Sue Anne Bell

Sue Anne Bell, Ph.D., FNP-BC, FAAN, a nurse-scientist and nationally recognized scholar in the study of disasters, emergency response, and climate change and health, completed the National Clinician Scholar Program in 2018. Dr. Bell received her Ph.D. in Nursing from the University of Michigan and is now an assistant professor of nursing at the University. Her work centers on health equity and vulnerable communities, exploring disaster effects, recovery, policy, and emergency preparedness. She has practiced nursing and conducted research globally and nationally, creating influential, widely-cited original scholarship.

Bell is a national leader in disaster response policy efforts, with an extensive body of work focused on the impact of climate disasters on older adults. In 2020, she completed an IHPI Policy Sprint project in which she analyzed all-cause mortality of older adults after three major U.S. hurricanes. Her findings showed that many older adults were not prepared for possible disasters, that access to essential health services were often interrupted post-disaster, and that negative health effects can arise and remain years after a disaster. From this work, Bell recommended policy changes to improve emergency preparedness for older adults, including preparations by health care systems for increased needs after a disaster. Additionally, in November 2021 she testified in front of the U.S. Special Committee on Aging, leading to the development of new legislation to establish programs focused on assisting older adults and individuals with disabilities with disaster preparedness. She also serves as an advisor on FEMA’s National Advisory Council and sits on the National Advisory Council for Seniors and Disasters at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in the Agency for Strategic Preparedness and Response.

Drawing on her clinical, policy, and research expertise, Bell supported the federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic, treating some of the first known individuals with COVID-19 in the U.S. She served on the leadership team of the Michigan Medicine field hospital and worked with HHS to train nursing home workers and to operationalize the first FEMA mass vaccination center in Oakland, California. Dr. Bell has published several manuscripts stemming from this work, including a discussion of home-based care provider experiences of the pandemic and their practice and policy implications.

“My interest in the impact of disasters on the health of communities goes back to my work as a nurse practitioner and researcher in West Africa,” explains Dr. Bell. “As a National Clinician Scholar, I was able to build on that, looking at the long-term health outcomes of communities exposed to disaster, and the impact of disaster response on health and health disparities within those communities.” Throughout the NCSP program, Bell used a large national database to identify people with pre-existing chronic conditions who were exposed to a disaster. She studied a range of health metrics at six months, one year, and two years following the event to determine whether any changes could be traced to the disaster.

As a National Clinician Scholar, Bell advanced her expertise in statistical techniques and culturally sensitive research design, attended classes on U.S. health policy, and improved her presentation skills. “Both the curriculum and the individual support were outstanding,” she says. “The experience made me a better researcher and provided endless opportunities to network and collaborate.”

“The experience made me a better researcher, and provided endless opportunities to network and collaborate.”

– Sue Anne Bell

In addition to interacting with fellow scholars and faculty members, NCSP participants also gain exposure to national experts in health services research, including graduates of the program. “During my first year as a scholar, I attended a lecture by a NCSP alumna who was then a cabinet-level official focused on disaster response,” she says. “She took time from working on the Flint (Michigan) water crisis to meet with us, and to extend an invitation to shadow her in Washington. That connection would have never happened outside of this program.”

October 2023