Ashley Leak Bryant, PhD, RN, OCN, FAAN

Senior Associate Dean for Global Initiatives, Co-Director of PAHO/WHO Collaborating Center

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
School of Nursing
Campus Box #7460
ITS Manning
211 Manning Drive
Office: 4108
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7460

Senior Associate Dean for Global Initiatives and Frances Hill Fox Distinguished Professor | Assistant Director of Cancer Research Training Education and Coordination, UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center

Ashley Leak Bryant, PhD, RN, OCN, FAAN is the Senior Associate Dean for Global Initiatives and the Frances Hill Fox Distinguished Professor in the School of Nursing. She also serves as the director of the School’s Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) Collaborating Center in Quality and Safety Education in Nursing and Midwifery. She is also assistant director of Cancer Research Training Education Coordination at the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, Sylvia Lauterborn, and Warren Piver Oncology Nursing Fellowship, which provides an immersive introduction to oncology for undergraduate nursing students.

Dr. Bryant possesses expertise on older adults, palliative and supportive care, acute myeloid leukemia (AML), interprofessional collaboration, and workforce development. Her program of research focuses on delivering multidisciplinary interventions to improve symptoms, functional status, and quality of life for both older adults with blood cancers and their caregivers. Dr. Bryant just completed her NINR-funded feasibility and acceptability study—the Palliative and Collaborative Care Intervention (PACT)—investigating a nurse-led and occupational and physical therapy focused palliative and supportive care intervention for newly diagnosed adults with AML. Two papers have been published and three in preparation.

In addition to being a dedicated nurse-researcher, Dr. Bryant has maintained an active clinical practice since 2003. During that time, she has worked in cancer centers, continuing care retirement communities, and inpatient hospice facility. Her clinical roles have given her unique insight into the various settings in which older adults and patients with cancer receive care and have empowered her to pursue experience-based, research-backed development of the nursing workforce both within the United States and abroad. At home, Dr. Bryant has grown the oncology nursing careforce by developing an oncology fellowship and oncology elective course for undergraduates. Internationally, Dr. Bryant has been a pivotal member of UNC-Project Malawi, which works to build capacity for strong leadership and research-based practices in nursing, particularly oncology nursing.

Because she believes that developing the next generation of nurses and leaders is of paramount importance, Dr. Bryant is passionate about mentoring. She mentors early-career faculty, pre and post-doctoral scholars, PhD students, DNP students, Masters students, and undergraduate honors students across multiple disciplines and institutions. Her early career development and workforce development work has been published in interdisciplinary journals.