Background

Dr. Felder received her BA in sociology, from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC in 2001. She received her Master of Social Work from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, with specializations in social policy and evaluation (practice method concentration) and community and social systems (practice area concentration) in 2002.  In 2010, she graduated with a PhD in behavioral sciences, with minors in epidemiology and health policy, from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health. After receiving her PhD, Dr. Felder was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of South Carolina (2010-2023), jointly affiliated with the Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Outcomes Sciences in the College of Pharmacy, and the Cancer Prevention and Control Program of the Arnold School of Public Health.  She is a proud first-generation college graduate and a native of South Carolina.

Research

Dr. Felder is committed to conducting research that promotes health equity among minoritized populations. 

Areas of interest:
Community-engagement, mixed methods, Black women’s health, racial and socioeconomic disparities, health equity, social and structural drivers of health, breastfeeding and breast cancer prevention and survivorship, mentoring and training, workforce diversity 

Teaching

Dr. Felder teaches graduate courses focused on applied research methods and topics related to health equity and social drivers of health. Outside of the classroom, she is also passionate about teaching through student and faculty mentorship.  

Courses designed and/or taught:
NURS 791: Seminar in Clinical Nursing Research 
NURS 818: Social and Structural Determinants of Health
NURS 870: Grant Proposal Development

Dissemination

Dr. Felder has disseminated her research through peer-reviewed publications (see below) and presentations at local, regional, national and international conferences.  She also actively raises awareness and informs the general public about her research and related topics. 

Selected dissemination activities

The Conversation/Yahoo News, Breastfeeding benefits mothers as much as babies, but public health messaging often only tells half of the story

WLTX, News 19, Dr. Tisha Felder and Mocha Mamas Milk making a difference

The Conversation, What kind of support do breat cancer patients want? Food, rides and prayer

Professional Service

Dr. Felder is a member of professional organizations and initiatives, including:

• Society for Behavioral Medicine (Special Interest Groups: Women’s Health, Health Equity, Cancer)
• International Society for Research in Human Milk 
• South Carolina Breastfeeding Coalition
• South Carolina Maternal Health Task Force 

Research Studies (Selected)

It Takes a Village: Increasing Capacity for Breast/chest feeding Equity among African Americans. Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) - $241,502 (2023-2025). Project Lead.

Faculty Initiative for Improved Recruitment, Retention, and Experience (FIIRRE). National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute - $13,193,466 (2022-2027). Multiple Principal Investigator.

Recruiting and retaining Black pregnant women to evaluate postpartum breastfeeding outcomes: A prospective feasibility study (“Follow Me” Study). USC Prisma-Transformative Research Seed Grant - $19,915 (2022-ongoing). Principal Investigator.

Racial and Rural Disparities among Early-onset Breast Cancer Survivors. University of South Carolina – ASPIRE. $99,978 (2021- ongoing). Co-Principal Investigator. 

Improving Adherence to Adjuvant Hormonal Therapy among Disadvantaged Breast Cancer Survivors. National Institutes of Health. National Cancer Institute. $630,827 (2015-2022). Principal Investigator.  

Publications (selected)

A complete listing of all published manuscripts.

Adsul, P., Islam, J., Chebli, P., Kranick, J., Nash, S., Arem, H., Wheeler, S., Lopez-Pentecost, M., Foster, V., Sharma, R. K., Felder, T., Risendal, B., Chavarria, E. A., Kwon, S., Hirschey, R., & Trinh-Shevrin, C. (2023). Identifying research practices toward achieving health equity principles within the Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network. Cancer causes & control : CCC, 34(Suppl 1), 15–21. doi.org/10.1007/s10552-023-01674-2

†Tucker, C. M., Bell, N., Corbett, C. F., Lyndon, A., & Felder, T. M. (2023). Using medical expenditure panel survey data to explore the relationship between patient-centered medical homes and racial disparities in severe maternal morbidity outcomes. Women’s health, 19, 17455057221147380. doi.org/10.1177/17455057221147380

†Cayir, E., Felder, T. M., †Nkwonta, C. A., Jackson, J. R., & Dawson, R. (2022). Discovering New Connections: Insights From Individual and Collective Reflexivity in a Mixed Methods Study. International Journal of Qualitative Methods. doi.org/10.1177/16094069221105707 

Felder TM, †Cayir E, †Nkwonta CA, †Tucker CM, †Harris EH, Jackson JR. A Mixed-Methods Feasibility Study of Breastfeeding Attitudes among Southern African Americans. West J Nurs Res. 2022;44(1):50-65. doi:10.1177/01939459211045431

Heiney SP, †Parker PD, Felder TM, Adams SA, †Omofuma OO, Hulett J. A systematic review of interventions to improve adherence to endocrine therapy. Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, 2019 Feb; 173(3):499-510.

Owens OL, Felder TM, Tavakoli AS, Revels AA, Friedman DB, Hughes-Halbert C, Hébert, JR. Evaluation of a computer-based decision aid on prostate cancer knowledge and informed decision making self-efficacy among African-American men. Am J Health Promot. 2019;33(2):267-278.

 Felder TM, Braun K, Wigfall LT, Sevoyan M, Vyas Shradda, Khan S, Brandt HM, Rogers CR, Tanjasiri SP, Armstead CA, Hébert, JR. Mentoring, training and scholarly productivity experiences of cancer-related health disparities research trainees: Do outcomes differ for underrepresented scientists? Journal of Cancer Education, 2019;34(3):446-454.

Elk R, Felder TM, †Cayir E, Samuel C. Social Inequalities in Palliative Care for Cancer Patients in the United States: A Structured Review. Seminars in Oncology Nursing: Special Issue on Palliative Care, 2018; 34(3):303-315.

†Harris ET, Messias DKH, Timmons SM, Felder TM, Estrada RD. Rest among African American Women: The Current State of the Science. Holistic Nursing Practice, 2018 May/Jun;32(3):143-148

Felder, TM, Estrada R, Jada Q, †Hayne P, Phelps KW, Heiney S. Expectations and reality: Perceptions of support among African American breast cancer survivors. Ethn Health. 2019;24(7):737-753.

Felder TM, Do DP, Lu ZK, Lal LS, Heiney SP, Bennett CL (2016). Racial differences in receipt of adjuvant hormonal therapy among Medicaid enrollees in South Carolina diagnosed with breast cancer. Breast cancer research and treatment, 157(1), 193-200.

† indicates student author