CANTON -- Nurse practitioner Darlene S. Dunn has joined the medical staff of St. Lawrence Health System and will practice as the new clinical director of student health at the Diana B. Torrey Health and Counseling Center on St. Lawrence University campus.

Dunn joins the Canton community after practicing in Alaska over the past four years, providing care throughout remote Native Alaskan villages.

“Over the past four years, I flew in many times by bush-plane to very small, close-knit Native communities throughout Alaska, providing care,” said Dunn. “I was part of a … program that helped people manage their health in the remote villages.”

Dunn had worked as a director of student health early in her career and wanted to return to that role, SLHS said.

In her role as practitioner, Dunn provides a full range of health services to the St. Lawrence University community, including vaccinations, sexual health, gynecologic and urologic disorders, screenings for cancer, diabetes, and heart disease, physicals, diagnosis and treatment of infections, injuries, and chronic illnesses, and mental health counseling.

She is a board-certified nurse practitioner with a master’s degree in health services administration from the University of St. Francis, Joliet, Ill.

She completed her doctoral degree in psychology at Kennedy-Western University in Cheyenne, Wy.

Dunn has worked in several administrative roles and clinical directorship roles. She worked as an adjunct clinical site preceptor at Duke University in North Carolina, where she was responsible for clinical rotation instruction in the graduate nurse practitioner program.

Dunn has given numerous presentations on wellness, fitness, and nutrition, and was principal investigator for a two-year cardiac research grant.

She has published in medical and scientific journals on cardiac health, fitness, and patient compliance.

St. Lawrence Health System’s Canton-Potsdam Hospital oversees the student health services of Clarkson University in Potsdam and St. Lawrence University in Canton. The Torrey center at SLU is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. while classes are in session.

More info: http://www.stlawu.edu/health-and-counseling-services, 229-5392