Vanessa Rodriguez
Biography
Vanessa Rodriguez, DNP, APRN, FNP-C, is Health Sciences Assistant Clinical Professor in the Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing at the University of California, Irvine. She has held this position since 2017, where she serves as both a clinical preceptor and didactic instructor for nurse practitioner students, with a clinical focus on primary care, chronic disease management, and acute episodic care in a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) setting. Rodriguez received her Doctor of Nursing Practice with a leadership focus from the University of California, San Francisco.
Rodriguez's clinical and scholarly work centers on improving health outcomes for medically underserved populations, with a particular emphasis on diabetes management and digital health innovation. She has served as Director of Group Medical Visits for Diabetes at UCI Health's FQHC and has been Co-PI on multiple interprofessional grant initiatives exploring remote patient monitoring and technology-supported care for underserved communities. Her research has been presented at national conferences including the American Diabetes Association's Scientific Sessions, and she is a co-author on a peer-reviewed publication in the Annals of Family Medicine examining an interprofessional digital health intervention for hypertension in underserved patients.
Rodriguez is active in health equity and interprofessional education initiatives at UCI, including the Vice Chancellor of Health Affairs Health Equity Collaborative and multiple diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging committees within the School of Nursing and UCI Health. She has served as Chair of the Faculty Practice Committee and has contributed to curriculum development, student mentorship, and community outreach programs including health fairs and diabetes education events for underserved populations in Orange County, California. She is a member of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners and the California Association for Nurse Practitioners, where she currently serves as Membership Co-Chair for the Orange County Chapter.
Return to topEducation
- DNP in Leadership Focus, University of California, San Francisco, 2025
- MS/ELMSN in Family Nurse Practitioner, Samuel Merritt University, 2015
- BA in Human Development, California State University, Long Beach, 2010
Distinctions
- ACNL Scholarship Award ($5,000), 2025
- COHS Clinical Team Research Award – DIG IT project, 2024
- Daisy Award Nomination, 2024
- UCI Nursing ARIISE Award Nomination – Excellence category, Advanced Practice Nurse of the Year, 2019, 2021
- UCI Nursing ARIISE Award Nomination – Service category, Advanced Practice Nurse of the Year, 2022
Areas of Expertise
- Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Practice
- Chronic Disease Management Underserved Populations
- Diabetes Group Medical Visits
- Interprofessional Healthcare Team Collaboration
- Digital Health Technology Integration
- Remote Patient Monitoring Hypertension
- Mental Health PHQ Screening Workflows
Recent Publications
- Lee, J. Y. C., Nguyen, J., Rodriguez, V., Rodriguez, A., Patel, N., Chan, A., McBane, S., Mayorga, J., “Digital Innovation to Grow Quality Care Through an Interprofessional Care Team (DIG IT) Among Underserved Patients With Hypertension” (opens in new tab), Annals of Family Medicine, vol. 22, no. 5, pp. 410–416, 2024.
- Lee, J., Seo, K., Nguyen, J., Rodriguez, V., Rodriguez, A., Chan, A., Mayorga, J., “First Impact on A1c of Medically Underserved Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Using a Hybrid Chronic Care Model”, 2024. Presented at American Diabetes Association (ADA) 84th Scientific Sessions, Orlando, Florida, June 21-24, 2024.
- Lee, J., Rodriguez, V., Rodriguez, A., McBane, S., Mayorga, J., “DIG IT: digital innovation to grow quality care through interprofessional teamwork”, 2023. Presented at California Society of Health-System Pharmacists (CSHP) Seminar: Transforming Together, Elevating Pharmacy, Long Beach, October 12-15, 2023.
- Lee, J., Nguyen, J., Seo, M., Nguyen, T., Patel, N., Rodriguez, V., Mayorga, J., “Early impact of a hybrid chronic care model (h-CCM) on A1c levels among underserved patients with diabetes in the primary care”, 2023. Presented at 83rd American Diabetes Association (ADA) Scientific Sessions, San Diego, June 23-26, 2023.
- Lee, J., Nguyen, J., Chan, A., Patel, N., Rodriguez, V., Salcedo, B., Mayorga, J., “Impact of a digital innovation to grow quality care through interprofessional teamwork (DIG IT): a multicenter case-control study on high-risk underserved patients with uncontrolled blood pressure”, 2023. Presented at UC Health Harnessing the Power of Real-World Evidence Conference, The Cove @ UCI, April 10, 2023.
- Lee, J., Nguyen, J., Rodriguez, V., Salcedo, B., McBane, S., Ozaki, A., Mayorga, J., “Early impact of collaborative remote patient monitoring (C-RPM) for hypertension on underserved populations during the COVID-19 pandemic: a multicenter retrospective observational study”, 2022. Presented at 2022 American College of Clinical Pharmacy Global Conference on Clinical Pharmacy, Hilton San Francisco Union Square, San Francisco, California, October 15-18, 2022.
Contact Information
Email: vanessr5@uci.edu
Phone: (949) 824-7894
Address: 2531 Nursing & Health Sciences Hall
Return to topThis profile was created with the help of AI.
Last updated on 9/14/2026.