Dr. Freneka F. Minter, originally from Murfreesboro, TN, currently serves as the Social Scientist Assistant and Faculty Affiliate Program Manager for the Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance. Before joining the Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance, she held the position of Sr. IT Project Manager for the research portfolio at the Center for Improving the Public's Health through Informatics at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. In this role, she also had a “without compensation" (WOC) appointment with Research Services at the Tennessee Valley Healthcare Systems VA Hospital in Nashville, TN, allowing her to contribute to VA research studies. Freneka earned her Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree in health services from Walden University, completing her dissertation titled, "Gender Differences in Health Service Utilization Among Veterans with Acute Kidney Injury" on August 13, 2017. Additionally, she holds a B.S. in Chemistry (May 2002) and an M.S. in Health, Physical Education, and Recreation (HPER) with a concentration in Health (December 2005) from Middle Tennessee State University. Her professional credentials include Master Certified Health Education Specialist (MCHES®) by the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing (NCHEC®) in 2011, Project Management Professional (PMP®) by the Project Management Institute (PMI®) in 2018, and Certified Clinical Research Professional (CCRP®) by the Society of Clinical Research Associates (SOCRA®) in 2021. In the past, Dr. Minter held various positions including Health Education Specialist at Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) and Public Health Educator at the Tennessee Department of Health, Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Program. She also served as a Prevention Specialist at the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Division for Alcohol and Drug Abuse and as a Project Coordinator/Assistant at MTSU's Center for Health and Human Services. Throughout her career, she has collaborated with many different local, state, and federal agencies on various prevention and research efforts related to alcohol, tobacco, and other drug prevention, cancer control and prevention, and heart disease and stroke prevention. Additionally, she has worked closely with research labs at prestigious universities and academic hospitals.