PhD – Nursing, UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA
MSN – Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, Los Angeles, CA

Biography: Dr. Adrienne Martinez-Hollingsworth is a Latina Registered Nurse, a health services researcher and first-generation high school graduate. She completed postdoctoral training at the UCLA National Clinician Scholars Program where she has received NIH support for studies exploring the impact of provider burnout on diabetes care delivery among Latinx older adults in the safety net. Trained as a Licensed Vocational Nurse at the East Los Angeles Occupational Center, she went on to receive her undergraduate degree in Women’s Studies from UCLA, her Master of Science in Nursing at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science (CDU), and her doctorate from the School of Nursing at UCLA. She has worked as a clinician and administrator in large, urban hospital systems and as a Subject Matter Expert for technology companies.  

Dr. Martinez-Hollingsworth is the creator of Theory Generator Playground (TGP), a Latino/x student research collective that supports early-career nurses by creating/facilitating service and research projects, mentorship activities and college application support. It is her core belief that achieving health equity at the national level hinges on preparing the next generation of nurses from underrepresented minorities (including rural areas and immigrant populations) to meet the needs of a growing and diversifying population. 

As an NCSP scholar Dr. Martinez-Hollingsworth’s main project involved collaborations with CDU, Stanford University, MedicineX and AltaMed that resulted in a theoretical model, The Burnout Dyad. This innovative model envisions the clinical care experience as co-created between patients and providers and reflecting each participant’s background, informing relationship building and treatment participation. She also developed and implemented several health equity-focused public art projects with local middle schools and in Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) in Southern California.  

During the two years of fellowship, Dr. Martinez-Hollingsworth published 12 papers (four as first author) and facilitated numerous podium presentations locally, regionally, and nationally reflecting her health equity work. She also published her dissertation work, a grounded theory exploration of diabetes care-seeking experiences among Latina older adult women living with Type 2 Diabetes and symptoms of depression and/or anxiety.  

Dr. Martinez-Hollingsworth accepted a position at Samuel Merritt University in the Sutter Health system as the Associate Dean of Operations and Scholarship. She continues to explore health care provider pathway diversification and quality of care delivery among historically excluded populations including older adults, people of color and those in dense urban and rural settings.