Dr. Lauren Beard joined Tennessee State University's Occupational Therapy Department in September 2017. She is the Academic Fieldwork Coordinator and holds the rank of assistant professor. Dr. Beard has been an occupational therapist since 2014 and worked in higher education full-time since 2017. Her clinical experience has focused on adult and geriatric populations in long-term care and home health settings. her research has primarily focused on fieldwork education. Dr. Beard joined the IPE Faculty Collaborative in 2023.