Summer DeBastiani Hartley , PhD, MPH, RN

Dr. Hartley is an accomplished nurse scientist with global health experience whose research and practice have centered on public health injury prevention, disaster preparedness, and program evaluation.

Assistant Vice President

Organization:

West Virginia University Health Sciences Center

Department:

Health Affairs Institute

Classification:

Faculty

• PhD, Nursing, University of Miami
• MPH, John Hopkins University
• BSN, West Virginia University

DeBastiani SD, Norris AE, & Kerr A. (2019). Socioeconomic Determinants of Suicide Risk: Monroe County Florida Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey, 2016. Journal of Neurology, Psychiatry and Brain Research, 33, 56-64.

Levoy K, DeBastiani SD, & McCabe, B. (2018). Evaluation of a novel disaster nursing education method. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, 1-8. doi: 10.1017/dmp.2017.150

DeBastiani SD, & De Santis, J (2017). Suicide lethality: a concept analysis. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 39(2), 117-125.doi:10.1080/01612840.2017.1364812

DeBastiani SD, Strine TW, Vagi S, Barnett D, & Kahn EB. (2015). Preparedness perceptions, sociodemographic characteristics and level of household preparedness for public health emergencies: Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2006-2010. Health Security, 13(5):317-26. doi:10.1089/hs.2014.0093

DeBastiani, SD, & Strine, TW (2013). Household Preparedness for Public Health Emergencies-14 States, 2006-2010 (Reprinted from MMWR, vol 36, pg 713-719, 2012). Journal of the American Medical Association, 309(1), 21-24. http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1555143

Singleton, C. M., DeBastiani, SD, Rose, D, & Kahn, EB (2014). An Analysis of Root Cause Identification and Continuous Quality Improvement in Public Health H1N1 After-Action Reports. Journal of public health management and practice, 20(2);197-204. doi: 10.1097/PHH.0b013e31829ddd2

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Office of Public Health and Response. Public Health Emergency Preparedness Cooperative Agreement Performance Measures and Specifications Guidance. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2012. (contributors: E Bushong, SD DeBastiani, AN Shumock, DR Rose).

• Jonas Nurse Leader, Jonas Foundation (2016)
• Dean’s Research Grant, University of Miami School of Nursing and Health Studies (2015)
• Best Publication, CDC Office of Public Health Preparedness & Response (2015)
• Scholar, The Florman Family Foundation (2016)
• Medical Research Scholar, Lincoln Community Foundation (2008)
• Scholar, American Association of Critical Care Nurses (2008)
• United Way Presidential Service Award (2004)

Professional Membership

• Member, American Association of Public Health (2010-present).
• Member, American Association of Public Health Committee of Public Health Nurses (2016-present)
• Nurse Leader, Sigma Theta Tau International, Beta Tau Chapter (2014-present)
• Member, Sigma Theta Tau International, Alpha Rho Chapter (2004-2014)

Dr. Hartley is the Assistant Vice President for the West Virginia University’s Office of Health Affairs and oversees its strategic administrative direction by leading a team of Directors and an Executive Director of Operations. Her breadth of experience includes providing health and human services to vulnerable populations domestically and internationally, building state-university partnerships at multiple universities, holding nursing and public health faculty appointments, and serving as a health scientist and Public Health Prevention Service Fellow at the CDC.

Dr. Hartley received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from WVU and began her career as a critical care nurse at WVU Hospitals. She went on to earn her Master in Public Health at Johns Hopkins University and her PhD from the University of Miami. She has been a member of the American Public Health Association since 2010 and Sigma Theta Tau since 2004. Dr. Hartley’s current research and evaluation focuses on the population-based social determinants associated with suicide risk, and supporting WVU’s State-University partnership with the WV Department of Health and Human Resources, multiple WV hospital systems, local nonprofits, and other state agencies. Her research has aided communities by bringing mental health resources into underserved areas.

Dr. Hartley has global health experience, having lived and worked internationally in New Zealand, Uganda, Nepal, and China. She has worked with socialized health systems that utilize the medical home model and in low income areas with underserved rural and war-torn populations. These experiences have solidified her drive for translational research and passion for finding solutions to population health issues through the development of meaningful partnerships. Dr. Hartley has a history of developing successful State-University partnerships at each university where she has worked: University of Miami, University of North Carolina, and WVU.

To this broad career, Dr. Hartley successfully added entrepreneurship, building and growing a company while working on her PhD and selling the company for a profit, which further developed her business strategy skills and ability to align all operational aspects of an organization to achieve its strategic direction.

Dr. Hartley is a third-generation West Virginian and is excited to return to her Appalachian home to help improve the health of her own community.