BDAIC Fellows

2026 BDAIC Fellows

The BDAIC Fellows come from a diverse range of colleges across campus, serving as ambassadors who integrate data into every aspect of the university for faculty, staff, and students. With their support, BDAIC takes an interdisciplinary approach to advancing data and AI education, engagement, and support throughout Belmont University.

Dr. Laurie Gavilo-Lane, College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences

Dr. Laurie Gavilo-Lane is serving again as a BDAIC Fellow. In her previous fellowship, she led grant development and analytic efforts that leveraged public health data to support research on opioid prevention and other major health challenges. She now returns to the fellowship while also serving as an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at Belmont University, where her work focuses on improving health outcomes for populations experiencing addiction, homelessness, and health disparities. Through her expertise, Dr. Gavilo-Lane helped secure resources that empowered researchers to make meaningful contributions to public health policy and intervention strategies and will continue to do so.

Past BDAIC Fellows

2025

She serves as a Professor of Nursing at Belmont University and previously served as a BDAIC Fellow. Her work centered on Belmont’s long‑term partnership in Guatemala through CoffeeMed, a healthcare initiative that organizes medical teams and volunteers to provide free medical care, education, and ongoing support to coffee‑growing communities in and around Antigua, Guatemala. Jamie’s role involved structuring and analyzing the health data collected during these trips, examining patient demographics, common conditions, and outcomes to better understand community health needs and inform future interventions. By combining academic research with hands‑on care, she helped build sustainable systems that improved follow‑up and long‑term health outcomes.

2025

Dr. Busby brought valuable expertise and consultation to BDAIC in qualitative research, supporting projects both at Belmont University and around the world. He consulted on multiple initiatives, including two based in Indonesia. In addition to his research contributions, Steve played a key role in guiding the thoughtful and ethical integration of artificial intelligence into qualitative research, helping to shape a future where technology enhances insight without compromising integrity.

2025

Dr. William Best played a key role in our Resources Hub by providing statistical mentoring and hands-on support for faculty research and grant projects. His expertise ensured that the faculty had access to high-quality statistical analysis, strengthening the impact of their work. In addition to direct mentoring, he developed a collection of self-serve resources that empower faculty to navigate common statistical challenges independently. Through these efforts, Dr. Best enhanced the university’s research capabilities and fostered a stronger culture of data-driven decision-making.

2024-2025

Dr. Mary Ellen Pethel led efforts to enhance data literacy across campus, ensuring students gained the skills to interpret and apply data effectively. She developed a targeted learning module designed to improve data comprehension, critical analysis, and practical application. This module was piloted in the Honorable Life courses, providing valuable insights into best practices for integrating data literacy into coursework. Through her work, Dr. Pethel fostered a data-informed culture that empowered the university community to make more informed decisions and conduct stronger research.

$Dr Michael Oliver$

2024-2025

Dr. Michael Oliver was a vital contributor to our Resources Hub, offering mentoring in technical writing and research design to support faculty in strengthening their proposals and publications. His guidance helped researchers craft clear, compelling narratives while ensuring their study designs were methodologically sound. Beyond one-on-one mentoring, he developed resources for our online repository, providing faculty with self-serve tools to improve their writing and research strategies. Through these efforts, Dr. Oliver enhanced the quality and impact of research across the university.

2023-2024

Dr. Jennifer Duck worked to advance data literacy across campus with a particular focus on misinformation and its impact. Her commitment to this issue extended to a student-led documentary, where she integrated data-driven storytelling to highlight the real-world consequences of misinformation. The film earned awards for its impactful approach, showcasing the power of data in media literacy.

2022-2023

Dr. Hawley has used AI to create innovative educational tools that enhance how physics is taught to audio engineering students. In addition to developing new software applications powered by AI, he remains deeply committed to exploring the ethical implications of artificial intelligence. Dr. Hawley ensures that his work pushes technological boundaries but also promotes thoughtful AI use in academic and creative settings.

BDAIC Fellows

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2026 BDAIC Fellows

Dr. Laurie Gavilo-Lane, College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences

Past BDAIC Fellows

2025

2025

2025

2024-2025

2024-2025

2023-2024

2022-2023

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