Ashley Dunn is the Associate Director for the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) Program at Stanford University. The mission of CTSA Program is to transform clinical, translational research and education at Stanford University to make it more effective at discovering and implementing data-driven strategies to serve the health needs of individuals and the population. As a LEAD alum, Ashley is committed to supporting the recruitment/retention and academic achievement of marginalized, under-represented students in LEAD and beyond. With her background in Public Health, she is particularly interested in working to expand the diversity of health professionals and research workforce in research/medicine.
At Santa Clara University, Ashley is an adjunct lecturer for the LEAD Scholars Program. She teaches a course titled Lead 22: Exploring Graduate School that helps students gain insight into how to research and successfully apply to graduate school, as well as explore the graduate school experience. Students are also provided with an overview of graduate school options in addition to tackling writing the personal statement for identified schools of interest.
Originally from Maryland, she was an undergraduate at Santa Clara University and received her Masters of Public Health in Health Education and Promotion from University of Southern California. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Translational Health Sciences at George Washington University. Her research will focus on understanding the complex interplay between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and biopsychosocial factors of pain to better understand the specific nature and magnitude of risk that ACEs may have on the development and/or maintenance of adolescent/young adult chronic pain.