Dr. Ailey teaches leadership courses and DNP and GEM student project courses. As a nurse educator, she is committed to educating diverse nurse leaders, capable of leading improvements in health and the healthcare system in a rapidly changing environment, Sarah Ailey’s scholarly work is concentrated on translating research to community and inpatient hospital settings to improve the lives of individuals with intellectual disabilities. A long-term goal has been to develop and test the STEPS to Effective Problem-Solving Program (STEPS), a social problem solving intervention for individuals with ID residing in group homes that will decrease the high number of aggressive and challenging behaviors. Dr. Ailey also has a focus on improving health care for people with intellectual disabilities in the acute care setting. She and others applied for funding from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to hold a conference on Improving Primary, Acute and Transitional Care with People with Disabilities. Sarah Ailey has over 20 peer- reviewed and other publications, books, and book chapters regarding health and health care of people with IDD and other disabilities (including publications co-authored with students. She has consulted on various projects and has given numerous professional presentations.

Dr. Ailey research interest includes Community health, Intellectual disabilities, Disabilities, Mental health, Health promotion, and Program development.