Phyllis Sharps

Biography

 As an expert in maternal and child health nursing, a researcher, and a mentor to the next generations of Johns Hopkins nurses, Phyllis Sharps works at the forefront of community and public health nursing and at the interface of mental and physical health. As associate dean for community programs and initiatives, she directs three health and wellness centers operated by the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, provides care in a Baltimore shelter for homeless battered women and their children, and conducts ongoing community-based, participatory research. The overarching focus of her work is on the effects of intimate partner violence on the physical and emotional health of pregnant women, infants, and very young children. With a $3.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Sharps is testing the Domestic Violence Enhanced Visitation Program (DOVE), a promising intervention to keep abused women and babies safe from intimate partner violence. She shares new clinical knowledge gained through her research in numerous nursing and public health scholarly publications and as a consultant and speaker for such organizations as the Family Violence Prevention Fund and the National Institute of Justice. Dr. Sharps also consults on cultural competency in research conducted among African-American women and in African-American communities.

Research Interest

 Perinatal health; domestic violence; infant mortality; parenting; women’s health in community settings; domestic violence and physical and mental health consequences for women; infant mortality; women’s health