Hagemeier, Polaha and Quinn named as Presidential Fellows at ETSU

Published 5:30 pm Tuesday, April 21, 2020

JOHNSON CITY – East Tennessee State University President Brian Noland has named Dr. Nicholas Hagemeier, Dr. Jodi Polaha and Dr. Megan Quinn as Presidential Fellows for the fall 2020 semester.

As fellows, the three faculty members will develop and execute a project that is aligned with one of the university’s major initiatives in teaching, learning and service. The fellows will work closely with President Noland, his leadership team and ETSU Center for Teaching Excellence staff.

Hagemeier has been at ETSU since 2011. He is vice chair and associate professor of Pharmacy Practice and director of Student Professional Development at Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy. He also serves as director of ETSU’s Pharmacy Practice Research Fellowship.

He earned his Pharm.D., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees from Purdue University. He was awarded National Institutes of Health funding to conduct research on the role of pharmacists in preventing opioid-related morbidity and mortality and has presented opioid- and wellbeing-related research nationally. He was appointed to the U.S. Health and Human Services Pain Management Best Practices Interagency Task Force in 2018.

Hagemeier’s project will focus on meeting well-being-related initiatives in ETSU’s Strategic Plan.

Polaha is a clinical psychologist and associate professor in the Department of Family Medicine at ETSU’s Quillen College of Medicine. She has over 20 years of experience integrating behavioral health into primary care in clinical, teaching, research, and policy roles and currently serves as assistant director of Interprofessional Education.

She has a strong interest in increasing practice-based research and serves as a co-editor for the journal Family, Systems, & Health. Polaha has a long history of community service and was elected to serve on the Washington County Board of Commissioners in 2018.

Polaha’s project will focus on ETSU’s role in regional workforce development.

Quinn is an associate professor of epidemiology in the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology in the College of Public Health. She teaches courses in infectious disease epidemiology, field epidemiology and global health. She earned her B.A. in psychology from Wesleyan College, a M.Sc. in public health research from University of Edinburgh College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, and a Dr.PH in epidemiology from ETSU.

She has taught at ETSU since 2012. In 2016, she earned the ETSU Distinguished Faculty Award in Service. Her research is primarily focused on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and their role in health risk behaviors and outcomes.

Quinn’s project will focus on understanding the current campus climate as it relates to ACEs-informed practices and work to identify opportunities to promote ACEs awareness.