Teresa Cutts

Dr. Teresa Cutts completed her post-doctoral fellowship in Health Psychology from the University of Tennessee (UT) College of Medicine in 1987.  From 1988-1994, she worked as a staff psychologist at Baptist Memorial Hospital. From 1993-2001, she was a private practitioner at Memphis Center for Women and Families, with a focus on health psychology. Since 1987, she served as a consultant to the NIH Gastroparesis multi-site consortium.

From 2001-2005, she was Director of Program Development at the Church Health Center, a comprehensive, faith-based health program for the under-served.  She held a joint clinical appointment in Preventive Medicine and Psychiatry at UT, 2003-2008, University of Memphis’ School of Public Health from 2009-2013 and still holds an appointment at Memphis Theological Seminary. She is a Visiting Professor at the University of Capetown’s School of Family Medicine and Public Health and has co-authored/published numerous book chapters and articles. In 2016, with colleagues from Stakeholder Health, she was co-editor and helped co-author many chapters in the book Stakeholder Health: Insights from New Systems of Health, as well as the 2019 See2See Road Trip: Soundings and 2020 See2See Inland Sea.

In 2005, she moved to Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare’s (MLH) Interfaith Health Program Center of Excellence in Faith and Health as Director of Research for Innovation.  She worked explicitly in the area of evaluation and program development for Methodist’s Memphis Model Congregational Health Network, Religious Health Assets mapping, and Integrated Health for congregations, community and clergy. She is the academic liaison to the Stakeholder Health learning collaborative. Dr. Cutts has served as PI or Co-PI on dozens of grants since 2001, including those funded by RWJF, CDC, Komen and Avon Foundations, working often on projects to improve health equity and the  lives of the under-served and most vulnerable.

In 2013, Teresa was appointed as Research Assistant Professor, faculty at the Wake Forest School of Medicine’s Public Health Sciences Division, where she serves as a researcher, program developer and more for the FaithHealth Division. She also holds appointments in the Maya Angelou Center for Health Equity.  Since 2017, she has served as the PI for the Empowerment Project’s homeless outreach and case management at WFSOM. She is married to Rev. Dr. Gary Gunderson and, between them have four daughters and two grandchildren.