Assistant Professor and DNP Program Director
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
Dr. Shannon Avery-Desmarais is a board-certified adult-gerontology nurse practitioner and Assistant Professor and DNP Program Director at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. She holds a bachelor's degree in biology from Cornell University, an associate degree in nursing from St. Vincent’s College, a master's degree in nursing practice from UMass Dartmouth and a PhD in nursing from UMass Dartmouth. She was a critical care nurse for 11 years practicing at Yale-New Haven Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital and Rhode Island Hospital. Since 2014, she has been a nurse practitioner in gerontology, primary care and, most recently, in acute palliative care. She has also practiced as an NP at Fenway Health in Boston, a community health center with a focus on serving the LGBTQ+ community and people living with HIV/AIDS. She did her dissertation work on the intersection of minority stress and substance use in a population of LGB-identified nurses. Since accepting a position as an assistant professor at UMass Dartmouth in 2019, she was awarded a Pilgrim Grant and has continued her study of minority stress and well-being in LGBTQ+ nurses. She is a member of the NO STIGMA research team who was awarded a grant from the Foundation of Opioid Response Efforts. The team is developing a novel simulation suite that aims to reduce stigma in nursing students towards patients with opioid use disorder. She recently received an internal seed grant from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and is developing an intervention to reduce stigma in nurses towards patients who are deemed “other.” She serves as chair-elect of the Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ Equality (GLMA) Nursing Section. She teaches at both the undergraduate and doctoral levels and has served as chair of numerous doctoral student committees.