A California-based researcher will discuss the physical and emotional impact of stress on women’s brain function at a free public lecture this month at MTSU.

Dr. Arlene R. Taylor will discuss “Stress and the Female Brain” from noon to 12:50 p.m. Monday, Sept. 16, in Room 106 of the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building on campus. She is serving as the Adams Chair of Excellence in Health Care Services Distinguished Lecturer.

Dr. Arlene R. Taylor

Taylor is president of Realizations, Inc., a San Francisco Bay-area nonprofit corporation that conducts brain-function research and provides related educational resources.

She is regional risk manager for three Adventist Health System hospitals. Taylor began her career as a registered nurse, working in acute hospitals, for city and county health departments and as a school nurse for public and private K-12 schools.

“Practically applying what I’ve learned about the brain in general, and mine in particular, has improved my life in every way imaginable,” Taylor wrote for her website, www.arlenetaylor.org. “My goal is to provide brain-function resources that can help you improve your life, too.”

Taylor earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Loma Linda University in Loma Linda, Calif., and her master’s degree in science with a double major in epidemiology and health education from Columbia Pacific University in San Rafael, Calif.

She also earned a doctorate in health and human services with an emphasis on women’s issues from Columbia Pacific University and a second doctorate in clinical pastoral counseling — with an emphasis in brain function and issues of addiction, abuse and recovery — from Biblical Life College and Seminary in Marshfield, Mo.

Taylor’s visit also is sponsored by MTSU’s Center for Health and Human Services and the College of Behavioral and Health Sciences.

For more information, contact the Adams Chair at 615-904-8342 or the College of Behavioral and Health Sciences at 615-898-2900.

— Gina K. Logue (gina.logue@mtsu.edu)