Dr. Melissa Sutherland is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and a nurse researcher whose work has been funded by private foundations and by NINR, NICHD and AHRQ. Her current R01 project, funded by AHRQ, examines female college students’ experiences with intimate partner violence and sexual violence, and factors associated with violence screening in college health centers. Her interpersonal violence work has identified provider, organizational and institutional factors that influence intimate partner and sexual violence screening among college women.

Her work extends beyond the U.S. by contributing to the nursing profession and knowledge development in South American countries. As a Fulbright Fellow in Chile (spring 2017), she supported the development of a family nurse practitioner program (Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile [PUC]) and launched a sustainable mentoring program to increase research capacity. While there, she co-taught a course on global public health, collaborated on research with PUC faculty, and mentored PUC faculty in the process of research publishing. 

Melissa is a board-certified family nurse practitioner and has taught community and public health at the undergraduate and graduate level.

Term expires: February 1, 2025