Belmont’s College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Announces New Faculty Appointments

Belmont’s College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Announces New Faculty Appointments
College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences

Belmont’s College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Announces New Faculty Appointments

August 15, 2023 | by Allison Fomby

The College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (CPHS) at Belmont University recently named new faculty for the 2023-24 academic year.  

Steve Berry, Associate Professor, Mental Health Counseling has over 35 years’ experience as a school counselor, mental health counselor, special education teacher, counselor supervisor, and counselor educator. His primary research interests are in school crisis management and trauma-informed schools. As a licensed professional counselor and former school counselor, he frequently acts as a consultant to schools experiencing crises and presents nationally on this topic.  His other research interests include school bullying, school counselor ethics, and addictions.     

Dr. Karlee Carney, Assistant Professor, Pharmacy received her Doctor of Pharmacy from Harding University College of Pharmacy. Her area of specialty is ambulatory care and teaches primarily in Pathophysiology and Therapeutics. Dr. Carney has a practice site at The Next Door, a non-profit organization dedicated to serving women impacted by addiction, mental illness, trauma, and/or incarceration. She works with the medical team there, providing medically monitored detoxification, acute medical care, chronic disease management, and educational groups. This practice site serves as an advanced pharmacy practice experience site for student pharmacists in their fourth year of the Belmont pharmacy curriculum. Dr. Carney's areas of research and professional interests include Women's Health, Hepatitis C, and serving the underserved. 

Dr. Elicia Cruz, Occupational Therapy is an occupational therapist with 30 years of experience in her field. She earned a BS in Occupational Therapy and a MS in Health Education and Promotion from the University of Texas Medical Branch, and a PhD in Occupational Therapy from Texas Woman's University. Her prior academic experience includes a tenure of 15 years at the University of Texas Medical Branch, an academic medical center. There she taught both undergraduate and graduate courses within the OT curriculum and was active in departmental, institutional, and professional service, and developing a line of research that blended community service in health promotion with scholarship. 

Carmen Reese Foster, DSW, LMSW, LSSW, Assistant Professor, Social Work spent over 5 years at the University of Tennessee College of Social Work the Interim Online MSSW Program Director, an Assistant Professor of Practice and Online Field Coordinator, and the Director of Alumni Affairs. In 2018, she created the Coalition of Black Social Workers (CBSW) through a social justice grant from UT  

College of Social Work. In 2020, Dr. Reese Foster developed the CBSW into a 501c3, where she serves as the Founder and Executive Director. Prior to transitioning into higher education, Dr. Reese Foster's practice experience focused on working with youth and families from marginalized communities. She received her DSW from the University of Alabama where her research focus was assessing the impact of race-based trauma and Covid-19 on the mental health of Black social work providers. 

Dr. Yulonda Warren, Assistant Professor, Pharmacy received her Doctor of Pharmacy from Belmont University College of Pharmacy in 2019. After completing her residency, Dr. Warren worked at Ascension Saint Thomas West Hospital serving as a clinical pharmacist on the oncology and pulmonary patient units. During that time, she also served as a member of the Ascension Saint Thomas Network Cancer Committee and a preceptor for Advance Pharmacy Practice Experience students from Belmont University College of Pharmacy and Lipscomb College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. As an Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice, Dr. Warren teaches in Pathophysiology and Therapeutics and Therapeutic Case Studies. She has a practice site at Vanderbilt University Medical Center where she provides pharmaceutical care services for two Internal Medicine teams. Her practice site serves as an Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience site for student pharmacists in their fourth year of the pharmacy curriculum. 

Dr. Jarett Worden, Assistant Professor, Pharmacy received his Doctor of Pharmacy from Belmont University College of Pharmacy in 2013 and served as a Clinical Pharmacist at Saint Thomas West Hospital for ten years, with the last five years as a Clinical Pharmacy Specialist in Antimicrobial Stewardship and Infectious Diseases. He completed the Society of Infectious Disease Pharmacists’ Antimicrobial Stewardship Certificate Program in 2018 and is currently Board Certified in Infectious Diseases. He has served as a member of the Ascension Health Antimicrobial Stewardship Committee and has served as Co-Chair of the Antimicrobial Stewardship Committee for the Saint Thomas Health System over the past several years. Dr. Worden's specialty area is internal medicine with a focus in Antimicrobial Stewardship. 

Dr. Evan Young, Assistant Professor, Pharmacy was a member of Belmont’s 2020 PharmD class. Upon graduation he completed Purdue’s two-year Academic and Ambulatory Care Pharmacy Fellowship program where he taught Pharmacy Skills Lab courses, led an elective course focused on care for vulnerable and underserved patient populations and practiced as an ambulatory care pharmacist at a rural Federally Qualified Health Center. Young has also completed an M.S. in Instructional Design and Technology (MSIDT), is board certified in advanced diabetes management (BC-ADM), and works part-time as a pharmacist at Walgreens. Young serves as the Assistant Director of Experiential Education for Belmont's PharmD program, where he works closely with the experiential team to coordinate the Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences and teaches throughout the IPPE sequence.  

For a full list of Belmont CHPS Faculty, visit this page