Elissa Ladd, PhD, FNP-BC, is a Professor and former Director of the interprofessional Global Health Equity and Innovations Certificate Program in the School of Nursing at MGH Institute of Health Professions.
The certificate was one of the only global health programs offered completely online, hence providing opportunities for advanced study for healthcare professionals across the globe.
Dr. Ladd has developed and leads an innovative program of global health immersion for Master's level students who are in their last semester of training at the Institute. As a part of the program, the students conduct research and participate in clinical activities in a rural area of South India.
This program grew out of a Fulbright Fellowship that Dr. Ladd was awarded in 2012. Dr. Ladd was the only nurse faculty member in the country to be awarded the prestigious Fulbright Scholar award for the 2011-2012 academic year in India. She spent six months teaching and conducting research at Manipal University in southwestern India.
Specifically, she taught research methodology to graduate nursing students, conducted seminars with the College of Pharmaceutical Sciences and the Kasturba International Medical College, and initiated a research project on drug counseling behaviors by nurses in India. She also consulted with an Indian hospital system regarding nurse practitioner training and participated in clinical activities at village clinics.
Dr. Ladd was among 21 nurses from around the globe who were honored by the non-profit organization Nurses With Global Impact May 10, 2019, at the 3rd Annual Celebration of International Nurses Day. She was recognized for her outstanding leadership, creativity, and compassion in the field of nursing. She and the other nurses, who are impacting lives with quality care and comfort and serving as role models for future generations of caregivers, were recognized at the United Nations in New York.
Additionally, she has a research focus on pharmaceutical policy and prescribing practices, both in the national and international arenas. She has lectured and published widely on pharmaceutical policy and prescribing, specifically focusing on industry interface with physicians and advanced practice nurse prescribing practices. Currently, in collaboration with her students, she is undertaking a global policy analysis of nurse prescribing.
In 2006, she received a $400,000 grant from the US Attorneys General to develop an educational program on pharmaceutical marketing and the pharmaceutical industry directed to advanced practice nurse prescribers. She continued this work with a grant from the Consumers Union Best Buy Drugs Program to develop an educational program directed to advanced practice nurses and consumers about evidence-based sources of information on drugs.
Dr. Ladd has also won the Partners in Excellence Award for Innovation and Teaching; and the Academic Excellence Award for Doctoral Study in Nursing from the University of Massachusetts.
Dr. Ladd received her Bachelor's degree in Nursing from the University of Pennsylvania, her Master's in Nursing from Rush University, and her PhD in Health Policy and Nursing from the University of Massachusetts. She has taught at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth and has practiced as a family nurse practitioner in a wide array of primary care settings.
- BSN, University of Pennsylvania
- MS, Community Health Nursing, Rush University
- PhD, Health Policy and Nursing, University of Massachusetts, Boston