Name/Credentials: Tericka Smith Cesar RN, MSN
Research Interest: Influence of the family unit’s impact on generational health, nutritional lifestyles, obesity & health disparities.
Personal Biography: Tericka Cesar RN, MSN, ---She has had a diverse professional path which has almost always included research. She attended Northwestern Senior High Medical Magnet, then completed a BS in Biology at Barry University as a Minority Access to Research Career (M.A.R.C) student. She was privileged to become a graduate student at the historic Tuskegee University. Her Master’s thesis research (2004) explored the influence of diet on lipid profiles and the interrelationship of dietary fat and coronary heart disease. After graduating she remained with Tuskegee’s Food & Nutritional Sciences Department to work as a Nutrition Research Associate/Community Educator before bridging into Vanderbilt’s Adult Nurse Practitioner Specialty & Cardiovascular Research Program which she completed in 2006. At Vanderbilt, she gained experience developing & completing a nutrition-based research investigation with Vanderbilt Autonomic Dysfunction Center & collaborating to publish a peer-reviewed article with mentors. She has had a variety of professional experiences including direct nursing & primary care; working with the health care needs in an ER, urgent & primary care of, incarcerated populations, nurse consulting & in-home clinical research trial support. She taught in person in the classroom setting at Miami Dade College and serve as an academic coach for several universities through Instructional Connections. She began pursuing her doctorate of nursing with University of Miami’s School of Nursing in the Fall of 2022. Her overarching research interests focus on the influence of the family unit’s impact on generational health, nutritional lifestyles, & health disparities.
