Fellowship Directors
Lead PI and Program Co-Director: Susan Gaylord, Ph.D., The Program on Integrative Medicine director will continue to serve as Director of the T32 Fellowship Program and will direct the CIH education component. Dr. Gaylord is a research psychologist and Associate Professor in PM&R, UNC School of Medicine (SOM). Dr. Gaylord has been a powerful force driving the establishment of PIM at UNC. In 1998, she secured permanent funding for the program through the UNC Division of Health Affairs, and since that time, under her guidance, PIM has grown to become one of the premier CIH research programs in the nation. Dr. Gaylord is passionately committed to promoting public health by conducting research evaluating the efficacy, effectiveness, and mechanisms of action of promising CIH therapies to prevent and treat illnesses prevalent in the U.S., emphasizing improving access to efficacious CIH therapies in minority and underserved populations. Dr. Gaylord has a primary interest and expertise in mind-body therapies, particularly mindfulness for health promotion and symptom management, and has received continuous NIH funding since 2000.
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Co-Director: Cheryl Giscombé, RN, Ph.D., PMHNP-BC, FAAN, is a social/health psychologist and psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner, as well as the Melissa and Harry LeVine Family Professor of Quality of Life, Health Promotion and Wellness; Distinguished Professor; Interim Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, a Division and Program at the UNC School of Nursing. Her research expertise in socio-ecological frameworks, social determinants of health, mindfulness-based interventions, mentoring PhD students, and engaging in interdisciplinary research are assets for the Co-Director role. Specifically, Dr. Giscombé’s research has included community-based, culturally relevant, biobehavioral, and mind-body-spirit interventions for health disparities (e.g., mindfulness meditation for African Americans with elevated risk for diabetes, obesity, and other chronic illnesses) and biopsychosocial-cultural issues related to stress and coping, including the Superwoman Schema Conceptual Framework. Dr. Giscombé uses her transformational and servant leadership style to help fellows thrive. She works with interdisciplinary faculty to incorporate issues related to social determinants of health, syndemics (multiple interactive chronic health risks and conditions influenced by biopsychosocial and contextual factors), diversity, equity, and inclusion into the curriculum, scholarly activities, and community-engaged research.
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ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6245-783X
Co-Director: Keturah (Kim) Faurot, PA, MPH, Ph.D., an epidemiologist and Associate Professor and Interim Director of Research in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, has a long-standing interest and expertise in CIH and nonpharmacologic intervention development. She completed a dissertation on dietary supplement epidemiology in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos, a large cohort study funded by NIH NHLBI. In addition to managing clinical research and data analyses at PIM and mentoring current Fellows, Dr. Faurot teaches biostatistics and has mentored several T32 fellows, graduate students, and physician assistant students. Dr. Faurot continues to collaborate with researchers in the Pharmacoepidemiology Program at the Gillings School of Global Public Health and others on developing methods to improve dietary supplement assessment and safety. In addition, Dr. Faurot holds a leadership position in the Integrative, Complementary, and Traditional Health Practices (ICTHP) Section of the American Public Health Association.
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ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6122-7821