Ph.D. Mentors

Program Director for Recruitment, South Carolina Clinical & Translational Research Institute SUCCESS Center
Associate Dean for Research, Medical University of South Carolina
David & Margaret Clare Endowed Chair, College of Nursing, Medical University of South Carolina
Professor, College of Nursing, Medical University of South Carolina

kelechtj@musc.edu

Research Interests: Dr. Kelechi is a gerontological clinical nurse specialist, certified wound care nurse, and nurse scientist. Her research focuses on the development, evaluation and implementation of self-management interventions to improve wound healing outcomes in populations with chronic conditions and stress reduction interventions in older caregivers.

Dr. Shannon Phillips, PhD, RN, Alumnus CCRN, is an Associate Professor and teaches in the PhD program. She received her BSN from the University of North Florida and her PhD from the Medical University of South Carolina.

Dr. Phillips began her career as a nurse in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). During her time in the PICU, she developed a passion for improving care for children with complex chronic conditions and their families. She pursued a PhD so that she could conduct research to better understand barriers and facilitators to access to care, determine resources needed by the population, and improve methods to deliver these resources. Since receiving her PhD, Dr. Phillips has developed a particular interest in improving access to care and services using technology-based approaches to self-management of symptoms in children, adolescents, and young adults with sickle cell disease. She is the past recipient of a KL2 Career Development Award from the South Carolina Clinical and Translational Research Institute and the recipient of a National Institutes of Nursing Research K23 Career Development Award to develop these symptom self-management interventions. Dr. Phillips is also involved in research pertaining to access to care and implementation of guideline-based care for individuals with sickle cell disease across the lifespan. In addition to her research, Dr. Phillips is Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certified and has conducted multiple quality improvement projects in primary care practices across South Carolina. She teaches theory courses in the PhD program and has expertise in qualitative and mixed methods research, particularly as applied to conducting multi-level assessments of barriers and facilitators to care.

Keywords: symptom and self-management, sickle cell disease, care of children and families, access to care

Research Interests: Dr. Ruggiero is a licensed clinical psychologist whose work focuses on the development, evaluation, implementation, and dissemination of digital mental health interventions to improve access and quality of care for a wide range of trauma-affected and high-risk populations.