A University of Lynchburg nursing professor will spend the next year helping the United States maintain its focus on global health.
Dr. Stephanie Ferguson has been appointed to the Committee on Global Health and the Future of the United States by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The 14-member committee will seek to demonstrate to the next presidential administration why continued investment in global health should remain a focus for humanitarian, economic, and security reasons.
The group also aims to articulate “the most effective and sustainable approaches to global health investing … to help the new administration frame its own global health agenda,” according to the committee’s website.
“This is an exciting and critical time for global health, and we are fortunate to have Dr. Ferguson as a member of the University of Lynchburg faculty,” said Dr. Sally Selden, vice president and dean for academic affairs. “In her role on this committee, she will be instrumental in helping establish priorities for the next Presidential administration. Not only do our students benefit greatly from her policy and clinical expertise, they will learn firsthand how a scholar can influence a national agenda.”
“The expertise and first hand experience that Stephanie brings to the classroom creates an authentic, vibrant exploration of the topics within healthcare and global health,” said Dr. Jean St. Clair, dean of the University of Lynchburg School of Health Sciences and Human Performance. “I am grateful that our students get to see a woman from Central Virginia not only become a wonderful nurse, but also live out our goal of impacting the lives of individuals and in turn, the entire world.”
For more than 20 years, Dr. Ferguson has worked on global health initiatives in more than 80 nations, and she has been a consultant for the World Health Organization for 16 years. Since 1997, she has been a consulting associate professor in Stanford University’s Bing Stanford in Washington Program.
She is a widely sought after consultant and keynote speaker worldwide addressing various nursing, health professional, and global and domestic health issues. She has worked in the U.S. addressing global health issues with many federal agencies and organizations such as the Veteran’s Administration, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Army Nurse Corps, the U.S. Public Health Nurse Corps, and the American Red Cross. In 2014, she was elected to the National Academy of Medicine.
Originally from Central Virginia, Dr. Ferguson served as a nursing professor at University of Lynchburg from 2009 to 2012 and returned to LC this summer. “Timing was right for me to come back and give back to LC as a professor and to also participate in shaping the global health agenda for the next presidential administration,” she said. “I most look forward to recommending how to ensure continued excellence in global health in my country and worldwide.”
