About Ruth-Alma Turkson-Ocran

Bio

Ruth-Alma Turkson-Ocran, PhD, MPH, APRN, FNP-BC, CNE is a clinical investigator with the Division of General Medicine Research. She is a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner by training, received a PhD from the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, and completed her post-doctoral fellowship at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She received a Masters in Nursing (MSN) and Masters in Public Health (MPH) in Health Promotion/Behavioral Sciences at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) and is also a graduate of Lincoln University in Jefferson City, MO where she obtained her Associate and Bachelor of Science degrees in Nursing.

Her research interests are centered around health disparities, social determinants of health, community-engaged research, and cardiometabolic health, particularly among persons of African descent. Dr. Turkson-Ocran’s research portfolio includes examining data from large nationally representative sources, wearable devices including actigraphy, and ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM). She also has experience in immigrant health and has examined nativity differences in biopsychosocial health determinants including stress, discrimination, depression, social support, and resilience. Dr. Turkson-Ocran’s current research is centered around food hypertension, its associated comorbidities, complications, and prevention and food insecurity. She is also involved in projects examining racial differences in blood pressure patterns from office, ambulatory, and home blood pressure measurements and their associated health outcomes. Dr. Turkson-Ocran is a member of the Sigma Honor Society of Nurses, the Preventative Cardiovascular Nurses Association (PCNA), the National Black Nurses Association, and the American Heart Association (AHA).