Jennifer Hatcher, PhD, MPH, MSN
Jennifer Hatcher earned her Bachelors and Masters in Nursing from West Virginia University and a Masters in Public Health and PhD in Nursing from the University of Kentucky. Dr. Hatcher worked as a staff nurse in a variety of critical care settings prior to obtaining her PhD. After obtaining her PhD with a concentration on health disparities she worked as Assistant and Associate Professor at the University of Kentucky College of Nursing. While there she served as the inaugural Director of Diversity for the College in addition to starting the DREAM (Disparities Researchers Equalizing Access for Minorities) Center, dedicated to the elimination of disparities via research, training, and community engagement. She developed the DREAM Scholars program, dedicated to mentoring emerging scholars interested in health equity science. Dr. Hatcher has a sustained program of research focused on improving the health of underserved minorities, with a focus on cancer disparities. In 2018 Dr. Hatcher joined the University of Arizona Cancer Center and Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health as a full professor and associate director of community outreach and engagement. In 2023, she was appointed to establish the inaugural office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for the Cancer Center as Associate Director of Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility (IDEA).
Cancer Focus
As a health disparities researcher, I have developed a program of research that is aimed at improving the health of underserved minorities with an emphasis on chronic diseases, especially cancer. I use community engaged research strategies to explore the social determinants of health and leverage community strengths to improve the health of communities. I have developed and tested a number of community based interventions, exploring best practices to engage hard to reach community members. My training in community engaged health equity has allowed the continued generation of novel methods and venues where culturally appropriate health promoting activities may be conducted and more readily accepted by vulnerable populations. My colleagues and I have conducted health promoting activities in Emergency Departments, using text messages and social media, and in rural Appalachian churches. These novel venues have allowed us to reach populations that may otherwise have been neglected in traditional research studies.