Dr. Rachel Adler is a seasoned anthropologist and a psychiatric nurse practitioner with extensive experience conducting qualitative and mixed methods research with vulnerable populations. Her book, Yucatecans in Dallas Texas, Breaching the Border, Bridging the Distance is based on over two years of intensive, binational, ethnographic research with a community of Mexican migrants in Texas. In her more current work, she merges her social science expertise in culture, ethnicity and gender with her extensive clinical knowledge of psychiatry and psycho-oncology. This combination of skills makes her uniquely prepared to conduct culturally relevant interventional research with cancer survivors in the University of Arizona Cancer Center's predominantly Hispanic catchment area.  Rachel Adler became a nurse during her first sabbatical to broaden her skill set in medical anthropology and to become a more effective researcher with real world impact. For more than a decade, Dr. Adler has connected her nursing practice to her anthropological scholarship to advance translational science, serving as site PI and co-investigator on several federal grants, allowing her to contribute to the literature on psychosocial oncology, psychiatry, men's mental health, research methods, and veteran's health.

Dr. Terry Badger's research focuses on symptom management, including reducing psychological distress, for cancer survivors and their caregivers.  Her contributions to science include documenting the effectiveness of telephone delivered psychosocial interventions in improving symptom management and quality of life.   Her second contribution has been the investigation of telephone delivered psychosocial interventions that reduce health disparities for English-speaking and Spanish-speaking cancer survivors and their caregivers.  Lastly, Dr. Badger dyadic analytic methods to document the critical influence of members of the survivors' social networks or caregivers have on cancer recovery.  Dr. Badger currently has NIH funded R01s as well as CHERC funding from the American Cancer Society. 

Dr. Aleeca Bell's program of research, developed from her 27 years as a Certified Nurse Midwife, focuses on women and infant perinatal outcomes, and the underlying oxytocin system. Her predoc and postdoc funding investigated epidural anesthesia and synthetic oxytocin relating to cortisol and immediate newborn behaviors. Subsequent private foundation and NIH KL2 funding added to an established, longitudinal, British dataset revealing: a genetic-epigenetic susceptibility in the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) to postpartum depression; and a positive birth experience supports maternal mental health and caregiving. Pilot work led to an NIH-funded R01 award (2020-2025) conducted as PI at UA. By targeting women with a history of childhood adversity (expecting their first child), the RCT determined 1) the efficacy of Massage+, a behavioral infant massage, on improving the quality of mother-infant synchrony; and 2) the role of the oxytocin system underlying the efficacy of Massage+ and mother-infant synchrony, respectively. A unique contribution to the literature will be characteristics of the oxytocin system across pregnancy and postpartum including data on infant oxytocin, and maternal OXTR DNA methylation, gene expression, and genotype, and a potential oxytocin biomarker. This perinatal dataset with multiple birth and psycho-social measures is available to students.

Dr. Chen X. Chen is the Sorensen Endowed Professor at the College of Nursing, with a joint appointment in the College of Engineering. Her research integrates pain management, women's health, and biobehavioral science, with a focus on dysmenorrhea-menstrual pain. She aims to improve its measurement, uncover underlying mechanisms, and enhance clinical care. Her work has been supported by several NIH institutes, including the National Institute of Nursing Research, the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, and NICHD. She currently leads a $2.9 million NICHD-funded R01 project investigating the vaginal microbiome's role in dysmenorrhea. Dr. Chen has over 40 peer-reviewed publications, cited in more than 50 countries, and featured in popular media. A dedicated mentor, she supports early-stage investigators across disciplines and has been recognized with the Indiana University Trustees Teaching Award. She serves on committees for the U.S. Association for the Study of Pain and the Council for Advancement of Nursing Science, and reviews grants for NIH and the VA. As Co-Director of the UA Center for Health and Technology (CHaT), she leads interdisciplinary research and educational initiatives bridging healthcare and technology. Dr. Chen is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and a Mayday Fellow.

Dr. Ashley A. Lowe is an Assistant Professor and Community-Engaged Translational Scientist at the University of Arizona College of Nursing Since 2024. Her research focuses on the implementation and evaluation of evidence-based interventions, with a particular emphasis on pediatric asthma management and school-based health systems. As the Program Director of the Stock Inhaler for Schools Program, she leads a statewide initiative that ensures access to rescue medications for over 850 schools across Arizona. This program, the longest consecutively funded school-based research initiative in the United States, serves as a model for translating evidence-based practices into real-world settings. Over the past eight years, she has trained thousands of school nurses and staff in medication administration and intervention strategies, significantly improving asthma management and health outcomes in schools. Her expertise in implementation science and dissemination (D&I) methods drives her work in advancing scalable and sustainable health interventions. Her publication record in peer-reviewed journals highlights her contributions to the field, and she actively mentors graduate students across public health, medicine, and nursing disciplines. An active member of the American Thoracic Society, she collaborates with local, state, and national organizations to drive impactful, community-focused research initiatives.

Dr. Juyoung Park's research focuses on technology-based nonpharmacological interventions for older adults with chronic pain and cognitive impairment. Her work integrates transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), mindfulness-based meditation, and movement-based therapies such as chair yoga to improve pain, mobility, and neuropsychiatric outcomes in individuals with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD) and osteoarthritis. She also investigates objective pain assessment using multimodal approaches that combine functional brain imaging, EEG, eye tracking, and wearable sensors to capture neurophysiologic pain responses.  She has served as Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator on NIH- and John A. Hartford Foundation-funded clinical trials, cross-sectional, and cohort studies addressing nonpharmacological pain management, pain modulation, and social determinants of cognitive aging. Her current projects include R01s testing home-based tDCS and mindfulness therapy for knee osteoarthritis pain, a longitudinal study examining environmental and social factors in cognitive decline, an R03 data-integration models for ADRD research, and an Arizona Biomedical Research Centre grant developing multimodal pain-assessment systems.  Dr. Park leads multidisciplinary research advancing technology-based solutions that integrate behavioral science and neurophysiology. A Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America and a USASP Leadership Academy scholar, Dr. Park bridges gerontology, neuroscience, and digital health to advance equitable, scalable care for aging populations. 

Dr. Meghan Skiba, PhD, MS, MPH, RDN is a nutritional epidemiologist and Registered Dietitian Nutritionist. Dr. Skiba's multidisciplinary expertise bridges behavioral science, nutrition, and oncology to advance understanding of how lifestyle factors influence biological aging among cancer survivors and their caregivers. Her research focuses on biological aging, digital health, and dyadic (survivor-caregiver) approaches to improving diet, physical activity, and overall well-being. Her contributions to the field have advanced the understanding of lifestyle, biological aging, and digital health interventions to improve outcomes for cancer survivors and their caregivers. Dr. Skiba's current research aligns to the Phase 1-3 ORBIT model of behavioral interventions and is funded by the National Cancer Institute and American Cancer Society. Her active studies include adaptation of evidence-based diet and physical activity interventions for cancer survivors for the regional and cultural context, and a social media delivered cancer prevention intervention for rural emerging adults.  She has extensive experience delivering remotely administered diet and exercise interventions which integrate text messages, health coaching, wearable sensors, community-engaged research, and advanced data analytics. She mentors students on how to integrate these strategies to address complex health problems in diverse populations through collaboration with local and state organizations. 

Dr. Ruth Taylor-Piliae, PhD, RN, FAHA, FAAN is recognized internationally as a nurse scientist and mind-body exercise interventionist, with training in cardiovascular epidemiology and clinical trials. Her research focuses on integrative physical activity interventions for older adults to advance cardiovascular health through Tai Chi and technology. Dr. Taylor-Piliae has been a Tai Chi practitioner for over 25 years, and is certified as a Tai Chi Easy™ Practice Leader from the Institute of Integral Qigong and Tai Chi. Her current Tai Chi research includes adults with diabetes, older adults with cognitive decline, caregivers of stroke survivors, and Mexican-American adults with hypertension. She uses wearable sensor technology, such as smart rings and smartwatches to assess 24-hour sleep, activity and stress levels. Dr. Taylor-Piliae has over 90 peer-reviewed manuscripts published in top-tiered nursing and inter-professional journals. She is highly cited for her work (citations>5900, h-index=39, i10-index=68). She has mentored over 60 doctoral students, along with junior faculty members from nursing, medicine, bio-medical engineering, and pharmacy. Dr. Taylor-Piliae is a long-standing member in the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, European Society of Cardiology, Western Institute of Nursing, and the American Academy of Nursing. She has received several teaching, research and service awards.