Winner of the Eleanor Lambertsen Scholarship, Deborah Croy, works with the underserved in rural Appalachia where she hopes her research studies in the doctorate in nursing practice (DNP) program will result in the ability to apply advanced evidence based practice to improve the health of the patients she serves. Currently employed as an adult nurse practitioner at the Bland County Medical Center Clinic in Bastian, Virginia, she is working toward her doctorate in nursing practice at John Hopkins School of Nursing in Baltimore, MD.   She earned a master’s degree in nursing from Duke University School of Nursing.  She has been active with the American College of Cardiology and serves on the Council for Academia in Cardiology. She was among the first to receive the designation of Associate of the American College of Cardiology in 2010.  Ms. Croy is passionate about advancing the cardiovascular health care of the rural underserved populations.