Suha Ballout

PhD, RN, FADLN, FAAN

Suha Ballout, PhD, RN, FADLN, FAAN, is Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging and Associate Professor in the Department of Biobehavioral Nursing & Health Informatics at the University of Washington School of Nursing. Dr. Ballout is a nationally and internationally recognized nurse scholar whose research, scholarship, and service advance health equity by examining how social, structural, and political conditions shape health, healthcare delivery, and the education of the nursing workforce.

Dr. Ballout’s program of scholarship centers on equity-centered nursing education, trauma-informed and decolonial pedagogies, workforce diversity and sustainability, and the ethical responsibilities of health professions education within systems marked by inequity. Her work integrates critical, intersectional, and global perspectives to challenge deficit-based models of health and training, instead advancing frameworks that position equity, belonging, and structural accountability as foundational to clinical excellence. She is widely published in peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes, with scholarship that bridges theory, empirical inquiry, and policy relevance, particularly in nursing education reform, immigrant and minoritized health, behavioral health workforce development, and global health equity.

A distinctive contribution of Dr. Ballout’s research is its translational and systems-oriented impact. Her scholarship informs curriculum redesign, assessment reform, faculty development, and institutional policy, demonstrating how equity can be operationalized within accreditation standards, educational governance, and workforce pipelines. Her conceptual and applied work has influenced how equity-centered competencies are defined, taught, and evaluated in nursing education, and her frameworks are increasingly used to guide institutional change beyond nursing.

Dr. Ballout’s externally funded work reflects a sustained commitment to research-informed service and policy impact. As Co-Principal Investigator of the $20 million Clinical Leadership Collaborative for Diversity in Nursing, she led education and mentorship strategies that supported more than 400 nursing students from historically excluded backgrounds through graduation and transition to practice, generating evidence on workforce readiness, retention, and leadership development. As Principal Investigator of the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education–funded MB-Health WEAVE Framework, she directed a cross-sector, data-informed effort to map statewide behavioral health workforce gaps. This work produced a policy-relevant framework now used by state agencies to guide training investments, funding decisions, and long-term workforce planning.

Dr. Ballout’s service leadership is integrated with her scholarship. In her role as Associate Dean for DEIB, she leads the development of structures, policies, and consultation pathways that embed equity and belonging into core academic and organizational systems. Her service advances institutional accountability through the development of climate and equity baselines, equity-informed policy review, and strategic consultation focused on prevention, learning, and repair. Nationally and internationally, she serves as an invited expert, consultant, and speaker on equity-centered nursing education, trauma-informed leadership, and decolonial approaches to health professions training.

Internationally, Dr. Ballout’s scholarly service includes sustained educational and research engagement in the Middle East and Europe, with a focus on LGBTQ+ health, trauma, and culturally responsive care in politically constrained settings. Her global work emphasizes ethical partnership, contextual humility, and capacity-building, advancing equitable health education practices across borders.

A Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and the Academy of Diverse Nurse Leaders, Dr. Ballout is recognized for integrating rigorous scholarship, impactful service, and policy-relevant research to advance systemic change. Her work exemplifies how faculty leadership can align research excellence with institutional transformation, ensuring that equity, justice, and belonging are embedded as enduring standards in nursing education, healthcare systems, and workforce policy.