Rachel H. Adler, PhD, APRN, PMHNP-BC, AGNP-C

Rachel Adler joined the UT faculty in Fall 2021.  She was formerly Professor of Anthropology at The College of New Jersey, where she taught and conducted research in anthropology, nursing, public health, and sociology.  Dr. Adler practiced inpatient psychiatric nursing as an RN for almost a decade.  She is currently an advanced practice nurse, board-certified in both Psychiatric Mental Health and Adult-Gerontology Primary Care. Dr. Adler’s research and clinical interests include medical and urban anthropology, men’s health, community health, providing care to the severely mentally ill, correctional nursing, cultural competence, health disparities, race and ethnicity, and immigration to the US.  Her book, Yucatecans in Dallas: Breaching the Border Bridging the Distance, studies a community of Mexican migrants in Texas. The documentary she produced, “From the Burg to El Barrio” highlights her investigation of ethnic transition in the formerly Italian Chambersburg neighborhood of Trenton, NJ. A recent publication, in The Journal of Men’s Studies, examines the relationship between homelessness and incarceration among inner-city men.  She is currently researching gender-appropriate strategies for health care providers to address the high rates of male suicide in the US.

• Professional Background

  Education

  • 2021 - Post-Graduate Certificate - Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner - Liberty University
  • 2018 - Master of Science in Nursing - Gerontology Nurse Practitioner. - The College of New Jersey
  • 2009 - Bachelor of Science in Nursing - Nursing - Drexel University
  • 2000 - Doctor in Philosophy - Anthropology - Arizona State University
  • 1992 - Master of Arts - Anthropology - Arizona State University
  • 1989 - Bachelor of Science - Secondary Education - State University of New York College at Oneonta

  Highlights

  Licensures and Certifications

  • APRN- CNP (Texas)
  • RN(Texas, NJ, PA)
  • ANCC Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
  • Board Certification Psychiatric Mental Health by American Nurses Credentialing Center

   

  Honors and Awards

  • 2009, Sigma Theta Tau International nursing honor society (induction)
  • 2000 Phi Kappa Phi honor society (induction)

   

  Appointments

  • 2021 - present - Professor/Clinical - UT Health San Antonio, School of Nursing
  • 2020 - Full Professor - The College of New Jersey
  • 2005 -2020 - Associate Professor - The College of New Jersey
  • 2001 - 2005 - Assistant Professor - The College of New Jersey
  • 2019 - ID Care, Hillsborough, NJ
  • 2017 - 2018 - Staff Registered Nurse - New Jersey State Prison, PRN through Axion LLC
  • 2014 - 2016 - Staff RN - Princeton House Inpatient Psychiatry, University Medical Center of Princeton/Plainsboro

• Instruction & Training

  • 2022, NURS 3206: Psychiatric and Mental Health Clinical, UT Health San Antonio, School of Nursing
  • 2022, NURS 4217: Population Focused Health Clinical,, UT Health San Antonio, School of Nursing
  • 2022, NURS 3110: Health Assessment, UT Health San Antonio, School of Nursing
  • 2021, NURS 3206: Psychiatric and Mental Health Clinical, UT Health San Antonio, School of Nursing
  • 2021, NURS 3275: Psychiatric and Mental Health Clinical, UT Health San Antonio, School of Nursing

• Research & Grants

  Grants

  Grants 

  • 2022 Funder: UT Health SON. PURSUE Award: Heterodox Academy Conference.Role: Conference participant 
  • 2021 Funder: UT Health SON. PURSUE Award: APNA Conference. Role: Paper presenter 
  • 2021 Funder: TCNJ. Title: Support for Scholarly Activities Award. Role: PI 
  • 2018 Funder: TCNJ. Title: Sabbatical Award. Role: PI. One semester course release 

   

  Completed Research/Projects: 

  • 2020- present, Men and Suicide, PI 
  • 2019-2020, The Black Swan Project: Challenging Confirmation Bias on Campus, co-PI with Milo Morris 
  • 2017-2019, Recognizing the Indiscernible Lives among Us: Telling the Stories of the Trenton Homeless, PI 
  • 2015-2019, Exploring Meanings of Rule Breaking Behaviors among Committed Psychiatric Patients at Princeton House, PI 
  • 2010-2016, Latina Myths Project, PI 

  .

   

• Service

  Institutional

  • 2021-2022 UT Health San Antonio Mentee: First Year Faculty Program 
  • 2021-2022 UT Health San Antonio Faculty Assembly, Voting Member 
  • 2020-2021 TCNJ Personnel Review Committee, Chair 
  • 2009-2021 TCNJ AFT Department Representative 
  • 2002-2021 TCNJ Anthropology Affairs Committee, Chair 
  • 2019-2020 TCNJ Department Curriculum Committee, Chair 
  • 2015-2020 TCNJ Faculty Senator 

   

  Service to the Profession

  • 2021 External Reviewer for Tenure/Promotion University of North Texas 

  Professional Affiliations

  • American Association of Nurse Practitioners
  • Transcultural Nursing Society
  • American Psychiatric Nurses Association
  • Schizophrenia International Research Society
  • American Anthropological Association
  • Society for Medical Anthropology
  • Society for Applied Anthropology
  • Heterodox Academy
  • Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism

   

  Community Service

  • 2018, TCNJ medical mission in Haiti
  • 2018, Collaboration with Rescue Mission of Trenton
  • 2010, Volunteer in ED of St. Francis Medical Center
  • Guest speaker at Children’s Home Society, United Way of NJ, El Centro Family Resource Center
  • Member and past Coordinator of the former group ImmPACT: Immigrants’ Public Advocacy Coalition of Trenton
  • 2002 - 2007, Volunteer for El Centro Hispanic Family Resource Center in Trenton, NJ

• Publications

   

   

  Peer-reviewed Articles and Books: 

  • Adler, R.H. Men and Suicide: Primary Care Prevention in the Era of COVID-19 and Beyond. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners 34 (3): 572-578, 2022. 
  • Adler, RH. The Nexus of Homelessness and Incarceration: The Case of Homeless Men in Trenton, NJ. The Journal of Men’s Studies 29 (3): 335-353, 2021. 
  • Adler, RH. Bucking the System: Mitigating Psychiatric Patient Rule Breaking for a Safer Milieu. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing 34: 100-106, 2020. 
  • Seneca, K., Nahass, R. & Adler, RH. Burkitt’s Lymphoma Presenting with Fever of Unknown Origin and Isolated Hypoglossal Nerve Palsy. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners 32 (5): 354-56. 2020. 
  • Ryan, S. & Adler, RH. From the Burg to the Barrio. Documentary. Co-Producer. 2012  
  • Adler, Rachel H. Yucatecans in Dallas: Breaching the Border, Bridging the Distance. Second edition. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.  2008 
  • Adler, RH. ‘But I do academic anthropology!’:  Advocacy, Ethics, and the Politics of Research Practicing Anthropology. 2007 
  • Zarza, M. & Adler, RH. Latina Immigrant Victims of Interpersonal Violence in New Jersey: A Needs Assessment Study” The Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma. 2007. 
  • Adler, RH. ‘But they claimed to be police, not la migra!’: The Interaction of Residency Status, Class and Ethnicity in a (post-PATRIOT Act) New Jersey Neighborhood.  American Behavioral Scientist 50: 48-69. 2006.  
  • Adler, RH. Review of Crossing the Border: Research from the Mexican Migration Project. Douglas Massey and Jorge Durand eds. Contemporary Sociology 34: 649-50. 2005. 

  Presentations

  • 2020 Comments on Ilana Redstone’s Paper “The Silent Crisis in the Classroom” Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) conference, Boston University. 
  • 2017 “Moving toward Quality and Equitable Healthcare in NJ”. Panel discussion. The College of New Jersey. Ewing, NJ. 
  • 2011 “Yucatecans in Dallas, Texas” Gartner Honors Lecture. Southern Methodist University. Dallas, TX. 
  • 2010 “Two Worlds, One Neighborhood: Doing Anthropology and Nursing in the Burg.” Distinguished Lecture Series. Mercer County Community College. West Windsor, NJ.

   

  Peer Reviewed Podium Presentations: 

  • 2021 “Men and Suicide: Primary Care Prevention in the Era of COVID-19 and Beyond.” Presented at American Psychiatric Nurses Association, virtual. 
  • 2018 “Housing Insecurity in a Small City: Telling the Stories of the Trenton Homeless”. Presented at the Society for Applied Anthropology Meetings, Philadelphia, PA. 
  • 2017 “Exploring Meanings of Rule Breaking among Patients in a Psychiatric Hospital”. presented at the Society for Applied Anthropology Meetings, Santa Fe, NM. 

  Screenings of “From the ‘Burg to the Barrio”: 

  1. April 2016 Annual meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology Vancouver, Canada 
  2. October 6, 2014 NJTV 10 pm 
  3. March 20, 2014 Trenton Social - Trenton, NJ 
  4. March 14, 2014 Rehoboth Beach Film Society - Milton, Delaware 
  5. March 13, 2014 Foundation Academy - Trenton, NJ 
  6. December 4, 2013 Garden Theatre - Princeton, NJ 
  7. November 19, 2013 Mary Jacobs Memorial Library - Rocky Hill, NJ 
  8. November 10, 2013 Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival - Lewes, DE 
  9. October 30, 2013 St. Francis College - Brooklyn, NY 
  10. October 5, 2013 Bordentown Library - Bordentown, NJ  
  11. September 14, 2013 Northeast Film Festival - Maplewood, NJ  
  12. June 22, 2013 Bordentown Library - Bordentown, NJ 
  13. June 13, 2013 Robbinsville Library - Robbinsville, NJ 
  14. May 18, 2013 Lawrence Library - Lawrenceville, NJ 
  15. March 24, 2013 Princeton Public Library - Princeton, NJ  
  16. February 22, 2013 New Jersey Film Festival - New Brunswick, NJ 
  17. December 8, 2012 Trenton Film Society - Trenton, NJ 

  • 2011 “Cultural Competence in Latina Prenatal Care in the U.S.: Reaching and Teaching the Culturally Unknowledgeable Clinician.”  Social Enterprise Pitch. Unite for Sight Conference. Yale University.  
  • 2010 “You lie!”: The Case of Undocumented Immigrants and the U.S. Emergency Department.” presented at the Society for Applied Anthropology Meetings, Baltimore, MD. 

  Peer Reviewed Poster Presentations: 

  • 2010 “Learning from the Ancestors:  Oral Tradition and the Provision of Safe, Effective, and Culturally Competent Prenatal Care to Latinas in the U.S.” Presented at Transcultural Nursing and Healthcare, SUNY Downstate.  
  • 1998 “Reciprocity Revisited: Social Relations of Exchange Among a Community of Yucatecan Transmigrants in an American City.” Presented at the Society for Economic Anthropology