Leisa R. Easom, Ph.D., R.N.
Executive Director
Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving
Georgia Southwestern State University

Leisa R. Easom, PhD, RN is the Executive Director of the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving (RCI) and Pope Eminent Scholar at Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW). The mission of the RCI is to establish local, state, national and international partnerships committed to building quality long-term, home and community-based services for caregivers in the promotion of caregiver health, skills, and resilience. 

Certified in gerontology, Dr. Easom focuses her program of research on caregivers (military and dementia), end-of-life issues, aging, and health promotion in rural areas of the United States. She has served as the principal investigator on numerous projects related to aging, caregiving, and nursing with results being published in scientific journals.

She has been the recipient of many awards including Teacher of the Year Award at GSW and was selected as a Helene Fuld Scholar recipient for the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Leadership program. Dr. Easom serves on many collegiate committees and, additionally has served on the Medical Assisting Board for South Georgia Technical College, on the Caregiving Advisory Panel for the U. S. Administration on Aging, the ARCH Expert Panel on Respite Research, the Carter Center Task Force for Mental Health and is a member of the American Society on Aging, Gerontological Society of Aging, and National League for Nursing. She was recently selected as a “Reynolds Center of Geriatric Nursing Excellence Distinguished Scholar in Aging”. Dr. Easom serves on the Editorial Board of Generations, a peer-reviewed national journal focused on aging.