Ty Borders, Ph.D.

Ty Borders, PhD, is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Applied Health Sciences in the Harris College of Nursing and Health Sciences. He received a Ph.D. and M.A. in Hospital and Health Administration as well as a M.S. in Epidemiology from the University of Iowa and a B.A. in Psychology (with honors) from the University of Kansas.

Dr. Borders is a leading expert in the field of health services and policy and his research contributions have helped shape both state and national policies. His work applies epidemiological methods to understand the policy, system, and individual level determinants of health care access and population health. While on the faculty at the University of Kentucky, he established the federally funded Rural and Underserved Health Research Center, which he continues to Co-Lead as a faculty member at TCU. The center’s policy briefs are broadly disseminated and have been downloaded over 19,000 times. He previously served on the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services, which advises the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, and numerous other private sector, state, and federal committees. He has published 74 high-impact, peer-reviewed articles and served as principal investigator on grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Health Services and Resources Administration, and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Dr. Borders is also Editor of The Journal of Rural Health, the official scholarly journal of the 22,000-member National Rural Health Association, which ranks among the leading journals in the field of health services and policy.

He was elected as a Fellow of the American College of Epidemiology, was named a University Research Professor by the University of Kentucky (the highest academic honor bestowed by the Board of Trustees), and commissioned a Kentucky Colonel (the highest civilian award bestowed by the Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky). He also received the Outstanding Alumni Award for Career Achievement from the University of Iowa College of Public Health,Excellence in Writing Award from the University of Kentucky Department of Rhetoric and Writing, and Faculty Research Award from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Public Health.

Selected Publications

• Borders TF, Stapleton JL, Feather AR, D’Orazio JA, Durbin EB. The receipt of psychological services and acceptability of local follow-up care for childhood cancer survivors: Are there rural vs. urban differences? Journal of Cancer Survivorship. 2025, in press.

• Miller ME, Bowling WR, Borders TF, Kim N, Boggero IA. Patient-reported feasibility, acceptability, and satisfaction from psychological telehealth orofacial pain interventions: A mixed- methods study. Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology and Oral Radiology. 2025, doi:10.1016/j.oooo.2025.10.009

• Marshall SA, Siebenmorgen LE, Youngen K, Borders TF, Zaller N. Primary care providers’ experiences treating opioid use disorder using telehealth in the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Primary Care and Community Health. 2024;15. doi:10.1177/21501319241246359

• Borders TF. Satisfaction with care among cancer survivors with Medicare coverage: Are There Rural vs. Urban Inequities? Journal of Primary Care and Community Health. 2024;15. doi:10.1177/21501319241240342

• Borders TF, Hammerslag L. Discussions of cancer survivorship care needs: Are there rural vs. urban inequities? Medical Care. 2024:10-97.

• Borders TF, Ounpraseuth ST, Curran GM, Booth BM. Social epidemiological mediators of rural and urban differences in perceived need for cocaine use treatment. Journal of Rural Mental Health, 2024 Jul 25.

• Borders TF, Thaxton Wiggins A. Cervical cancer screening rates among rural and urban females, from 2019 to 2022. JAMA Network Open. 2024;7(6):e2417094. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.17094

• Salt E, Erickson I, Wiggins AT, Borders TF, Curtsinger C, Wallace A, Rayens MK. Comparing the demographic characteristics of victims of sexual assault in rural versus urban areas. Journal of Forensic Nursing. 2023; doi:10.1097/JFN.0000000000000467

• Borders TF, Morgan ZJ, Peterson LE. Colorectal cancer screening in rural and urban primary care practices amid implementation of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act. Journal of Primary Care and Community Health. 2023;14. doi:10.1177/21501319231177552

• Arif AA, Laditka S, Laditka J, Adeyemi O, Borders TF. Suicide mortality rates in farm-related occupations and the agriculture industry in the U.S. American Journal of Industrial Medicine. 2021;64(11):960-8.

• Peterson L, Morgan ZJ, Borders TF. Practice predictors of buprenorphine prescribing by family physicians. Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine 2020;33(1):118-23.

• Bennett KJ, Borders TF, Holmes MG, Kozhimannil K, Ziller E. What is rural, anyway? Health Affairs 2019 38(12):1985-1992.

• Wen H, Borders TF, Cummings JR. Trends in buprenorphine prescriptions by physician specialty. Health Affairs 2019 38(1):24-28.