Biography

Emily Barr is Assistant Professor (research tenure track) at Cizik School of Nursing at UTHealth Houston in the Department of Research, where she joined as faculty in January 2022. Barr grew up in Rochester, NY, and completed her bachelor’s of science degree in communication with a focus on scientific writing and a minor in African American Studies at Cornell University. After working with infants and young children living with HIV in the early 1990s, she obtained her master’s in nursing at Yale University, where she specialized in pediatric chronic illness care.

Dr. Barr was inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Nurse Midwives (2024), a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (2023), and awarded the Researcher/HIV Impact Award from the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (2022). She participated in the McGovern Center-Inprint Writing Fellowship as a member of the inaugural cohort from 2022-2023. Dr. Barr has published several essays in the health humanities including in the journal AIDS (2024) and The Paris Review (2024). She joined the McGovern Center for Humanities and Ethics as Associate Faculty in Fall 2024.

Education

Bachelor of Science
Cornell University
Master of Science in Nursing
Yale University
Post-Master's in Nurse Midwifery
SUNY Stony Brook
Certificate, Caritas Coach Educational Program
University of Colorado
Certificate, Nursing Education
University of Colorado
Doctor of Philosophy
University of Colorado

Areas of Interest

Research Interests

Dr. Barr’s research examines young adults transitioning from adolescent to adult HIV care and pregnant, post-partum, and breastfeeding/chest-feeding people living with HIV. She focuses on building patient-provider trust through intellectual humility and caring science to support engagement in care and vaccine confidence. She is exploring telehealth use to support linkage and retention in care in youth and postpartum people living with HIV. Furthermore, she studies the concept of silver linings and health outcomes.