Dr. Heather Stuckey is co-director of the Qualitative and Mixed Methods Core at Penn State College of Medicine. She has extensive experience in qualitative research, including several grants related to qualitative research and understanding the meaning and behaviors of diabetes. She was Lead Qualitative Researcher for the completed Diabetes Attitudes, Wishes and Needs (DAWN2) international study involving 17 countries. She established procedures for coding more than 100,000 words of qualitative data regarding the successes, wishes and barriers to those with diabetes. This included supervising qualitative coders to achieve inter-rater reliability and negotiating meaning of cultural and political climates in the text.

Her career has focused on diabetes care and improvement in the lives of people with diabetes, primarily through qualitative and mixed-methods research. She has trained qualitative researchers in internal medicine and conducted training for focus group facilitators in preparation for completion of PCORI and internal grants. Dr. Stuckey was also recently lead qualitative researcher for an international mixed methods study of barriers to insulin initiation. 

Dr. Stuckey was a National Institute of Health Training Institute Fellow for Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health.

Dr. Heather Stuckey teaches both the qualitative health research and mixed methods research courses for the MPH and DrPH programs at Penn State College of Medicine. She also serves as master facilitator for first-year medical students in humanities and in science of health systems. Dr. Stuckey supervises DrPH dissertation committees and medical student research projects.

She has formed several long-term mentoring relationships with faculty and medical students through the Qualitative and Mixed Methods Core and teaches courses in the arts and medical education, qualitative research methods and interviewing and coding skills.

Professional Member, American Diabetes Association, 2002 to present

Member, Society of Behavioral Medicine, 2009 to present

Member, National Organization of Arts and Health, 2015 to present

Dr. Heather Stuckey also holds a joint appointment in the Department of Humanities, Penn State College of Medicine.