Four new COPHS faculty hired for 2020-21 year

New nursing and physician assistant studies faculty come on board in 2020.

Janel Shoun-Smith | 615.966.7078 | 10/01/2020

The College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences has welcomed four new faculty members in the physician assistant studies and nursing programs for the 2020-21 school year.

Lori Kelly
Associate Professor of Nursing

With research interests that include medication administration error reduction and reporting in nursing simulation, Kelly comes to Lipscomb with years of experience from all over the country.  

She received her bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Michigan, a master's degree in nursing at Bowie State University, and a Master in Business Administration at Thomas More University.  She received her Doctorate of Education from The University of Alabama.

Lori comes to Lipscomb most recently from Middle Tennessee State University where she was on faculty in their School of Nursing. 

She was born and raised in Michigan and will forever be a Wolverine, but she has lived in many areas of the country, including Washington D.C.; Cincinnati, Ohio; Los Angeles, California, and for the last decade or so, Nashville.  She enjoys live music, road biking and anything that includes water or dogs.

Casie Ramirez
Assistant Professor in Physician Assistant Studies

An Alabama native, Ramirez comes to Lipscomb with nine years of experience as a physician assistant in various clinical settings.

She is a graduate of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where she worked prior to obtaining her degree as a surgical technician on the ENT team. She has practiced at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in the Department of Otolaryngology with a special focus in head and neck cancer, the Cleveland Clinic as a multispecialty surgical first assistant, and most recently at Highpoint Neurology with a focus in pediatrics.

She is married to Daniel and has two children, Eloisa and Benjamin. Ramirez is a current board member of the Sumner County YMCA, a member of the Junior Service League of Hendersonville and served as the organization’s vice president in 2019. She is also involved with fundraising for the Salvus Center Inc. a non-profit organization providing primary care for the working poor without health insurance. 

Ramirez enjoys embarking on culinary adventures in her own kitchen, planning and hosting social events, reformer Pilates and traveling.
 

Cindy Wingert
Assistant Professor in Physician Assistant Studies

With more than 17 years of teaching experience, Wingert comes to Lipscomb from The Ohio State University College of Medicine. She received her B.A. degree from Cedarville University and M.S. from Wright State University. Wingert’s primary area of interest is teaching human gross anatomy, however, she also has extensive experience teaching human physiology and pathophysiology. 

Wingert is an active member of the Human Anatomy and Physiology Society (HAPS), where she served as a member of the Curriculum and Instruction Committee and as the chair of the Cadaver Use Committee, a position that she held for six years. Currently, serves as the HAPS Steering Committee chair.

In her free time, Wingert enjoys gardening, family game nights and volunteering her time with Barefoot Republic Camp. She is married to Braden and has a daughter, Kaitlyn.
 

Geoff Wright
Assistant Professor in Physician Assistant Studies

As a certified PA, Geoff has spent the past three years as a hospitalist and acute care specialist at a community hospital in the foothills of North Carolina.

Prior to becoming a PA, he obtained an undergraduate degree from Butler University and a master’s degree in global health from the University of Notre Dame, conducting his graduate research on health systems strengthening initiatives in rural Zambia. 

Additionally, he has worked as a research analyst for the Vanderbilt University Institute for Medicine and Public Health. He is interested in the provision of health care to vulnerable and underserved populations. He enjoys reading anything by Wendell Berry, hiking and spending time with his wife, Audrey, and son Asa.