NAU students, faculty, alumni, and staff explore innovative ways to offer healthcare to everyone.
Through innovation and creativity, we find answers to health issues in unconventional places. Whether developing computer apps for mental health, calming a patient during a crisis, or searching for a drug to cure hearing loss, the NAU community is passionate about healthcare. Here are some of their stories.
Living their healthiest lives
Alumnus Tad Gary, Psychology ’96, is devoted to helping people live their healthiest lives. Gary is the deputy chief executive officer of the nonprofit healthcare plan Mercy Care and serves on many boards, including one•n•ten, an organization supporting LGBTQ+ teens and their families.
As a first-generation student at NAU, Gary received guidance from faculty mentors as he worked toward his degree. Psychology professor Virginia Blankenship helped him develop presentation and research skills and provided guidance as he navigated his undergraduate classes. Gary was also active in music, and played clarinet and saxophone with the NAU wind symphony, chamber orchestra, and marching band. Clarinet professor Michael Sullivan helped Gary build his confidence as a person and as a musician.
For Gary, this is what made his time at NAU successful.
“I chose NAU because there was a smaller student population than the other public universities. I stayed at NAU because of the community that forms at a smaller university. I also had excellent professors and an opportunity to pursue a degree that has allowed me to help other people throughout my career.”
Nursing: the backbone of healthcare
NAU alumnus and Gold Axe winner Eduardo Moreno, Nursing ’21, knows what it means to persevere through challenging times. The NAU–Yuma student completed his Nursing degree despite having several setbacks during college, including surgery to have his appendix removed, the death of his beloved grandmother, and difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Through it all, he remained focused on his goal of providing affordable care to those who need it. Ultimately, Moreno hopes to pursue a doctorate in nursing practice.
“Nursing is the backbone of healthcare, and this degree equipped me with skills for direct patient care, establishing nursing practice standards, and developing quality care practices.”
Solving real-world problems
Shelby Hagemann is inspired to use her Computer Science degree to solve real-world problems. Through Interns-to-Scholars, Hagemann connected with computer science Assistant Professor Morgan Vigil-Hayes and worked in her lab studying behavioral health apps. With assistance from the Hooper Undergraduate Research Award and the Jean Shuler Research Mini-Grant, Hagemann developed an app that could be used as a mental health resource.
Hagemann turned her interest in computer programming into something meaningful, and for that, she credits her time at NAU.
“I’m so thankful that I’ve been able to branch out while I’ve been here and try out all of these different things because it’s really helped me figure out what I enjoy. I’m really happy to go to a school that has so many opportunities.”
Passion for nursing
NAU graduate and Chinle, Arizona resident Aarish Raza, Nursing ’21, was first attracted to the green forests surrounding Flagstaff. Once settled at NAU, Raza, a Distinguished Senior Award recipient, focused on the care involved in nursing. “Most of the time it’s just nurses there with the patients,” Raza says. “Doctors get called in when things go wrong, but it’s nurses who are there for the long run. The care we provide is just as important as what the doctors do. We’re teachers, we’re nurses, we’re therapists in a way. We do everything, and that’s what I enjoy.”
He zeroed in on his nursing specialty while completing his preceptorship—or internship—at a Level I trauma center. He found he was able to remain calm and positive while helping patients who were severely injured.
“For the first time, I felt like I was doing something that I actually felt extremely passionate about.”
Hearing loss research
Molecular biologist and Associate Professor O’neil Guthrie is all about helping people who have hearing loss. As a licensed clinical audiologist, Guthrie has over 16 years of experience working with patients and their hearing disorders. At NAU his research focuses on targeted treatment at the molecular level, and has led to both patented and unpatented biomedical therapies for hearing loss.
Guthrie collaborated with pharmaceutical company Optigenix to develop a drug to repair cells damaged by noise and prevent hearing loss.
“Even after more than 100 years of research on hearing loss, there is still no widely accepted biomedical treatment or prevention. Our current work has the potential to resolve this issue. If we’re successful, this solution will be able to prevent hearing loss even after exposure to a traumatic level of noise.”
Going places with nursing
Angie Golden takes her nursing knowledge where it is needed. From helping patients in the Grand Canyon to testifying on Capitol Hill, Golden has practiced nursing in just about every possible situation and now is in private practice.
She received her Master of Science in Nursing in 1998 from NAU and currently holds her Doctor of Nursing Practice. At NAU she spent 16 years teaching nursing students, and continues to mentor students today. She credits the nursing program, her colleagues, and her mentors for her career success.
“NAU spent the time to determine what the best way to maintain the rigor of the program would be, while also making it reasonable to accomplish. That’s a unique way to think about how to get nurses into the workforce. That’s a strength in our School of Nursing. As an alum, it’s kept me committed to the School of Nursing and NAU.”
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