Skip to main content
Mitchell Wharton, PhD, RN, FNP-BC, CNS, ACRN, AAHIVE, FAAN

Mitchell Wharton, PhD, RN, FNP-BC, CNS, ACRN, AAHIVE, FAAN

(Pronouns: They/Them)
  • RN Wellness

Education

  • Post Doctoral Fellowship in HIV Epidemiology and Prevention Sciences, 2018. Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health. Baltimore, MD

Bio

Mitchell J. Wharton, PhD, RN, FNP-BC, CNS, ACRN, AAHIVE, is an associate professor of clinical nursing at the School of Nursing, current president of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (ANAC), and elected member of the AACN DEI Leadership Network Steering Committee. In 2023, they were inducted as a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing.

Wharton's research focuses on identifying asset-based modalities of HIV prevention and health maintenance in marginalized populations. Their work examines the intersectionalities of age, race, sexual identity and behaviors, and human rights. Most recently, Wharton and colleague Chen Zhang, PhD, MPH, received a grant from the Hillman Emergent Innovation program to support a project on increasing PrEP uptake for HIV prevention among Black cisgender women. 

As UR Nursing's former associate dean for equity and inclusion, Wharton led diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts within the school and the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC). Their work included leading the school's Council for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, co-facilitating the school's Racial Equity Series and participating in URMC's Executive Committee for Diversity and Inclusion. In recognition of their contributions, they were honored with the School of Nursing's Mary Dombeck Diversity Enhancement Faculty Awards in 2020. 

Wharton earned a BSN and MSN from Widener University and completed their PhD at the University of Rochester. They also completed a post-doctoral fellowship in HIV Epidemiology and Prevention Sciences at The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.


Professional Experience

Associate Professor of Clinical Nursing,
University of Rochester School of Nursing, Rochester, NY, US. 2/2021 - Current

Assistant Professor of Clinical Nursing,
University of Rochester, School of Nursing, Rochester, NY, US. 7/2013 - 1/2021

Leadership Education in Adolescent Health (LEAH) Fellow,
University of Rochester, Department of Pediatrics, Adolescent Medicine Division (Adolescent Health), Rochester, NY. 2004 - 2005

Awards

Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing
American Academy of Nursing, 2023

Dean's Appreciation Award
University of Rochester School of Nursing, 2021

Mary Dombeck Diversity Enhancement Faculty Award
University of Rochester, School of Nursing, 2020

Civillian Service Award
Monroe County Sheriff's Office, 2020

Outstanding Scholarly Practitioner
University of Rochester School of Nursing, 2015

Outstanding Dissertation Award
Sigma Theta Tau International, Epsilon Xi Chapter, 2014

Dr. Mark A. Colomb Emerging Young Leader Award
2014 National African American MSM Leadership Conference on HIV/AIDS and Other Health Disparities, 2014

MOCHA Center Research Award
The MOCHA Center, 2012

Katherine M. Donohoe Scholarly Nurse Practitioner Award
University of Rochester, School of Nursing, 2011

Presentations

Developing Inclusive Excellence in Academic Nursing and the Nursing Workforce
Kendra Barrier, Patricia Bradley, & Rolanda Johnson
Transform 2022, America Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2022
Chicago, Illinois

Equity-Minded Pedagogy in Nursing Education
Kristin Hocker
AACN Diversity Symposium, America Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2022


Black Men in STEM (virtual workshop)
Michael Hopkins, Samuel Quaynor, Iverson Bell, Bertram Richardson, Kynon Jade Benjamin
DPAC HBCU Mentoring Program, Morgan State University, 2022


Ever-Present and Ever-Stronger: Honing our strengths as nurses to promote health equity.
Widener University School of Nursing Homecoming Address, Widener University School of Nursing, 2022


Staying Sexy in your 60’s and Beyond: Sexual Health and Wellness for Persons Aging with HIV.
Treston, C., Kwong, J., Steilen, M., Dawson-Rose, C., & Wharton, M. J.
2022 International AIDS Conference, International AIDS Society, 2022
Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Nurses at the intersection of healthcare and human rights.
Treston, C., Kwong, J., Webbel, C., Dawson-Rose, C., Steillen, M., Fields, S., Wharton, M. J., & Phillips, C.
2018 International AIDS Conference, International AIDS Society, 2018
Amsterdam, Netherlands

Let’s Talk about Sex, Baby”: Cultivating desire in the field of HIV prevention.
Collins, C., Lucas, J. P., Pickett, J., & Wharton, M. J.
2017 National African American MSM Leadership Conference on HIV/AIDS & Other Health Disparities, NAESM, 2017
Dallas, Texas

“You have to almost like be me to understand”: Young Black men who have sex with men’s emic strategies for maintaining an HIV-negative status.
Wharton, M. J.
2016 International AIDS Conference,, International AIDS Society, 2016
Durban, South Africa

A deeper love: Developing more nuanced understandings of young black MSM’s sexual engagements of networked technologies.
Brockenbrough, E., & Wharton, M. J.
2016 National African American MSM Leadership Conference on HIV/AIDS and other Health Disparities, NAESM, 2016
Los Angeles, California

Anal Health & MSM
Collins, C., Cranston, R., Lucas, J. P., Wharton, M. J., & Carballo-Dieguez, A.
2015 United States Conference on AIDS, USCA, 2015
Washington, District Of Columbia

The provocative professor: Pornography as a tool for sex education and maintaining HIV-negative status among young Black men who have sex with men.
Wharton, M. J., & Brockenbrough, E.
2014 National African American MSM Leadership Conference on HIV/AIDS and other Health Disparities, NAESM, 2015
Atlanta, Georgia

Measuring HIV knowledge among young Black MSM.
Wharton, M. J., Fields, S. D., Harris, O. O., & Hoftender, M.
2014 National African American MSM Leadership Conference on HIV/AIDS and other Health Disparities, NAESM, 2015
Atlanta, Georgia

Publications

  • Akinbolue, D., Day, T., Raifman, J. Morgan, A., Mehta. S., Stewart, R. W., Wharton, M. J., & Arrington-Sanders, R. (2022). Qualitative exploration of PCPs’ mental health role for LGBT youth in Baltimore: a socio-ecological lens.. Journal of LGBT Youth. DOI: 10.1080/19361653.2022.2108534

  • Alio, A.P., Wharton, M.J., & Fiscella, K. (2022). Structural Racism and Inequities in Access to Medicaid-Funded Quality Cancer Care in the United States. JAMA Network Open, 1 (5). PMID: 35838674 DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.22220

  • Fields, S.D., Wharton, M.J., Ackerman-Barger, K., Lewis, L.M., Beard, K.V., (2022). The Rise of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Practitioners in Academic Nursing. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 27 (1). DOI: 10.3912/OJIN.Vol27No01Man03

  • Wharton. M. J., Harris, O. O., Chapman Lambert, C., & LeGrand, S. (2021). "The More Things Change, the More Things Remain the Same": It's Time to Dismantle Structural Inequalities of Racism, Discrimination, and Health Disparities. Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, 32 (4), 413-417. PMID: 34115721 DOI: 10.1097/JNC.0000000000000283

  • Zhang, C., Wharton, M.J., Xue, Y., & LeBlanc, N. (2020). Understanding the evolving role of nurse practitioners in HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis care in the United States: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Nursing, 19 (117). PMID: 33292201 PMCID: PMC7724856 DOI: 10.1186/s12912-020-00503-0

  • Harris, O. O., Leblanc, N., McGee, K., Randolph, S., Wharton, J. M., & Relf, M. (2020). Alarm at the Gate – Health and Social Inequalities are Co-Morbid Conditions of HIV and COVID-19. Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, 31 (4), 367-375. PMID: 32568762 PMCID: PMC8272948 DOI: 10.1097/JNC.0000000000000190

  • Fields, S.D., Wharton, M. J., Marrero, A.I., Little, A., Pannell, K., Morgan, J.H. (2006). Internet chat rooms: connecting with a new generation of young men of color at risk for HIV infection who have sex with other men.. Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, 17 (6), 53-60.

Projects
Scroll to top of page