UVI Alum Speaks at Center for Spirituality Symposium



Emory University Nursing Professor
Dr. Safiya George Dalmida

University of the Virgin Islands alumna Dr. Safiya George Dalmida returned to her alma mater on April 21, to speak at the UVI Center for the Study of Spirituality and Professionalism’s “Spirituality and Higher Education” Symposium. Dr. Dalmida is currently an assistant professor at the School of Nursing and adjunct faculty in Latin American and Caribbean Studies and African American Studies Departments at Emory University.

She received an associate’s degree in nursing from UVI in 1997 and a bachelor’s degree in science from the UVI in 1999. Dr. Dalmida went on to receive her doctorate in nursing and a certificate in Women’s Studies from Emory University. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in research on religion and health from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.

At the UVI symposium, Dr. Dalmida spoke on leadership in spirituality as it relates to health, research and higher education. She provided an overview of her research on spirituality and health among vulnerable groups, such as women and people living with HIV/ AIDS.

Dr. Dalmida is the lead nursing faculty member and is on the executive committee for Religion and Public Health Collaborative at Emory University. The RPHC effort is a university-wide effort that is under the Religion and Human Spirit Initiative.

Her area of research is on spirituality and coping with stress and its relationship to mental and physical health among women and people living with HIV/AIDS. Currently, she is examining the role of religion and cognitive functions in sexual decision making and HIV or sexually transmitted infections associated sexual risk behavior of black adolescent and young adult females.

Dr. Dalmida is an advanced nurse practitioner and primarily helps treat uninsured patients in the Latino community in Atlanta. She also volunteers in local community women’s health clinics.