Rate My Professor Teresa Kelechi

Teresa J. Kelechi, PhD, RN, FAAN, is the David and Margaret Clare Endowed Chair and Professor in the College of Nursing at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). She serves as Associate Dean for Research and PhD Studies, Director of the College’s Symptom Self-Management Center, and Director of Recruitment for the South Carolina Clinical & Translational Research Institute (SCTR). Kelechi has been affiliated with MUSC since 1987, initially as a geriatric and wound care provider until 2001, after which she joined the College of Nursing faculty. She holds a BSN from Kent State University, an MSN in Gerontological Nursing from Case Western Reserve University, and a PhD from the University of South Carolina. Certified as a wound care nurse and gerontological clinical nurse specialist, her career emphasizes clinical practice in residential care facilities providing foot care and geriatric consultation, alongside teaching in the PhD program.

Kelechi's research as a nurse scientist centers on symptom self-management for chronic conditions, particularly venous leg ulcer prevention using self-monitoring methods like infrared thermometry to detect early ulcer development. She has secured funding from the National Institute of Nursing Research for studies on skin temperature, blood flow in chronic venous disorders, and cooling interventions to prevent leg ulcers. Other grants support research on wound powders for end-of-life care, advanced wound healing technologies, and small movement exercises for ulcer patients. Recent work investigates social isolation's impact on wound healing gene expression, AI for diagnosing inflammation in non-healing wounds, and stress management for dementia caregivers. With over 100 peer-reviewed publications, including "Precision health: Advancing symptom and self-management science" (2019) and "Chronic venous disease and venous leg ulcers: an evidence-based update" (2015), her work has garnered significant citations. Kelechi has received the U.S. Professor of the Year award from the Carnegie Foundation, induction into the International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame (2023), Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, and multiple teaching excellence awards. Her innovations, such as a protocol reducing venous leg ulcers by 18% and a cooling gel pack, along with mentoring leading to NIH awards for mentees, underscore her impact on nursing research and patient care.