Nan Gaylord
Principal InvestigatorGaylord is a pediatric nurse practitioner and is very familiar with vaccines, the Vaccine for Children program, and the importance of having a high percentage of our population immunized against vaccine preventable diseases. Educational outreach to the citizens of Tennessee with trusted messengers, our Community Registered Nurse Navigators (CRNN), is an evidence-based method of increasing vaccine rates across the lifespan. Gaylord is committed to the CRNN Project, its continued success, and its sustainability. She retired in June 2024 as a full-time professor with associate dean responsibilities. In addition to working with the CRNN project team, she is also looking forward to spending more time on the lake, with her retired husband, and with her six grandchildren who range from 3 to 9 years of age.
Victoria Niederhauser
Principal InvestigatorNiederhauser is Dean and Professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville College of Nursing. She has also held academic appointments at the University of Hawaii, George Mason University and George Washington University. The focus of Niederhauser’s scholarly activities are in child and adolescent Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, with an emphasis on immunizations; her motivation to work in this important area stems from her passion to help children and their families be healthy and stay healthy. Niederhauser is a board-certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, a Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellow and a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing. She has received several National awards and currently serves on several local and national boards. She believes that nurses are the most trusted health professional and have a holistic view of health. Nurses not only focus on the physical aspects of health and wellness, but they also address determinants of health such as where families live, work and play. She believes that the CRNN project is important because having nurses who are working in the places that they live, and addressing the multiple barriers to immunizations, will ultimately lead to healthier communities. Niederhauser is a mother to three and GeeVee (grandma) to four grandchildren. She enjoys gardening, running, hiking and reading.
Ben Jones
Program DirectorJones was born and raised in East Tennessee. After receiving his Bachelor’s in Political Science from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, he spent six years in hospitality leadership before accepting the position of Project Manager for the CRNN Project in the Spring of 2022. In his spare time, Jones enjoys hiking, camping, paddling, and spending time with his wife, Katie, and their dog, Murphy.
Elizabeth Sowell
APRN DirectorElizabeth is from Knoxville, TN where she has lived her entire life. She received her BSN, MSN, and DNP all from UT Knoxville’s College of Nursing. Prior to her role on the CRNN project, she worked as a Family Nurse Practitioner at a primary care clinic serving a rural population. She has always had a special interest in preventative healthcare and immunizations. During her time as a clinician, she saw the need for a novel approach to increase immunization rates. This led her to her current role as the director of the 16 Community Registered Nurse Navigators (CRNNs) across Tennessee. She works closely with other team members and the CRNNs to help guide community assessments at the county level and develop unique interventions to meet the needs of that county. She feels fortunate to work alongside a team that is dedicated to improving the health of Tennesseans by improving immunization rates. Elizabeth lives in Knoxville with her husband and their two children and loves to run, play tennis, and be outside.
Harlli Ball
CRNN, Upper CumberlandHarlli Ball received her BSN from Tennessee Technological University. Ball was born and raised in the Upper Cumberland, so she loves that this project allows her to connect and educate the communities that she considers home. It’s important to Ball that she is able to help keep my friends and family safe from vaccine preventable diseases. Ball welcomed her baby boy to the world in May, and to her there is nothing more important than being able to keep him healthy.
Denise Bell
CRNN, WestBell graduated from UT Martin with her BSN. She has been married for 35 years, and has 3 children. Her husband and all their children are graduates of UT Martin. Her husband is also a farmer. He plants row crops and raises beef. Bell enjoys spending time together as a family working on the farm or taking day trips to some of the parks across the state. Working as a CRNN Bell gets to work directly with the communities that she serves. That is one of her favorite things about the job. Prior to starting work as a CRNN, Bell worked in public health and enjoyed it thoroughly. This position allows her to continue working with local communities on a more specific platform.
Karen Bucher
CRNN, Mid CumberlandBucher received her BSN and MSN from the University of Alabama School of Nursing. Her favorite motto is “Believe in the ability to create a healthier, happier self. You are worth the effort”. She enjoys hiking, whitewater kayaking, and being with family. She has four dogs and one cat. Bucher loves to read, and always has a book by her bedside. Her favorite part about being a CRNN is that she gets to advocate for wellness and diversity in the communities she works with.
Meredith Cantrell
CRNN, South CentralCantrell graduated from Martin Methodist College with her BSN. She is married to a great man named Kelly and they have been together for 15 years. They have two girls named Ansley and Adalyn. Cantrell and her husband go everywhere playing sports with their girls in their off time. She loves sitting on her front porch or in a swing and reading. Cantrell loves all different types of nursing. Her background is mainly in emergency medicine, but she has been given many opportunities to grow in various areas and help throughout the hospital that she still works in occasionally. She loves learning new ways to be able to use her nursing knowledge and degree to help others. Cantrell loves being a CRNN because she gets to see so many new aspects of nursing care and ways to help her community
Emily Clark
CRNN, SoutheastClark graduated from UT Knoxville with her BSN. She is currently working towards getting a master’s degree. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, playing pickleball, or reading a good book. Her favorite thing about being a CRNN is getting to know so many people from different communities and organizations and working with them to create a healthier Tennessee.
Maria Fishwick
CRNN, East RegionFishwick has been a Registered Nurse since 2013 and has worked in public health since the start of the pandemic in 2020. She recently started her master’s degree in public health with a concentration in Community Health Education. Fishwick is also a brand ambassador for the Public Health Communications Collaborative, and is in the Fall 2024 Cohort for the National Rural Health Association’s Rural Health Nurse Certification Program. She is an active member of the American Public Health Association. She has two senior cats and one dog, and will be getting married next May. In her free time she loves to go to concerts, tend to her garden, and go camping. Fishwick enjoys working with communities and populations of people who may be overlooked and underserved. She believes everyone has a right to equal health care access, and she will do everything in her power to make that happen with this project.
Elizabeth Gonçalves
CRNN, Mid-CumberlandGonçalves received her BSN from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She currently lives in Nashville, TN, with her husband. They enjoy fishing and spending time outdoors with their dog. She is grateful for the opportunity to serve her neighbors in middle Tennessee. Her favorite thing about being a CRNN is connecting with people in the community! She gets to learn about all kinds of great work being done to help Tennesseans, and it always excites her when she can join in a partner’s work. Gonçalves believes that by partnering together, she can promote healthy living by getting communities immunized and protecting them from preventable disease.
Denette Jackson
CRNN, EastJackson is a Registered Nurse (RN) with a diverse background in medical-surgical acute care, reproductive health, and public and community health nursing. During her tenure at a local health department, she observed the increasing mistrust and spread of misinformation surrounding immunizations, particularly in the context of COVID. At the same time, she recognized that barriers such as basic needs were preventing individuals from accessing preventative healthcare. Drawing from her own experience growing up in a low-income rural community, Jackson became determined to address these challenges. Her primary goal is to improve immunization accessibility for the East Region’s community members and empower them to make informed decisions about their health.
Jackson is one of two East Region Community Registered Nurse Navigators and places a high value on her community partnerships, with a focus on building and maintaining relationships within rural communities. She is an active member of the Rural Health Association, Campbell County Health Council, and Anderson County Health Council. Additionally, Jackson is pursuing her Doctor of Nursing Practice at the University of Tennessee, specializing in Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing.
Alison Lundy
CRNN, NortheastLundy graduated from Milligan University in 2013 with her BSN. She currently lives on her family farm that she grew up on in Carter County with her husband and four children. She loves doing anything outdoors, watching her children play sports, and spending time with her family. She also love cows! Lundy is very passionate about public health and has spent the past eight years serving as a public health nurse. Her favorite part of being a CRNN is being able to meet people where they are and empower them to make decisions about their healthcare that they feel are best for themselves and their families.
Hayley Minton
CRNN, NortheastMinton received her BSN from Milligan University and FNP from Walden University. She lives in Carter County on her family’s land with her two sweet puppies, Paisley and Sadie. She enjoys going to the gym, spending time with friends, and spoiling her nieces. Minton’s nursing background includes emergency nursing, triage, labor and delivery, travel nursing, cardiology, and public health. She has worked in hospitals, clinics, and remotely to care for all populations. Her current focus is on the most vulnerable populations and how she may better serve those communities. Minton enjoys working with the public to help educate and enable them to make informed healthcare decisions for themselves and their families. She loves meeting the community where they are and seeing the difference they are making across the state.
Molly Stevens
CRNN, Southwest RegionStevens is from the Memphis, TN area and she loves serving her city and surrounding communities. She has been a nurse for over 10 years and has worked in community health in Memphis for the past 7 years. She has been married for 5 years and has a 4-year-old daughter. Stevens loves to travel, read, and spend time with friends and family. Her favorite thing about being a CRNN is being out in the community and speaking with those who live in the neighborhood. She loves working with individuals and brainstorming together on how to best serve the community.
Abbey Stoker
CRNN, WestStoker received her Bachelor of Science in Biology (Cell and Molecular) at the University of Tennessee, Martin and her Bachelor of Science in Nursing at Union University. She lives in Jackson, Tennessee where she spends a lot of time at home with her dogs. She loves to cook and try to learn new things in the kitchen, and hosting friends and family. Stoker likes to spend time outdoors (when the weather is nice). Tennessee is her home, but to Stoker there is nothing more exciting than traveling to see the world. Her favorite thing about being a CRNN is learning about and connecting with people and communities and bringing the topics of routine immunizations and prevention of disease to focus in communities across West Tennessee.
Stephanie Walker
CRNN, SoutheastWalker received her BSN-RN degree from East Tennessee State University (ETSU) in 2020 and is currently pursuing her Master’s Degree at ETSU with a goal to become a Family Nurse Practitioner. Her favorite part of being a CRNN is being able to connect with communities in different capacities, whether that be education, building relationships, or collaborating with other community resources.
Some of her interests include rural primary care, education and public health. Walker enjoys being able to care for others and making people smile. She loves traveling to new places, finding new recipes to cook and spending time with her fur babies.
Ashley Walton
CRNN, Upper CumberlandWalton holds her BSN from Tennessee Technological University. She was raised and has worked her whole life in the Upper Cumberland Region. She has worked as a cardiac step-down nurse, observation floor nurse, school nurse, clinic nurse at a local health department, and clinical reasoning and Sim lab instructor. Walton still resides in the Upper Cumberland with her husband and three children. As a family, they love to hike, kayak, and be outdoors. As a CRNN, Walton loves getting to be out in the community providing education and collaborating with other organizations.