Associate Professor (Tenured) & Deputy Director, PhD in Nursing Science Program
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Daniel K. Inouye Graduate School of Nursing
Dr. Elizabeth Kostas-Polston is a tenured Associate Professor and Deputy Director of the PhD in Nursing Science Program at the Daniel K. Inouye Graduate School of Nursing at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. She is also a researcher, Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner, United States Air Force veteran, and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Nurse Faculty Scholar alumna. Dr. Kostas-Polston earned her undergraduate degree in Nursing from Arizona State University; a Master of Science in Nursing with specialization in Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Primary Care of Women from the University of Florida; and a PhD in Nursing from Loyola University Chicago.
Over the past 34 years, Dr. Kostas-Polston has focused her career on strengthening women’s health across the Department of War. Her clinical and research efforts center on the urogenital health of female warfighters, where she has documented the hidden burden of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) insecurity in austere military environments. With more than three-quarters of female warfighters reporting urogenital infections linked to delayed urination and limited hygiene access, her work reveals how WASH-related vulnerabilities undermine both operational readiness and long-term health.
Building on her clinical expertise, Dr. Kostas-Polston develops innovative, field-adaptable technologies and strategies that safeguard female warfighters in challenging environments. She also draws global parallels, connecting military women’s health research to the experiences of women and girls in low- and middle-income countries, where poverty, displacement, and environmental stress magnify health risks. Through her scholarship and leadership, she advances justice-centered, evidence-driven solutions that position women’s health and resilience as central pillars of defense medicine, global health, and force health protection policy.