Amber Vermeesch, Ph D, MSN, FNP-C, RN, CNE,  Associate Professor of Nursing at the University of Portland, US,  has been a practicing family nurse practitioner for over 13 years. She has spent most of her practice serving underinsured and vulnerable populations in a variety of clinical settings. She completed her master’s in nursing at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing and earned her Ph D in nursing science from the University of Miami where she focused on the reduction of healthcare disparities among Latino populations.  Her overall area of expertise is wellness, both physical and emotional. Her investigations have concentrated on physical activity as a means of obesity prevention among vulnerable populations, stress reduction and health promotion among undergraduates and graduate students as well as faculty and staff and developing cultural sensibility and humility among nursing students of all levels.