Dr. Michelle Nichols is an Associate Professor at the College of Health Professions, Department of Health Sciences and Rehabilitation, Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and is the Director of the Community Engaged Scholars Research Program through the South Carolina Clinical & Translational Research Institute.
Dr. Nichols has always had a strong interest in working with different populations and cultures. She worked clinically for several years in acute and outpatient settings, followed by working as a researcher for the Veterans Administration (VA) and transitioned to public and population health within the community setting. She has carried her long-standing passion of working with the most under-resourced populations across the globe throughout her research, scholarship, and service. She actively leads and collaborates on studies in Sub-Saharan Africa and volunteers on medical missions in Low-and-Middle Income Countries in Central and South America. Additionally, she is an Ehlers Danlos Syndromes Rehabilitation researcher in collaboration with the Norris Lab and the MUSC Ehlers Danlos Syndromes Institute (EDSI).
Dr. Nichols specializes in the prevention and treatment of multi-morbid non-communicable chronic diseases that contribute to cardiovascular disease burden using mobile technology among under-resourced populations in the U.S. and globally. She has expertise in qualitative and mixed methodological approaches and in conducting Community Engaged Research and was the President of the Mixed Methods International Research Association. Among her awards, she received the 2014 American Nurses Association (ANA) Presidential Scholar Award through the American Nurses Foundation, the 2017 Palmetto Gold Award, was the 2018 recipient of the MUSC Values in Action Award for Integrity, and most recently received the MUSC 2021 Teaching Excellence Award, Educator-Mentor, in the Scholarship-Academic category.
Research Interests:
- Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes
- Prevention and treatment of multi-morbid non-communicable chronic diseases (NCDs) (stroke, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, asthma)
- Global health (emphasis on Low-and Middle Income Countries)
- Qualitative & Mixed methodological approaches
- Community-engaged research
- Ethics