Ebru Çayır Burke

Biography

Dr. Çayır Burke started her career as a primary care physician serving at a community health center in Istanbul, Turkey. Experiencing health system-level challenges to a fulfilling practice as a physician and observing the structural barriers to addressing healthcare needs of historically marginalized, racial/ethnic minoritized communities led her to the field of public health to be part of developing macro-level solutions.

Her research examines multi-level (i.e., interpersonal, organizational and societal) factors that shape mental health and resilience in helping professionals such as nurses, physicians and social workers. Her scholarship incorporates an intersectional lens to understand how race, ethnicity, gender, and nationality intersect with one another to shape helping professionals’ work experiences and sense of professional belongingness. She is also interested in identifying and addressing the structural sources of mental health inequities faced by historically marginalized, racial/ethnic minoritized communities.

She loves to take nature walks with her family, make art with her daughter, and read science fiction/fantasy novels that help us imagine a different world.

Selected Publications

Book Chapters

• Cayir, E. (Forthcoming 2024). Self-care, Communal Care and Resilience Among Minority Underrepresented Nurses and Nursing Students. In Fontaine. D., Cunningham. T. and May. N. (eds), Self-Care Handbook for the Student Nurse. 2nd edition. Indianapolis, IN: Sigma Theta Tau International.

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

• Schuller A.K. and Cayir E. (Under Review). Association between nurses’ comfort and confidence in pain management and compassion satisfaction and fatigue. Pain Management Nursing.
• Cayir, E., Felder, T., Nkwonta, C.A., Rivers Jackson, J., and Estrada, R.D. (2022). Discovering new connections: Insights from individual and collective reflexivity in a mixed methods study. International Journal of Qualitative Methods.
• Cayir, E., Spencer, M., Billings, D., Hilfinger Messias, D. K., and Robillard, A. (2021). Working against gender-based violence in the American South: An analysis of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality in advocacy. Qualitative Health Research.
• Cayir, E., Haizlip, J., Ackard, R., Logan, J., Yang, G., and Cunningham, T. (2021). The effects of the medical pause on physiological stress markers among healthcare providers: A pilot randomized controlled trial. Western Journal of Nursing Research.
• Cunningham, T., and Cayir, E. (2021). Nurse leaders employ contemplative practices to promote healthcare professional well-being and decrease anxiety. JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration, 51(3), 156-161.
• Felder, T., Cayir, E., Nkwonta, C.A., Harris, E.H., and Rivers Jackson, J. (2021). A Mixed-Method Feasibility Study of Breastfeeding Attitudes among Southern African Americans. Western Journal of Nursing Research.
• Cayir, E., Owen, J.A., Brashers, T., Haizlip, J., and Cunningham, T. (2020). Measuring compassionate care among interprofessional healthcare teams: Developing and testing the feasibility of a collaborative behaviors observational assessment tool. Clinical Simulation in Nursing.
• Cayir, E., Spencer, M., Billings, D., Hilfinger Messias, D.K., Robillard, A., and Cunningham, T. (2020). “The only way we’ll be successful:” Organizational factors that influence psychosocial well-being and self-care among advocates working to address gender-based violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence.

Honors and Awards 

• Diversity and Inclusion Faculty Fellow, 2024-2025, Towson University.
• Fulbright Scholarship (Ph.D.), U.S. Department of State, Institute of International Education. 2011-2017.
• Provost Funds for Dissertation Research. Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina. 2016.
• Harriot Hampton Faucette Graduate Student Research and Development Award, University of South Carolina, Women’s and Gender Studies Program. 2014.

Professional Memberships / Affiliations 

• American Public Health Association
• Maryland Public Health Association

Grants 

• Workplace Mental Health Climate from the Perspectives of Underrepresented Minoritized Nurses, Faculty Development and Research Committee Grants, Pilot Grant Towson University July 2024 – May 2025
  • $5,939 (total costs) - Principal Investigator

Teaching

• HLTH 101: Wellness for a Diverse Society
• HLTH 339: Health Behavior Theory
• HLTH 432: Measurement and Evaluation in Health Education