Overview
Dr. Melissa Harris-Gersten, PhD, RN, serves as a consulting associate at Duke University School of Nursing and as a Research Health Scientist at the Durham VA's Center of Innovation to Accelerate Discovery and Practice Transformation (ADAPT). Her expertise encompasses aging health policy, long-term care supports and services, dementia care, and family caregiving.
Her research is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life and care for older adults with chronic conditions and their family caregivers. Specifically, she focuses on developing, implementing, evaluating, and optimizing supports and services for families affected by dementia. Dr. Harris-Gersten has developed several innovative, home-based, remotely delivered interventions to address unmet psychosocial needs and promote the well-being of individuals living with dementia and their caregivers.
As a health services researcher, she is committed to improving the psychosocial and behavioral health of older adults through high impact research, policy advocacy, and transformative practice initiatives.
Education and Training
Postdoctoral fellowship, National Clinician Scholars Program at Duke University, 2021 - 2023
PhD in Nursing, University of Michigan, 2021
BSN, University of Oklahoma, 2015