Dianne Morrison-Beedy has been at The Ohio State University since 2018. She serves as the chief talent and global strategy officer and centennial professor of nursing for the College of Nursing and was recently appointed the director of outreach and engagement for the Global One Health initiative (GOHi).
What is the focus of your current research?
Through years of funded research, I developed The Health Improvement Project for Teens (HIPTeens), now a CDC- and DHHS-recognized evidence-based sexual health intervention for HIV, STIs (sexually transmitted infections) and teen pregnancy prevention. Over the past decade, I have been committed to moving research to practice. HIPTeens reaches some of the most vulnerable and underserved adolescent populations, including victims of sexual trafficking, those in foster care, diasporic Afro-Caribbean communities in Canada and the United Kingdom and resettled refugee/displaced girls from 12 countries.
How does your involvement in GOHi impact education, practice and/or research globally?
HIV and STIs still place an undue burden on vulnerable and disenfranchised adolescents across the globe, so my program of sexual risk reduction research is still (unfortunately) critically needed worldwide. As Chief Global Strategy Officer in the College of Nursing, I also develop educational, entrepreneurial and clinical opportunities as well as research partnerships. Recently, I have been a part of a nursing curriculum revision across Ghana. I also recently returned from Taiwan, where funding from Ohio State’s China Gateway facilitated both research and training programs. I’ve had four Fulbright opportunities to develop nursing leadership teams, intervention research programs and cutting-edge advanced practice education across the UK and European Union. All these experiences offer opportunities for expansion within our GOHi network as well.
What aspect of your work excites you the most? Why?
I was recently appointed the director of outreach and community engagement of GOHi, so I am very excited about the possibilities to connect and partner with like-minded globally interested colleagues across Ohio State and our local and international communities. Sometimes, I feel like GOHi is a “hidden gem” at Ohio State – we have passionate, committed, tenacious faculty and team members within GOHi, but we are, as they say, “small but mighty.” My hope in this role is to expand both the number of people involved and dedicated to advancing a healthy, enduring global community and build interconnections that are broader and have a deeper reach across disciplines. If you care about more efficiently and effectively addressing the causes and effects of diseases at the interface of humans, animals, plants and the environment and making the world a healthier place, then you need to join our GOHi team!
How did you first become interested in working in your research field?
I had extensive experience as a women’s health nurse practitioner and was frustrated by the number of teens and young women that I saw repeatedly for STIs, HIV or unplanned pregnancy. I entered my PhD program to try to find out what I was doing wrong as a clinician, why I was (so it appeared) an ineffective educator. Through my program of research, we clearly learned that behavior change is difficult and very little of it occurs because clients lack information. Rather, effective programs must provide strategies to increase personal motivation and provide the skills needed to change behavior. Those are the basic building blocks of HIPTeens.
What advice do you have for those interested in joining your field?
Follow your passion. Some people may advise “follow the money,” but you will stay engaged, excited and be able to deal with setbacks if you focus on something you consider important and are willing to not give up on during the natural ups and downs of research or clinical practice. I also give talks around the world on career success and one piece of advice is to get a mentor – or several! Don’t hesitate to ask people you admire (famous or not) – so many want to share their expertise and wisdom and provide support.
Tune into my webinar December 16 at 1 p.m. EST if Follow your yellow brick road: Sage career advice for success from the Wizard of Oz sounds interesting to you!