Dr. Tyra Girdwood is an Assistant Professor at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in the College of Nursing within the Department of Community and Population Health. Dr. Girdwood received her BSN degree from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, her PhD in Nursing Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Future of Nursing Scholar, and she received her postdoctoral training in health equity and health policy in the National Clinician Scholars Program at Duke University.

Dr. Girdwood is passionate about improving transitional care, care coordination practices, and healthcare policies among vulnerable populations. She focuses on how to enhance health outcomes, reduce health disparities, and advance the transition process from pediatric to adult healthcare among youth dealing with chronic conditions like cystic fibrosis. During her postdoctoral fellowship, Dr. Girdwood was a Durham Veteran Affairs scholar and worked to assess care coordination and engagement in healthcare services among veterans who recently transitioned from active to civilian life.

Dr. Girdwood was the primary investigator on a Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Student Traineeship Award for her dissertation work on transition readiness among families dealing with cystic fibrosis. She was also the PI on a Duke University Bass Connections Interdisciplinary grant for work that aimed to assess primary care connectedness among transition-age youth with chronic conditions. She has conducted qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods research, and has experience writing health policy briefs to advocate for policy change. Dr. Girdwood regularly disseminates her work via journal publications, conference presentations, and through invited lectures.