Reba Umberger - Loewenberg College of Nursing
Dr. Umberger joined the Loewenberg College of Nursing in 2021 as an Associate Professor. With more than 30 years of experience in critical care, her career has encompassed roles as a bedside nurse, research nurse coordinator, research administrator, and nurse scientist. Her research program centers on improving long-term outcomes for survivors of sepsis and their informal caregivers.
She earned a Master of Science in Epidemiology and a Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing Science from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and completed a pre-doctoral fellowship in genetics with the National Institute of Nursing Research. Her dissertation investigated the influence of inflammatory cytokines, cytokine polymorphisms, and environmental factors on the development of secondary infections in ICU patients with sepsis, supported by funding from the International Society of Nurses in Genetics. Her thesis research examined obesity-related comorbidities within an exercise intervention trial. She has led several funded projects and has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters.
Dr. Umberger is an active member of multiple professional organizations. She serves on the Society of Critical Care Medicine’s Thrive Patient and Family Support Committee, is a past president of Sigma Theta Tau’s Gamma Chi Chapter, and contributes as a peer reviewer and member of the editorial review panel for Biological Research for Nursing. She has also served on research and grant review panels.
In addition to her research, Dr. Umberger has taught and mentored PhD, MSN, BSN, and honors students in nursing research. Her teaching experience includes courses in epidemiology, nursing inquiry, quantitative research, state-of-the-science writing, and pathophysiology. She currently teaches in the College’s graduate and doctoral programs.
- PhD in Nursing Science (2011)
- MSN in Epidemiology (2004)
- BS in Biology (1994)
- ADN in Nursing (1987)
- Acute care
- Adult health
- Community/population health
- Families
- Infectious disease
- Research methods
- American Association of Critical-Care Nurses
- American Nurses Association
- Sigma Theta Tau International
- Society of Critical Care Medicine
- Southern Nursing Research Society
Selected to attend NIH Data Science Bootcamp (2017)
Gamma Chi Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau, University of Tennessee College of Nursing,
and the University of
Tennessee Medical Center Joint Research Day, First Place Poster for Research Projects
(2016)
Sigma Theta Tau Gamma Chi Chapter: Research Excellence Award (2015)
Selected for UT Knoxville’s Grant Writing Institute (2012)
UT Knoxville’s Faculty First Award, Development of Online Epidemiology Course for Clinical Practice (2012)
NIH Fellow, NINR Summer Genetics Institute (2008)
Inducted into Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society, Beta Theta at Large Chapter (2007)
NWJC, Outstanding Leadership and Significant Student Contribution Award (1987)
Exploring the role of social determinants of health on 90-day sepsis readmissions. 2022-2023 Communities of Research Scholars (CoRS) Proposal. The University of Memphis.