Comprehensive Advancement in Research Education and Training for Social Determinants of Health (CARES) Program

A diverse group of young nursing students standing together.

Welcome to the CARES Program at Yale School of Nursing

At CARES, we are dedicated to addressing the critical gaps in education and training for nursing researchers with a focus on Social Determinants of Health (SDOH).

Funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR), the CARES program empowers early-career nursing scholars, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds, by providing comprehensive training in SDOH research fundamentals, innovative methodologies, structural interventions, and network-building, along with ongoing mentorship and support.

Join us in advancing SDOH research, promoting health equity, and improving health outcomes in communities!

Meet our CARES Scholars

We are pleased to share that we have successfully recruited 8 fellows for our first cohort. For online presentations, create a dynamic puzzle. Each state could represent a piece of the puzzle, and as users click or hover over each piece, they can learn more about the fellow from that state. The pieces could gradually come together to form a complete picture and their title, symbolizing how all the fellows from different states contribute to the whole.

Click here to view the current CARES Fellows

Name: Pamela Pearson

Institution: University of Illinois College of Nursing

Title and Position: Assistant Clinical Professor

Dr. Pearson is a highly experienced advanced practice nurse with over 38 years of nursing practice and 30 years as a Certified Nurse Midwife. She earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree in 2018, with a focus on perinatal mood disorders and addressing ethnic and racial disparities within the African American community. Currently, Dr. Pearson is an Assistant Clinical Professor and serves as the Program Director of the Midwifery and Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner Program at the University of Illinois in Chicago. Passionate about combating maternal health disparities and systemic racism, she leads research on culturally adapted, patient-centered maternity care models aimed at addressing structural racism in Black pregnant and postpartum individuals. Dr. Pearson has co-authored several published articles and continues to advocate for the elimination of racial disparities that contribute to poor maternal health outcomes.

Name: Jennifer McIntosh

Institution: Yale School of Nursing

Title and Position: Senior Lecturer

Jennifer McIntosh, PhD, APRN, PMHNP-BC, CNE, NEA-BC is a senior lecturer at Yale School of Nursing. Prior to working in academia full-time, Dr. McIntosh held progressive leadership positions in the emergency department and behavioral health settings, with the most recent position as the Director of Patient Care Services at a large health system in New York. In addition, she has taught at several universities. 

Dr. McIntosh earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the New York Institute of Technology, a Master of Science in Nursing with a concentration in Healthcare Systems Management from Loyola University, and both a Master of Science as a Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) and a Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing from Adelphi University. She is board-certified as a PMHNP by the American Nurses Credentialing Center and the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Board. She is licensed to practice as a PMHNP in the states of New York and Connecticut. 

Dr. McIntosh’s research will focus on the elimination of mental health and mental health care inequities among marginalized populations.

Name: Jane Muir

Institution: University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing

Title and Position: Assistant Professor

K. Jane Muir, PhD, MSHP APRN is an Assistant Professor at Penn Nursing in the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research and the Department of Emergency Medicine in the Perelman School of Medicine. Her program of research uses quantitative and qualitative methods to identify models of care that improve timely and equitable care in community-facing settings such as emergency departments and community health clinics. Dr. Muir’s research focuses on improving outcomes both for patients and the clinicians caring for them, given the critical relationship between high-quality health care work environments and optimal patient outcomes. Her current research focuses on reducing emergency department re-visits and avoidable outcomes for patients with limited English proficiency. She is also passionate about reducing workplace violence exposures for clinicians in hospitals and home health care settings. Her research has been featured in JAMA Network Open, Medical Care, Journal of Patient Safety, and Social Science & Medicine. Dr. Muir earned her BSN, MSN, and PhD from the University of Virginia and a Master of Science in Health Policy from the University of Pennsylvania. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in health services research and health policy through the National Clinician Scholars Program and the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research T32. She currently practices as a Family Nurse Practitioner at Puentes de Salud.

Name: Andre Rosario

Institution: Rutgers School of Nursing

Title and Position: Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow

Andre A. Rosario is a historian of nursing, nurse scientist, and Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow at Rutgers University School of Nursing. His interdisciplinary research focuses on upstream policies that shape Filipino Americans’ immigration and health outcomes. His historical work has examined Filipino immigrant nurses in the United States, policies related to international nurse migration, and also Filipino nurses’ own political activism to shape these policies. During his postdoctoral fellowship, Andre is translating his historical knowledge of Filipino immigrants into interventions, leveraging the social determinants of health that impact older Filipino Americans living with dementia. During CARES, Andre will explore theoretical frameworks, intervention design, and mixed-methods and community-based participatory research approaches. Andre completed his PhD in Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania, and his work has been supported by the American Association for the History of Nursing, Penn’s Center for the Study of the Ethnicity, Race, and Immigration, and the Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing.

Name: Emily Barr

Institution: Cizik School of Nursing at UTHealth at Houston

Title and Position: Assistant Professor (Tenure Track)

Dr. Emily Barr, PhD, RN, CPNP-PC, CNM, ACRN, FACNM, FAAN, is an Assistant Professor at the Cizik School of Nursing at UTHealth Houston with nearly 30 years of experience as a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner and Certified Nurse Midwife. Her work focuses on maternal and pediatric HIV care, particularly in fostering patient-provider trust, expanding telehealth access, and improving healthcare engagement for youth, pregnant, and postpartum individuals living with HIV. Dr. Barr is a co-investigator on the CDC-funded UPLIFT study, the first national prospective study on breastfeeding/chestfeeding among people with HIV in the U.S., addressing critical gaps in infant feeding decisions with HIV. 

Her innovative research includes a tele-lactation study with lactation consultants to reduce stigma and improve HIV knowledge and access to care. Dr. Barr serves on the IMPAACT Brain and Mental Health Committee, the Board of Directors for the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (ANAC), and the CDC’s Perinatal HIV and Congenital Syphilis Task Force. 

By integrating social determinants of health into her work, she addresses disparities and supports equitable care for families affected by HIV. Dr. Barr earned her undergraduate degree at Cornell University, her MSN at Yale, a post-master’s certificate in midwifery from SUNY Stony Brook, and her PhD from the University of Colorado.

Name: Kathleen E. Fitzpatrick Rosenbaum

Institution: Yale University

Title and Position: Postdoctoral Fellow

Dr. Kathleen E. Fitzpatrick Rosenbaum completed her PhD at the University of Pennsylvania at the Center for Health Outcomes & Policy Research. She is a nurse health services researcher working at Yale University and Yale New Haven Health System. Her program of research examines healthcare system factors that influence the nursing workforce, safety and quality of care, and patient outcomes. On a national and systems level, she utilizes both quantitative and qualitative methods to examine topics such as nurse well-being, the work environment, hospital performance on quality and safety and patient experience, nurse retention, and the development and evaluation of quality improvement programs. Currently, she is studying the impact of hospital mergers on nurses, nursing care, and patient outcomes with a particular focus on the role social determinants of health play in equitable access to care during acquisition.

Name: Yvonne R. Ford

Institution: North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University

Title and Position: Assistant Professor (tenure- seeking)

Yvonne R. Ford has been a registered nurse in North Carolina since 1991. She received her bachelor of science in nursing at Barton College, Wilson, NC. She received master’s degrees in nursing and health science at Duke University. She completed doctoral study and received her PhD from the University of North Carolina Greensboro.

Her research interests include health disparities, cardiovascular health of Black breast cancer survivors, and physical activity interventions for cancer survivors. She has studied SDOH as an All of Us Institutional Champion PI, and as a Co-I with GRADS-4C (NHGRI 1U24HG013013-01). She is an associate professor in the School of Nursing, College of Health and Human Sciences at North Carolina A&T State University.

Name: Karis Casseus

Institution: Georgia State University

Title and Position: Clinical Associate Professor

Dr. Karis Casseus is an accomplished nursing educator, clinician, and mentor with over a decade of experience in nursing education and two decades in healthcare. As an emerging fibromyalgia researcher, Dr. Casseus aims to investigate the biological processes associated with fibromyalgia and identify specific adoptable biomarkers for the condition. Her research focuses on several key areas: the role of patient biomarkers in time to diagnosis, the development of tailored treatment regimens based on these biomarkers, and symptom management guided by patient biomarkers. She is motivated by the intersection of patient biomarkers, time to diagnosis, treatment management, health inequities, societal costs, and the overall quality of life for individuals living with fibromyalgia.

Meet Our Faculty

Click here to view the current CARES faculty team

Upcoming Schedule

  • Pre-Summer Phase

    • Dates: February 21 to May 1

    • Format: Online delivery of Modules 1-5

    • Details: Participants will engage in online learning modules, covering foundational concepts of SDOH research.

    • More information coming soon

  • Summer Institute

    • Dates: May 27 to June 6

    • Format: On-campus, in-person delivery of Modules 6-10

    • Details: Participants will join us on Yale’s campus for an immersive experience with hands-on workshops and interactive sessions.

    • More information coming soon

Why CARES is Unique

What makes CARES special? We are transforming the training experience with these innovative elements:

  • Interdisciplinary Connections and Mentorship
  • Immersive Simulation-Based Learning
  • Community Engagement

What We Offer

We will host three training cohorts, each consisting of 6-8 participants, throughout the program over a three-year period.

  • CARES course curriculum and 10 modules of SDOH research methodology
  • CARES Summer Institute (4 weeks total: 2-week in-person and 2-week hybrid): simulation-based (virtual reality component) training, community engagement, workshops, etc.
  • Seminars: various research and career development seminars
  • Multidisciplinary mentorship: mentor-scholar and peer mentorship
  • Pilot study development and grant writing: hand-on mentoring and training
  • Professional network: Online Network and Resources Hub during and after the summer session throughout the program
  • Program conferences and other scientific conferences

What Other Support

  • Travel funds will be provided to support CARES Scholars attending the Summer Institute.
  • There is no cost to participate in the CARES program.

Who is Eligible to Apply

  • We welcome early-career nursing scholars, including postdoctoral fellows, junior faculty (Assistant Professors), and faculty new to NIH funding, with a special focus on those from underrepresented backgrounds.
  • Scholars across the United States are encouraged to apply, particularly those from underserved areas.

Submit Your Application

The application process is straightforward and efficient. All Applicants are invited to submit the following materials:

  • Curriculum Vitae (CV): A current CV outlining your academic and professional background.
  • A research interest statement: A one-page document that describes your research interests and motivations for pursuing SDOH research.
  • Institutional Support: A letter of institutional support is required, demonstrating the applicant’s access to protected time and encouragement to pursue the program. Acceptable documentation includes a letter from the dean, department chair, supervisor, or research mentor at your home institution.

Please use the Qualtrics form linked here to submit your application.

Important Dates (2nd Cohort)

Event

Date

Application Opens

October, 2025

Application Deadline

TBD

Application Review Period

TBD

Admission Notification

TBD

Program Commencement

February 2026

Contact Information:

Xiaomei S. Cong, PhD, RN, FAAN

Professor and Associate Dean of Research

Yale University School of Nursing

400 West Campus/Room 32306

Tel: 203-737-4916

Email: r25CARES@yale.edu

Funded by NIH NINR (1R25NR021367)

Yale IRB #2000037685;

Yale IRB at (203) 785-4688 or hrpp@yale.edu

We look forward to hearing from you!