RWJF Executive Nurse Fellows Program

Depurty Director for Public Health Practice 
Chief Public Health Nursing Officer
Utah Department of Health

Teresa’s role at the Department includes policy development and direction, legislative action, quality improvement and local, state and national collaboration efforts. She has additional responsibilities in assisting with public health preparedness and bioterrorism response activities. She holds an MS in Nursing Administration and a Post-Graduate Certificate in Gerontology from the University of Utah (1992). Teresa has previously served as the Communicable Disease Control Bureau Director and the TB Control & Refugee Health Program Manager. She has worked in a variety of settings, including long-term care, home care and public health. Teresa is a graduate of the Regional Institute for Public Health and Environmental Leadership (2003) and a scholar in the National Public Health Leadership Institute (2005). Teresa is a past Chair of the Great Basin Public Health Leadership Institute (2006), the Utah Public Health Association (2006) and is the Immediate Past President of the Association of State and Territorial Directors of Nursing. She is also an Adjunct Clinical Faculty member of the University of Utah, College of Nursing. Since August of 2003, Teresa has been on the Global AIDS Team in Botswana, an effort ponsored by the Centers’ for Disease Control & Prevention. The role of this team has been to assist with the local governmental response to the AIDS epidemic through the implementation of community driven, evidence-based planning efforts.