Dr. Kelli Star Fox is the inaugural Director of the Center for Interprofessional Innovation (CIPI) at Stony Brook University (New York, USA) charged with building a centralized IPE presence across health professions programs in areas of interprofessional education, research, and clinical practice. Kelli’s previous position was as associate clinical professor, director of fieldwork, and assistant director of the University of New England’s (UNE) master in social work program. A longtime champion for interprofessional education and practice, Kelli was instrumental in integrating interprofessional education and practice into UNE’s social work curriculum. As an active contributor to UNE’s Center to Advance Interprofessional Education and Practice (CAIEP) she served as a trainer, facilitator, mentor, researcher, and designer of IPCP learning experiences.
In May 2023 Kelli completed her doctoral degree from Millersville University. Her research focused on the importance of supporting the uniprofessional identity of social workers as preparation for interprofessional team learning. Kelli explains her rationale for the study saying: “As an IPE facilitator I observed social work students struggle with finding their place and voice among other health care students. The uniprofessional pre-briefing offers these students an opportunity to anchor the unique skills and perspective the profession brings to interprofessional collaboration and begin to develop interprofessionalism.” Kelli’s work in this arena is novel and she has presented at local, national, and international conferences where her research has been well received. Kelli is currently a member of an international team looking at positionality and the role of social work and hierarchical implications in interprofessional collaborative learning and practice.
Along with her emerging role as a researcher, Kelli’s
passion for global health and wellness brings her annually to Ghana, Africa
where she along with local and international practitioners and students offer
clinics in multiple rural sites through the Cross-Cultural Immersion to Ghana,
a program that integrates western health practices with local practices to
provide culturally responsive health care to those they serve. “Working and
learning alongside our partners in Ghana as well as observing cultural
exchanges and friendships that happen among students, faculty, providers, and
community members,” Kelli says, “have been highlights of my experience with the
Immersion program.”
You can contact Kelli at: Kelli.Fox@stonybrookmedicine.edu
