Milligan University

Burena Edens joined Milligan's athletic staff as the assistant athletic trainer in June 2014 and moved into the role as head athletic trainer in 2018. In June of 2024, she was promoted to Assistant Director of Athletics for Sports Medicine.
 
A native of Nauheim, Germany, Edens has been in the United States since 2004, and, prior to Milligan, served as head athletic trainer for Virginia Intermont College's 10-sport athletic program. 
 
Prior to Virginia Intermont, Edens was a graduate assistant at East Tennessee State University, covering cheerleading, women's tennis, and track & field. Edens' stint at ETSU came after an internship at Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and four years of undergraduate work at University of Tennessee at Martin. 
 
Edens holds a master's degree in sports management from ETSU (2011) and a bachelor's degree in health and human performance with a concentration in athletic training from UT Martin (2008). Edens also minored in German while studying at UT Martin. 
 
Edens grew up in a military family which took her to different parts of Germany during the 1990s. She currently resides in Kingsport, Tennessee, with her husband, Bryan, and their daughters, Malaya and Niah.