Bridgette (Brawner) Rice is the Richard and Marianne Kreider Endowed Professor in Nursing for Vulnerable Populations at Villanova University M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing. Dr. (Brawner) Rice’s research advances our understanding of individual (e.g., depression), social (e.g., social capital) and structural (e.g., poverty) drivers of inequity. She uses spatially-driven mixed methods approaches—such as combining ethnography with geographic information systems mapping/analyses—to tackle complex health issues. This multi-level, geographical approach generates knowledge on modifiable targets for her novel evidence-based interventions and policies to promote sexual health and prevent HIV/STIs.

Using a transdisciplinary team science approach, her impact extends internationally and to other health concerns (such as gun violence and cardiovascular disease). Her research-informed service has impact in diversifying the behavioral health workforce and promoting anti-racism in nursing. She is the Immediate Past Chair of the National Advisory Committee for the American Nurses Association/Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Minority Fellowship Program—one of the nation’s largest behavioral health nursing training programs for MSN, PhD and DNP fellows. She also serves as a Commissioner on the American Nurses Association’s National Commission to Address Racism in Nursing, and co-leads the Research Workgroup.

Dr. (Brawner) Rice holds a BSN from Villanova University a MSN and PhD from the University of Pennsylvania and a MDiv from the Palmer Theological Seminary of Eastern University.