Carla Worley Saunders has been a board-certified Neonatal Nurse Practitioner since 1991 and received her Doctor of Nursing Practice in 2017. Dr. Saunders has a dedicated passion in her work advocating for mothers and babies; which led her to her doctoral work that has now created a larger vision for improving communities and public health through empowering women. This passion was the inspiration behind the formation of the Transformational Wellness Initiative and the fulfillment of a promise to the mothers and babies she cared for who have been affected by the opioid crisis. Her mission is to inspire others to elevate the expectations of healthcare among individuals and organizations and initiate a movement that goes beyond healthcare reform to transformative healthcare.

In 2010, Dr. Saunders gathered a multidisciplinary team in response to the alarming rise in number of babies being admitted to the NICU suffering from the physical withdrawal of maternal opiate exposure, Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS). The work done by her team is receiving local, state, national, and international attention, including: CNN Headline News, Anderson Cooper, ABC Nightline, and ABC affiliate Australia, and NPR StoryCorps. The focus of their work has work has gone beyond the bedside into community awareness, education, and prevention strategies with the Tennessee Department of Health. She is involved extensively in research surrounding Intrauterine Drug Exposure and NAS. Dr. Saunders has been a member of the Rx Summit Advisory Board since 2013.