Dr. Cynthia T. Ferguson is a 28 year veteran of the U.S. Navy and U.S. Public Health Service/ Indian Health Service. Her extensive experience in forensic healthcare, to include sexual assault care, spans her entire military professional nursing career. She was certified as a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner-Adult (SANE-A) in 2001 and was hand-selected to serve on the Joint Task Force Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Team in 2004. Her Masters in Nursing is from Case Western University, she holds a Masters in Public Health and certificate in Emergency Management from George Washington University as well as a Ph.D. in Public Health from Walden University. Her dissertation, titled “Interpersonal Safety of Active Duty Women in the Deployed Environment of Bagram Afghanistan: A Grounded Theory Approach” was completed after her deployment to Afghanistan in 2010. Dr. Ferguson has a long and distinguished career in forensic healthcare. She is a lifetime member in the International Association of Forensic Nurses (IAFN) and has participated in education and training of sexual assault examiners around the globe. She currently serves in DHA as the first Forensic Healthcare Program Lead Program Director and is consistently proud and honored to work with the many forensic healthcare examiners at MTFs and clinics around the world. Dr. Ferguson is also pursuing a second PhD in Forensic Psychology at Walden University and is a constant advocate for the development and expansion of forensic healthcare in the U.S. military.