Dr. Lalita Kaligotla is Professor of the Practice and Senior Assistant Dean. She also serves as the Executive Director for the Lillian Carter Center for Global Health and Social Responsibility. Her work is centered on adaptive leadership, interprofessional education, and civic engagement. She has nearly two decades of experience envisioning and launching leadership and community engagement programs at several leading academic institutions. Her current role includes advancing leadership development and community engagement programming for staff, students, and faculty. She provides leadership and subject matter expertise on several extramurally funded grants to train nursing students and develop the healthcare workforce in Atlanta and across the southeast. She serves as faculty mentor for the Fuld Fellows for Social Responsibility, a program for high achieving nursing students with a commitment to social responsibility. Most recently, she helped start a webinar series, “Conversations from the Edge” for nurse leaders.

In her previous role, Lalita served as Associate Director for the Hart Leadership Program, an endowed leadership development program at the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University. Prior to that, she was at the Georgia Institute of Technology where she implemented interdisciplinary curricular and co-curricular leadership and civic engagement programs. She obtained her doctorate in higher education policy and leadership at the University of Georgia, and an MBA from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. Prior to moving to the United States, she completed graduate training at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, in Mumbai, India, and her undergraduate education at Osmania University, in Hyderabad, India.

Recent Grant Funded Work:

• ‍FACES (Fellowship in Advocacy, Community Engagement and Social Entrepreneurship) in Georgia Perinatal Health.
  
  Emory University, Woodruff Health Sciences Center, Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice Grant, (01/01/2024 – 12/31/2024).
  Co-I
  
  FACES in Georgia Perinatal Health is an interdisciplinary, interprofessional, experiential learning opportunity for Emory students. Students selected for this competitive fellowship program engage with leaders in perinatal health-focused organizations and develop skills in legislative policy and advocacy, and programming to advance pregnant and postpartum care in Georgia. Responsible for program conception, implementation, and ongoing engagement with students and community partners.‍
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• Toward Health Equity and Literacy (ToHEAL): Training for Optimal RN.
  
  Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Bureau of Health Workforce,  (09/30/2022 – 09/29/2025)
  Senior Project Personnel
  
  This project will enhance nursing education and practice to increase the number of nursing students trained in acute care settings to address and manage social determinant of health (SDOH) factors and improve health equity and health literacy in underserved areas. Responsible for curriculum development, implementation, and evaluation of learning outcomes.‍
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• Clinical Instructor and Preceptor Excellence in the Southeast (CaPES) Academy: Training for Nurse Preceptors
  
  Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Bureau of Health Workforce (9/30/2022 – 09/29/2026).
  Senior Project Personnel
  
  This project is designed to provide training and professional development for nurse-practitioners working in underserved communities across the southeast. Responsibilities include providing leadership and professional development experiences to trainees and engaging with the leadership team on program implementation and evaluation.‍
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• Atlanta Region Community Health Workforce Advancement (ARCHWAy) Program
  
  Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Bureau of Health Workforce
  Subject Matter Expert
  
  This project is designed to provide, recruit and train a cadre of community health workers in the state of Georgia. Responsibilities include providing leadership and professional development training to trainees.

Recent Representative Publications

McCauley, L., Dupree Jones, K., Hayes, R., Kaligotla, L., McDermott, C., Rodriguez, J., Swan, B. (2024). Reject the practice readiness myth—Ask if health systems are ready for nursing graduates instead. Nursing Outlook, (72), 5, 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.outlook.2024.102181.

Swan, B.A., Gibbons, W., & Kaligotla, L. (2023). Giving life to learning through rural maternal health immersion experiences. Nurse Educator. https://www.doi.org/10.1097/NNE.0000000000001574

Swan, B.A., Kaligotla, L., et al. (2023). SDOH in action: Exemplars of incorporating SDOH content in entry-level and advanced-level nursing education. In J. B. Hamilton, B. A. Swan, L. McCauley, (Eds.), Integrating a social determinants of health framework into nursing education (131-183). Springer, Cham. https://www.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-21347-2_5

Hamilton, J.B., Char, A., McCauley, L., Abiri, A., Kimble, L., Kaligotla, L., Swan, B.A., Martyn, K. (2023). Lessons Learned. In J. B. Hamilton, B. A. Swan, L. McCauley, (Eds.). Integrating a social determinants of health framework into nursing education (pp. 211-216). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-21347-2_8