Fellowship Directors

Susan Gaylord, Ph.D., the Lead Director of the T32 Research Fellowship in Complementary and Integrative Healthcare,  is a research psychologist and Professor in PM&R, UNC School of Medicine (SOM). Dr. Gaylord founded the UNC Program on Integrative Medicine (PIM) and led all PIM activities through 2025. In 1998, she secured permanent funding for the program through the UNC Division of Health Affairs, and since then, under her guidance, PIM has grown into one of the nation’s premier CIH research programs.  Dr. Gaylord, who received the 2025 Massey Distinguished Service Award, is Course Director for Principles and Practices of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, a course open to health professions students since 1998. More recently, Dr. Gaylord along with Dr. Giscombé, developed the course Mindfulness and Self-Care for Care Profession to bring didactic and experiential training in mindfulness to health professions students. 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., with an emphasis on improving access to efficacious CIH therapies for all populations. Dr. Gaylord has a primary interest and expertise in mind-body therapies, particularly mindfulness for health promotion and symptom management, and received continuous NIH funding from 2000-2025.

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Cheryl Giscombé, RN, Ph.D., PMHNP-BC, FAAN, is a social/health psychologist and psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner, as well as the Senior Associate Dean and LeVine Family Distinguished Term Professor of Quality of Life, Health Promotion, and Wellness 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), scholarly activities, and community-engaged research.

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ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-6245-783X

Keturah (Kim) Faurot, PA, MPH, Ph.D., an epidemiologist and Associate Professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and Interim Director of the Program on Integrative Medicine, will continue as a Co-Director of the T32 Fellowship. As PIM’s research methodologist, she trains Fellows in stakeholder engagement, qualitative data collection and analysis, biostatistics, and trial design. She has led the design and management of clinical research on nonpharmacologic interventions, co-authored our dietary and mind-body intervention proposals, and played key roles in funded projects, often serving as MPI post-award. Additional experience includes teaching evidence-based medicine and biostatistics, serving as an academic editor for Nutrients, and acting as a discussant for NCCIH’s ZATl MH “Exploratory Clinical Trials of Mind and Body Interventions” Panel. As a Co-Director of our T32 Fellowship, she co-designed the evaluation metrics and led the improvement process in response to feedback. In addition, she trained in and became a facilitator for UNC mentor workshops based on the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER).  Based on CIMER training, the directors instituted Mentoring Compacts and Mentor-Mentee Communication Plans in addition to Individual Development Plans. Dr. Faurot encourages mentees to participate in grant proposal writing, manage an aspect of funded research, and submit career development awards. She also engages mentees in manuscripts related to her research, often promoting them to lead reports, thereby fostering their professional development. Currently, she is promoting the development of an UNC Interprofessional Integrative Health Network to bring together integrative health researchers and clinicians from across the university.

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ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-6122-7821