Ursula Kelly, PhD, APRN, ANP-BC, PMHNP-BC, FAANP, FAAN, is an Associate Professor at the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. In addition, she is Associate Director of the Injury Prevention Research Center at Emory (IPRCE) and Nurse Scientist at the Atlanta VA Health Care System. A dual-certified Adult and Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, Dr. Kelly has practiced across diverse settings, including public hospitals like Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, the Atlanta VA Trauma Recovery Program, neighborhood clinics, and community health centers. 

In addition to her extensive clinical service, Dr. Kelly is a prolific nurse researcher. Her program of research weaves together intersectionality frameworks, biomedical approaches, and community-based participatory research. Her work focuses on the mental and physical health impacts of interpersonal violence on marginalized or minoritized women. She has completed studies in collaboration with women who are Veterans, African American women Veterans, African American women in public safety net hospitals, Latina immigrant women living in urban settings, and women who are migrant Latina farmworkers. These collaborations have addressed posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, barriers to care, and innovative interventions such as trauma-sensitive yoga. Recent expansions of her work have included injury and violence prevention initiatives, as well as suicide research with nurses and nursing students. This recent work has included studies of suicidal thoughts and behaviors among nursing students (pre- and post-licensure) and analyses of deaths of registered nurses due to suicide and accidental drug overdoses.

Dr. Kelly has received funding from the National Institutes of Health, VA Health Services Research & Development, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to name some. She was inducted as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners in 2017 and the American Academy of Nursing in 2020. She has received numerous awards, including the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Health Care Heroes Award and the Excellence in Research Award from the American Psychiatric Nurses Association. Her pioneering scientific contributions have not only shaped clinical practice but also have informed national guidelines and meaningfully advanced the field of trauma care.

Dr. Kelly has authored more than 50 peer-reviewed articles, including recent publications in Annals of Internal Medicine and JAMA Network Open. Her research has explored PTSD treatment, trauma-informed care, and innovative interventions for mental health, among other important topics. Below is a sample of her recent scientific contributions. 

*  DATA BASED  †STUDENT CO-AUTHOR

• Schnurr, P. P., Hamblen, J. L., Wolf, J., Coller, R., Collie, C., Fuller, M. A., Holtzheimer, P., Kelly, U. ... & Kelber, M. S. (2024). The Management of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Acute Stress Disorder: Synopsis of the 2023 US Department of Veterans Affairs and US Department of Defense Clinical Practice Guideline. Annals of Internal Medicine. https://doi.org/10.7326/M23-2757*
• Lang, A. J., Hamblen, J. L., Holtzheimer, P., Kelly, U., Norman, S. B., Riggs, D., Schnurr, P. P., & Wiechers, I. (2024). A Clinician's Guide to the 2023 VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guideline for Management of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Acute Stress Disorder. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 1–16. doi.org/10.1002/jts.23013*
• Febres-Cordero, S., Thompson, L.M., Chalfant, O., Sherman, A.D.F., Winiker, A., Kelly, U., Smith, K.M. (2024). Addressing fear of negative consequences of overdose response: A qualitative study of the perceptions of service industry workers who encounter an opioid overdose in an urban commercial district in Atlanta, Georgia. Workplace Health and Safety. 0(0):328-343. doi: 10.1177/0894845317728359.* † ( EPUB AHEAD OF PRINT)
• Henry, C.J., Kelly, U., Dunlop, A.L., Paul, S., Chandler, R.D., Christiansen-Lindquist, L. and Song, M.-K. (2024), Relationships Between Strong Black Woman Belief, Coping Behaviors, Perceived Social Support, and Psychological Distress Symptoms for Black Mothers After Stillbirth. J Midwifery Women’s Health, (epub ahead of print 2023, Oct 30). doi.org/10.1111/jmwh.13576.* †
• Zacarri, B., Higgins, M., Haywood, T., Patel, M., Emerson, D., Hubbard, K., Loftis, J., & Kelly, U. (2023). Yoga vs Cognitive Processing Therapy for Military Sexual Trauma-Related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Network Open, 2023:6(12)e2344862. Doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.44862. * † 
• Zaccari, B., Kelly, U., Lovejoy, T. I., Hubbard, K., Newman, A., & Loftis, J. M. (2023). Effects of group trauma-sensitive yoga on inflammatory markers and psychological well-being in women Veterans with PTSD: A randomized controlled trial. Brain Behavior and Immunity Integrative, 4, 100031* †.
• Sherman, A. D. F., Balthazar, M., Zhang, W., Febres-Cordero, S., Clark, K. C., Klepper, M., Coleman, M., & Kelly, U. (2023). Seeking Safety Intervention for Comorbid Posttraumatic Stress and Substance Use Disorder: A meta-analysis. Brain and Behavior, 00, e2999. doi: 10.1002/brb3.2999*
• Zaccari, B., Sherman, A. D., Febres-Cordero, S., Higgins, M., & Kelly, U. (2022). Findings from a pilot study of Trauma Center Trauma-Sensitive Yoga versus cognitive processing therapy for PTSD related to military sexual trauma among women Veterans. Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 70, 102850. doi: 10.1016/j.ctim.2022.102850 * †
• Zaccari, B., Sherman, A., Higgins, M., & Kelly, U. (2022). Trauma Center Trauma-Sensitive Yoga vs. cognitive processing therapy for women Veterans with PTSD who experienced military sexual trauma: A feasibility study. Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, on-line first, doi: 10783903221108765.*
• Zaccari, B., Loftis, J.M., Haywood, T., Hubbard, K., Clark, J., Kelly, U. (2022).  Synchronous telehealth yoga and cognitive processing group therapies for women Veterans with PTSD:  A multisite randomized controlled trial adapted for COVID-19. Telemedicine and E-Health. 28(11): 1642-1650. doi: 10.1089/tmj.2021.0612.* †
• Galovski, T.E., Street, A.E., Creech, S, Lehavot, K., Kelly, U., & Yano, E. (2022). State of the knowledge of VA military sexual trauma research. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 37(Suppl 3), 825-832. doi: 10.1007/s11606-022-07580-8
• Kelly, U. (2021). Barriers to PTSD treatment-seeking by women Veterans who experienced military sexual trauma decades ago: The role of institutional betrayal. Nursing Outlook, 69(3), 458-470. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.outlook.2021.02.002.*
• Kelly, U., Haywood, T., Segell, E., & Higgins, M. (2021). Trauma-sensitive yoga for PTSD in women Veterans who experienced military sexual trauma: Interim results from a randomized-controlled trial. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 27(S1): 45-59. doi.org/10.1089/acm.2020.0417 * (top read paper in this journal in 2021)*

Dr. Kelly teaches in the PhD in Nursing program at Emory and coordinates Emory School of Nursing’s Post-Doctoral Fellowship Program. She mentors students across schools and disciplines, including nursing PhD, DNP, and BSN Honors students. Dr. Kelly has helped to pioneer the integration of behavioral health, mental health, and interpersonal violence content into nursing curricula at Emory and beyond. Since 2010, she has been a clinical faculty member in the Farm Worker Family Health Program as well, precepting nurse practitioner students.

Dr. Kelly’s program of research focuses on the effects of interpersonal trauma throughout the lifespan. She works in close collaboration with women from diverse communities including women who are African American, Latina, and Veterans. Her studies often explore the relationships between trauma, physical and mental health, and healthcare barriers while piloting innovative treatments like trauma-sensitive yoga.Her recent work extends to injury and violence prevention, addressing the suicide crisis among nurses and nursing students. Her notable projects have included a VA-funded study of trauma-sensitive yoga for women Veterans with PTSD and an NIH-funded R01 project, Hermanas de Corazón, aimed at improving heart health among rural Latina farmworker women.

2021 2021 Best Paper by a Woman in Science or Under-Represented Minority, Awarded by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. and the Rosalind Franklin Society, July 29, 2022.  

Excellence in Research Award, American Psychiatric Nurses Association

2020 Fellow, American Academy of Nursing 

2017 Fellow, American Association of Nurse Practitioners

2012 March of Dimes Nurse of the Year in Behavioral Health, Atlanta, GA

2012 Excellence in Research Award, Nursing Network on Violence Against Women, International. Charlottesville, VA

2012 Unsung Heroine Award, Emory University Center for Women, Atlanta, GA. 

2011 Health Care Hero Award, Atlanta Business Chronicle

2011 March of Dimes Nurse of the Year Finalist in Behavioral Health, Atlanta, GA

1990 Inducted into Sigma Theta Tau Nursing Honor Society