their families, clinical trials, precepting students and teaching nurses in South Africa about antiretroviral treatment, adherence interventions and clinical management of children and their families. From the nurses in South Africa, I learned power of community and public health, and has since tried to implement some of their practices to change the course of infant mortality and adverse childhood experiences(ACE) in Memphis. TN.
Recently graduated from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center - College of Nursing with a DNP in the Public Health Option. Research interests include the impact of ACE on health outcomes in adolescence, and the potential impact that PNP practice has on mitigating the influences of ACE in childhood.