Recipients of the International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame and Emerging Nurse Researcher Award

Suzanne Bakken, PhD, RN, FAAN, FACMI, MIAHSI, is the Alumni Professor of Nursing and professor of biomedical informatics at Columbia University in New York, New York, USA, where she also serves as director of the Precision in Symptom Self-Management Center and the Reducing Health Disparities Through Informatics pre- and post-doctoral training program. In addition, she is co-director of the Health Analytics Center of Columbia’s Data Science Institute. Bakken has led a federally funded program of research at the intersection of health equity and informatics for more than 25 years and has published more than 300 scientific articles. She is a member or fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, American College of Medical Informatics, New York Academy of Medicine, National Academy of Medicine (formerly IOM), and International Academy of Health Sciences Informatics. Bakken has been honored for her accomplishments with the Pathfinder Award from the Friends of the National Institute of Nursing Research and the Virginia K. Saba Nursing Informatics Award from AMIA.

Barbara Bowers, PhD, RN, FAAN, is professor, associate dean for research, and Charlotte Jane and Ralph A. Rodefer Chair at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Nursing in Madison, Wisconsin, USA. Her work has focused on improving the quality of care for both vulnerable older adults and people with lifelong disabilities. She has conducted research on how different care models influence both care quality and work life quality. Bowers has published more than 100 articles and edited or written four books on care of older adults and people with developmental disabilities. She also oversees a campus-wide program in development of qualitative research skills and community-engaged research. She currently collaborates with nurse researchers in Australia, Thailand, China, and the UK.

Jane D. Champion, PhD, DNP, FNP, AH-PMH-CNS, FAAN, FAANP, is professor at The University of Texas at Austin in Austin, Texas, USA. Her most outstanding contributions to nursing are in improving the health of ethnic minority women and adolescents. She was one of the first nurses to study the relationship among sexually transmitted infections (STI), sexual risk behaviors, unintended pregnancy, and abuse among ethnic minority women. Through her interdisciplinary clinical research program, she developed evidence-based community interventions for urban and rural populations of African-American and Mexican-American women, including adolescents with STI, substance use, unintended pregnancy, and abuse. Translation of these findings into community health programs internationally is consistent with recommendations for expansion of community engagement as an essential strategy for increasing healthcare access and eliminating health disparities. Champion has modeled her professional career to serve as a community-engaged scholar and has contributed significantly to improving the standard of care and reducing health disparities for rural and urban ethnic minority women and adolescents through findings from her NIH-funded, primary care-based intervention studies.

Kuei-Ru Chou, PhD, RN, is dean and professor at the Taipei Medical University College of Nursing in Taipei, Taiwan. She has acted as principal investigator for several multicenter research projects from MOST and other government grants. Some projects are focused on cognitive function training and cognitive behavior group therapy and have made a tremendous impact on elderly and mental health patients. She has published more than 130 articles in well-known SCI/SSCI journals in nursing, gerontology, and psychiatry and has presented in international conferences. Chou is an editorial board member and reviewer for several journals. She has held positions in several professional organizations, including the Leadership Succession Committee of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing (Sigma) and chair of the Research Committee of the Asian Oncology Nursing Society. She has a strong record of mentoring doctoral and master’s students, fellow nursing faculty members, and clinical counterparts.

Misook L. Chung, PhD, RN, FAHA, FAAN, is professor and co-director of the RICH Heart Research Program at the University of Kentucky College of Nursing in Lexington, Kentucky, USA. She is internationally recognized as a leading nurse researcher who has advanced the state of the science in research on patient-caregiver dyads. Chung’s collaboration with investigators across Europe and Asia on novel dyadic interventions to improve patient and family caregiver outcomes in cardiovascular disease has had a global impact. Her successful program of research has been continuously funded for 15 years, including current funding of US $5 million from the National Institute of Nursing Research. Chung has received multiple awards for her excellence in cardiovascular nursing research. She is a fellow in the American Heart Association and the American Academy of Nursing.

Patricia D’Antonio, PhD, RN, FAAN, is the Carol E. Ware Endowed Professor in Mental Health Nursing, chair of the Department of Family and Community Health, and director of the Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. D’Antonio is also editor of Nursing History Review, the official journal of the American Association for the History of Nursing. Her research focuses on the history of nursing and healthcare. Her newest book, Nursing with a Message: Public Health Demonstration Projects in New York City, explores ways in which nurses built what we now recognize as primary healthcare. Her earlier book, American Nursing: A History of Knowledge, Authority and the Meaning of Work, explores ways in which women and some men from different race, ethnic, and class backgrounds reframed the most traditional gendered expectations to reshape their own sense of worth and power.

Ardith Z. Doorenbos, PhD, RN, FAAN, is professor in the Department of Biobehavioral Nursing & Health Informatics, School of Nursing, and the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, School of Medicine, at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, USA. She is also adjunct professor in the Department of Global Health, School of Public Health, at the University of Washington. She is co-director of the Center of Excellence in Pain Education, co-chair of research operations for the Cambia Palliative Care Center of Excellence, and director of the Palliative Care Training Center. Doorenbos’ research is centered on palliative care and pain and symptom management. Her grant portfolio is funded by the National Institutes of Health: National Institute of Nursing Research, National Cancer Institute, and other professional sources. She has a sustained record of more than 100 peer-reviewed, data-based publications in nursing and multidisciplinary journals.

Steven J. Ersser, PhD(Lond), BSc(Hons), RN, CertTHEd, PFHEA, is professor in clinical nursing research and deputy head of Health Sciences (Nursing) at the University of York in York, UK. He has held chairs in nursing at the universities of Leeds, Hull, and Bournemouth and served as dean of health at Hull. He qualified as a nurse at Guy’s Hospital London and completed his PhD in nursing at King’s College, London. Ersser has worked in clinical-academic posts in the Oxford and Southampton dermatology departments. His research work over 28 years has focused on developing nursing-related skin care and dermatological nursing, especially in support of people living with chronic dermatoses. He has more than 130 publications and has supervised 18 doctoral students. He was inaugural president of the International Skin-Care Nursing Advisory Board (1999–2010), developing scientific and educational opportunities for nurses worldwide. In 2015, he led the Nursing Scientific meeting and inaugural Dermatology Nursing Leadership Summit at the World Congress of Dermatology. 

Carole A. Estabrooks, CM, PhD, RN, FCAHS, FAAN, is professor and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair, Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. She is a fellow in the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and in the American Academy of Nursing and scientific director of the international Translating Research in Elder Care (TREC) program. Her applied health services research program focuses on integrated knowledge translation and quality improvement—and on quality of care, quality of life/end of life, and quality of work-life outcomes in nursing homes. She is particularly interested in quality of end of life for persons with advanced dementia, the majority population in Canadian nursing homes. She focuses increasingly on innovation spread and scale-up and has developed the Alberta Context Tool currently used in nine countries and six languages, assessing the impact of organizational context on a wide array of outcomes. In 2016, she was appointed by the governor general as a member of the Order of Canada.

Elizabeth J. Halcomb, PhD, BN(Hons), RN, FACN, is professor of primary healthcare nursing at the University of Wollongong in New South Wales, Australia. Her program of research focuses on primary care nursing workforce, chronic disease, lifestyle risk-factor reduction, and mixed methods research. She has also undertaken research on academic workforce development and nurse education. Halcomb has supervised numerous doctoral and honours students to completion, as well as clinical nurses seeking to build capacity. She has been a leader in teams awarded over $5.58 million in competitive research funding and has more than 130 peer-reviewed papers and 20 book chapters published to date. Additionally, Halcomb has co-edited Mixed Methods Research for Nursing and the Health Sciences and An Introduction to Community and Primary Health Care, 2nd edition. She is editor of Nurse Researcher and Collegian: The Australian Journal of Nursing Practice, Scholarship & Research.

Hae-Ra Han, PhD, RN, FAAN, is professor and chair of the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing Department of Community Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Her multidisciplinary team research is focused on noncommunicable diseases and psychosocial determinants of health (particularly health literacy) among racial and ethnic minority populations with limited access to care. She has developed and tested health-literacy interventions—delivered by nurses and trained community health workers—that have contributed to reducing health disparities in chronic care. She has provided consultation to numerous medical centers, universities, and research institutes in the United States, Canada, Africa, Asia, and Europe on assessment of hypertension self-care, hypertension knowledge, and health literacy. Her work is widely disseminated through more than 150 publications. In recognition of her work, Han has received numerous awards from multiple organizations that include the National Coalition of Ethnic Minority Nurse Associations, Southern Nursing Research Society, American Public Health Association, and Asian & Pacific Islander Caucus for Public Health. She also received the Certificate of Congressional Recognition from U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski.

Laura L. Hayman, PhD, RN, FAHA, FAAN, is professor in the Department of Nursing, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, at the University of Massachusetts Boston in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, and adjunct professor of medicine, Division of Preventive and Behavioral Medicine, at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA. Her clinical, community-based, and translational research and scholarship focus on prevention of obesity and cardiometabolic conditions across the life course with emphasis on children, adolescents, and families from vulnerable populations. She has contributed her expertise in cardiovascular and child health nursing and behavioral sciences in development and dissemination of scientific statements, practice guidelines, and policy statements. Hayman has mentored nurse scientists and scholars from other disciplines who are advancing the science and practice of cardiovascular health nationally and globally. She has held leadership roles in the Society of Behavioral Medicine, the American Heart Association, and the Preventive Cardiovascular Nurses Association.

Claudia K.Y. Lai, PhD, RN, FAAN, is honorary professor, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) in Hong Kong SAR, and visiting professor, Yangzhou University in Yangzhou, China. She has two main research programs—the care of people with dementia and their families and the care of frail older people. She focuses on interventional and implementation research, aiming to make an impact on the health and well-being of humankind through practice changes. In 2010, Lai established the Health and Cognitive Assessment Service at PolyU to advance practice scholarship. In 2012, her team founded the Centre for Gerontological Nursing at PolyU. She has won many research awards for her work on dementia care and health promotion. She is dedicated to the cause of dementia care and has been a volunteer with the Hong Kong Alzheimer’s Disease Association since 1996. Over the course of her career, she has volunteered her time for local and international professional initiatives. “To me, this award means a recognition of my career in nursing as a researcher—an affirmation that I have been doing the right thing as a nurse faculty. It certainly means a great deal to me.”

Violeta Lopez, PhD, RN, MNA, MPET, JBICF, FACN, is professor at Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies, National University of Singapore. She has worked with and led teams composed of not only nurses but also medical professionals, psychologists, sociologists, and biomedical and computer engineers, focusing on empowering patients to self-manage their chronic and long-term health problems as well as supporting caregivers using evidence-based, psycho-educational interventions, including the application of mobile and eHealth. A unique feature of her research is based on the Salutogenic framework in implementing interventions that promote good health rather than explore what causes the disease. As a transcultural nursing scholar, she has conducted research impacting diversity, acculturation, equity, and access to healthcare of multi-ethnic communities. She has a strong record of international awards, funded research grants, publications, and, most importantly, mentoring doctoral students, junior faculty, and clinical colleagues.

Kathy Puskar, DrPH, RN, FAAN, is tenured professor and associate dean for undergraduate nursing education at the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. For more than two decades, Puskar has dedicated her professional life to furthering the field of depression, suicide, substance use, stress, and coping among children and the young adult population. She has published more than 150 papers in refereed journals and book chapters. Puskar’s behavioral intervention program, “Teaching Kids to Cope,” addresses the health disparity associated with lack of access to child psychiatric specialty services in rural areas. This behavioral intervention was accepted for inclusion in the National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP) by the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). To further build on this work, she recently served as a principal investigator to develop the mobile app MilTeenChat, which provides a sustainable online platform supporting coping among military adolescents around the world.

Nancy R. Reynolds, PhD, RN, ANP, FAAN, is associate dean of global affairs at Johns Hopkins School of Nursing in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, and co-director of the PAHO/WHO Collaborating Center (GANM). She previously was the Independence Foundation Professor of Nursing at Yale University and director of the NIH-sponsored training grant in self-management and family management of chronic illness. Reynolds has a 25-year record of continuous NIH funding. Her pioneering research has focused on the use of low-cost cellphone technology to bring healthcare services to vulnerable populations affected by HIV to enhance medication adherence and clinical outcomes. This research has progressed from single-site, developmental studies to large-scale, multisite trials in international settings. She has published widely and served on multiple NIH scientific review groups. She is a dedicated mentor of pre- and post-doctoral scholars from many different universities in the United States, China, India, Ghana, Uganda, and Thailand.

Mi-Kyung Song, PhD, RN, FAAN, is professor, Edith F. Honeycutt Endowed Chair in Nursing, and director of the Center for Nursing Excellence in Palliative Care in the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. She is also senior faculty fellow at the Emory Center for Ethics. Song’s research is focused on improving end-of-life and palliative care for patients with serious multiple, chronic illnesses and their family members. Specifically, her research areas of interest are end-of-life communication, treatment decision-making, surrogate decision-making, integration of palliative care, and bioethics. Her methodological areas of interest include intervention development and testing, treatment fidelity, clinical trials, and mixed methods in intervention programs of research.

Hilaire J. Thompson, PhD, RN, ARNP, FAAN, FGSA, is the Joanne Montgomery Endowed Professor, graduate program director, and co-director of the Omics and Symptom Science Training Program at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, USA. Her program of research has focused on injury prevention and improvement of outcomes from traumatic brain injury, with an emphasis on older adults. Her research features bedside-to-bench methods as well as clinical epidemiologic approaches. Thompson is currently conducting a clinical trial, funded by NINR, of cognitive training to prevent falls in older adults. She received her BSN from The Catholic University of America, her MS from Virginia Commonwealth University, and her PhD from the University of Pennsylvania.

Connie M. Ulrich, PhD, RN, FAAN, is the Lillian S. Brunner Chair in Medical-Surgical Nursing and a professor of bioethics and nursing at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, with a secondary appointment in the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy. She was the first nurse trained in bioethics at the National Institutes of Health. Her bioethics scholarship has focused broadly on ethical issues in clinical practice and research, including moral distress in the health professions, both nationally and internationally. Ulrich also conducts research on informed consent and perception of patients and care partners on the benefits and burdens associated with participation in cancer clinical trials. She has received federal funding from the National Institutes of Health for her work. Ulrich has published in leading peer-reviewed journals and presented at national and international professional meetings. She is a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and a Salzburg Global Fellow.

Sandra J. Weiss, PhD, DNSc, RN, FAAN, is professor and Eschbach Endowed Chair of the University of California San Francisco School of Nursing in San Francisco, California, USA. Her transdisciplinary research focuses on biological mechanisms underlying stress and depression and their effects on neurological and psychological development of the fetus and infant. Her findings have advanced knowledge of women’s gender-specific depressive symptoms and assessment and also have led to improvements in assessment and early intervention for preterm infants. She leads a national, multi-university research program on women’s depression, sponsored by the National Network of Depression Centers, and has been a member and chair of numerous NIH scientific review groups. Weiss’ research leadership includes roles as associate provost for research in the University of California Office of the President, co-director of the UCSF Depression Center, director of the Health Care Consortium, director of the Center for Family Health Studies, and principal investigator for a Biobehavioral Research Training Program in Symptom Science. Her mentorship has inspired stellar scientists and research pioneers worldwide.

View Photos of Honorees and the 27th International Nursing Research Congress

Deborah Watkins Bruner, PhD, RN, FAAN is an internationally renowned researcher, scholar, and mentor. She is a professor at the Emory University Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. She has been continuously funded in leading multidisciplinary teams in patient-reported outcomes, sexual health, large national clinical trials focused on understanding and improving symptoms, and studies seeking to improve minority accrual to clinical trials. Bruner is the only nurse to lead, as principal investigator, two National Cancer Institute-sponsored clinical trials cooperative groups—previously, the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group and currently the NRG Oncology National Community Oncology Research Program, which focuses on providing cancer prevention and symptom amelioration, quality of life, and comparative effectiveness trials to the cancer community. Bruner’s pioneering leadership in the U.S. National Cancer Clinical Trials Network led to a paradigm shift from a historically medically dominated focus on survival and toxicity to a patient-centered, bio-behavioral focus that includes nurse-sensitive symptom and quality of life outcomes. She is a member of Alpha Epsilon Chapter.

Janet S. Carpenter, PhD, RN, FAAN, is a distinguished professor, associate dean for research, and co-director of the Training in Behavioral Nursing Research program at Indiana University School of Nursing in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. Over the past two decades, her research has focused on menopausal symptoms in cancer survivors and midlife women without cancer. Carpenter has expertise in developing and testing measurement tools (self-reported and physiological), building theories, and designing and conducting multisite randomized controlled trials testing behavioral, pharmaceutical, and nutraceutical interventions. She has extensive experience in scientific writing and grant reviews and is deeply committed to mentoring the next generation of nurse researchers. She is a member of Alpha Chapter.

Eileen Collins, PhD, RN, FAACVPR, FAAN, a professor at University of Illinois at Chicago College of Nursing and a research career scientist at Edward Hines VA Hospital in Illinois, USA, focuses her research on the development of innovative strategies to improve physical ability and quality of life in patients with COPD and peripheral arterial disease. Collins and her team developed a unique program of breathing retraining to reduce dynamic hyperinflation and shortness of breath in patients with COPD and used walking poles to reduce intermittent claudication pain while walking in patients with peripheral arterial disease. Her work has been continuously funded since 1994 by numerous grants from the Department of Veterans Affairs, National Institute of Nursing Research, and others. She is a member of Alpha Lambda and Alpha Beta chapters.

Elizabeth Corwin, PhD, RN, FAAN, is associate dean for research and professor at Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Corwin is a PhD-prepared physiologist as well as a nurse and family nurse practitioner. Throughout her research career, she has combined her expertise as a bench scientist with her experience caring for women and families across the lifespan. Corwin’s research is aimed at uncovering the biological mechanisms responsible for symptom development and adverse outcomes in pregnant and postpartum women, especially low-income and minority women. Dissemination of her research has added urgency to the national dialogue on the need to eliminate maternal-infant health disparity. She is principal investigator on two NIH-funded studies focused on maternal and infant health: “Biobehavioral Determinants of the Microbiome and Preterm Birth in Black Women” and “Maternal Stress and the Gut-Brain Axis in African American Infants.” She is a member of Alpha Epsilon Chapter.

Sonia A. Duffy, PhD, RN, FAAN, is the Mildred E. Newton Professor of Nursing at The Ohio State University College of Nursing and a research investigator at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, Health Services Research and Development, USA. During her National Cancer Institute-sponsored pre-doctoral fellowship, Duffy was educated in health behavior and epidemiology. Her research has focused on cancer-related issues, including cancer recurrence and survival and the relationship between depression and health behavior change (e.g., smoking, alcohol use, diet, physical activity, and sleep) and quality of life. Funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Veterans Affairs, Duffy has conducted a multitude of studies, including large cohort studies; randomized controlled trials; and wide-scale implementation studies, particularly among head and neck cancer patients, veterans, and blue collar workers. She is interested in multifaceted, cancer-related interventions—such as combined smoking, alcohol, and depression interventions—as opposed to one-dimensional programmatic approaches. She is a member of Rho Chapter.

Linda McGillis Hall, PhD, RN, FAAN, FCAHS, Kathleen Russell Distinguished Professor at Bloomberg Nursing Faculty in Canada, focuses her research on health human resources, work environments, and outcomes. A recognized health services research leader, she was the first Canadian inducted as an American Academy of Nursing International fellow. She is an inaugural recipient of the Canadian Nurses Association Order of Merit for Nursing Research and is a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. She received the Award of Excellence in Nursing Research from the Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing and the Research Mentorship Award from Academy Health’s Interdisciplinary Research Group Nursing Issues. She is a member of Lambda Pi Chapter.

Marilyn Hockenberry, PhD, RN, PPCNP-BC, FAAN, is the associate dean for research, the Bessie Baker Distinguished Professor of Nursing, and a professor of pediatrics at Duke University, USA. She also serves as a chair for Duke Hospital System’s Institutional Review Board. She was a professor of pediatrics in the hematology/oncology division at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, USA, prior to joining the Duke faculty in August 2012. For over 18 years, she served as director of the Pediatric Oncology Nursing Program and maintained a clinical practice at Texas Children's Hospital. Her research focuses on symptom management and treatment-related side effects experienced by children who have cancer. Hockenberry’s current funded studies evaluate treatment-related fatigue, neuro-cognitive deficits of leukemia treatment, and physiologic biomarkers associated with treatment-related symptoms and toxicities. She has authored over 100 articles and serves as senior editor on the four Wong nursing textbooks, published by Elsevier. She is a member of Beta Epsilon Chapter.

Huda Abu-Saad Huijer, PhD, RN, FEANS, FAAN, is a professor and director of the Hariri School of Nursing in Lebanon. Her research focuses primarily on pain management and palliative care in children and adults. She has supervised many PhD dissertations and has been lead investigator on many funded projects in the Netherlands and in Lebanon. She has published more than 300 articles and two books. She serves on the Lancet Commission on Global Access to Pain Control and Palliative Care and is vice president of the National Committee on Pain Relief and Palliative Care. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and a founding fellow of the European Academy of Nursing Science. She received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the McMillan Cancer Fund and the International Journal of Palliative Nursing; the High Achievement Award from Alumni Nurses Chapter; the Pioneers Award from the Order of Nurses in Lebanon; and the Distinguished Researcher Award from the Scientific Society of Arab Nursing Faculties. She is a member of Chi Iota Chapter.

Hester C. Klopper, PhD, MBA, FANSA, FAAN, ASSAF, is an international academic leader with extensive global networks. She is chief executive officer of FUNDISA, South Africa, and was the 2013-15 president of Sigma. She holds a professor appointment at Faculty of Health Sciences Quality in Nursing and Midwifery at North-West University and University of the Western Cape. Positive practice environments, patient safety, and quality improvement are at the core of her research. Klopper focuses on leadership development and capacity development of young scientists, and she coordinates the national PLUME program, funded by the National Research Foundation, to support the development of research programs of post-doctoral candidates. She is a sought-after keynote speaker with more than 150 international speaking engagements. On 2 September 2016, Oxford Brookes University, UK, will bestow an honorary doctorate on Klopper in recognition of her contribution to nursing education and global research. She is a member of Tau Lambda-at-Large Chapter.

Terry A. Lennie, PhD, RN, FAHA, FAAN, is a professor and associate dean for graduate faculty affairs at the University of Kentucky College of Nursing, USA. He is among a small number of nurses conducting research related to the role of nutrition in prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease and in the self-care of patients with heart failure. His research has been continuously funded for more than 25 years and has resulted in publication of over 130 peer-reviewed articles. Based on his original research—and thorough and thoughtful reviews of the existing, but limited research in this area—he has pushed the national research agenda on nutrition and heart failure forward and provided evidence for use in guidelines that clinicians can use to realistically counsel patients. He is a member of Delta Psi Chapter.

Linda A. McCauley, PhD, RN, FAAN, FAAOHN, is dean of the Emory University Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Under her leadership, the school of nursing is executing a comprehensive strategic plan to expand its research enterprise, forge new clinical partnerships, and increase diversity among the faculty and student population. McCauley has special expertise in design of epidemiological investigations of environmental hazards and is nationally recognized for her expertise in occupational and environmental health nursing. Her work aims to identify culturally appropriate interventions to decrease the impact of environmental and occupational health hazards in vulnerable populations. A member of the Institute of Medicine, she is active on the Membership Committee, Environmental Health Roundtable, and Board of Population Health. She currently serves as a member of the National Advisory Environmental Health Sciences Council. She is also a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and the American Academy of Occupational Health Nurses. She is a member of Alpha Epsilon Chapter.

Barbara S. Medoff-Cooper, PhD, RN, FAAN, is a professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing and holds the Ruth M. Colket Endowed Chair in Pediatric Nursing at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, USA. She is nationally and internationally recognized as an expert in infant feeding behaviors, growth, and developmental outcomes in both preterm infants and infants with complex congenital heart disease. She has been funded by the National Institutes of Health and various foundations and professional organizations for over 30 years. Her current NIH study is a randomized controlled trial to test an intervention using state-of-the-art telehealth technology for home monitoring infants who have experienced neonatal cardiac surgery, with the goal of decreasing maternal stress, improving infant outcomes, and decreasing health care utilization. Medoff-Cooper is co-inventor of the Neonur, a patented feeding device to assess feeding behaviors during infancy, which has been used in various funded research projects both nationally and internationally. She is a member of Xi Chapter.

Cindy Munro, PhD, RN, FAANP, FAAN, FAAAS, is professor and associate dean at University of South Florida College of Nursing, USA. Her research activities focus on the relationship between oral health and prevention of systemic disease, particularly in critically ill, mechanically ventilated adults. Her work has been funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health since 2001. She recently completed a study of the impact of chlorhexidine mouthwash prior to intubation procedures on the prevention of pneumonia in mechanically ventilated patients, and she is currently conducting an NINR-funded study of tooth brushing risk and benefit in mechanically ventilated adults. Munro holds a U.S. patent for Prevention of Ventilator Associated Pneumonia and an international patent for a Vaccine to Prevent Streptococcal Endocarditis. She is a fellow in the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, and the American Academy of Nursing. She is a member of the National Academy of Inventors and nurse co-editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Critical Care. She is a member of Gamma Omega and Delta Beta-at-Large chapters.

Anne E. Norris, PhD, RN, FAAN, a professor at the University of Miami, USA, has been conducting interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research regarding adolescent and young adult sexual behavior for over 30 years. Her current work addresses the role that culture and other social influences play in health behavior, developmental and cultural tailoring of interventions, and use of gaming and simulation in health promotion interventions. Norris is currently conducting an efficacy trial of a promising early-intervention pregnancy prevention intervention for Latinas who are 12 to 14 years old. The trial, funded by a R01 grant from the U.S. National Institute for Nursing Research, uses classroom sessions and a live simulation computer game to train young girls in the art of resisting peer pressure. Additionally, she enjoys a long history of collaborating with colleagues and students on instrument development and other methodological challenges. She earned a master’s in psychiatric/mental health nursing and a PhD in nursing and psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is a member of Beta Tau Chapter.

Rita Pickler, PhD, RN, FAAN, is the FloAnn Sours Easton Endowed Professor of Child and Adolescent Health and director of the PhD and Master’s in Nursing Science Program at The Ohio State University, USA. Her research on care of the preterm infant spans over 25 years and has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health since 2001. She has served as principal investigator, co-investigator, or contributor on numerous intra- and extramural grants. Her research has improved care provided to preterm infants in the NICU and is now advancing knowledge to improve long-term neurodevelopment for infants born preterm. Her work is widely disseminated in published papers, book chapters, abstracts, and editorials. She is a member of numerous nursing organizations including the American Academy of Nursing. She is a member of Epsilon Chapter.

Anne Marie Rafferty, DPhil, RN, DN, CBE, is a nurse, historian, and health policy and health services researcher focusing on the health workforce. She won a prestigious Harkness Fellowship in Health Policy to work with Linda Aiken at the University of Pennsylvania, beginning a collaboration that has continued via RN4Cast study. Rafferty was seconded to work with Lord Ara Darzi on the nursing contribution to Next Stage Review of the NHS in 2008 and was a member of the Prime Minister's Commission on the Future of Nursing and Midwifery from 2010-11. She was International Distinguished Bloomberg Visiting Professor at the University of Toronto from 2014-15 and holds fellowships from the Royal College of Nursing and American Academy of Nursing. She currently leads the Lancet Commission on Nursing in the UK. She is a member of Upsilon Xi-at-Large Chapter.

Ora Lea Strickland, PhD, DSc (Hon), RN, FAAN, is dean and professor of nursing at the Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing and Health Sciences at Florida International University, USA. She has focused her research on women’s and family health, vulnerable populations, and measurement of health-related variables and nursing outcomes. She has studied the impact of health and economic policies on the well-being of women and children in southern Africa during her tenure as a Kellogg National Leadership fellow. Strickland assisted the National Institutes of Health in the design of the landmark Women's Health Initiative study and was an Emory site co-principal investigator for this study of 168,000 postmenopausal women at 40 national sites over the course of 10 years. Strickland has served as principal investigator on several other major federally funded and NIH grants and has conducted research focused on symptoms in expectant fathers, neurometric indices of perimenstrual symptoms, genetic markers of coronary heart disease in premenopausal African-American women, African-American breast cancer survivors, and emotional outcomes in sickle cell disease. She is a member of Alpha Epsilon Chapter.

Pei-Shan Tsai, PhD, RN, a distinguished professor and associate dean at Taipei Medical University College of Nursing in Taiwan, focuses her research on the link between stress‐response systems and chronic illnesses and outcomes of nursing care of patients with stress‐related illnesses. Tsai’s expertise includes using both physiological and behavioral measures in research for understanding the mechanisms and efficacy of nursing interventions. She also plays a vital role in demonstrating important health factors, disease prevalence, and health care effectiveness in the general population in Taiwan through secondary analysis of health data. Tsai is a collaborator noted for bringing researchers from different fields together to collaborate on research projects that have important clinical and policymaking implications. To date, she has published more than 130 peer-reviewed articles in medical, psychology, and nursing journals, many of which have received a high number of citations from journal articles. She is a member of Lambda Beta-at-Large Chapter.

Judith A. Vessey, PhD, MBA, RN, FAAN, is the Lelia Holden Carroll Professor in Nursing at Boston College William F. Connell School of Nursing and holds appointments as a nurse scientist at Boston Children’s Hospital and VA Boston Healthcare System. Vessey’s research on teasing and bullying stems from witnessing difficulties faced by children with chronic conditions. This initial work led to additional studies of bullying and lateral violence in the workplace. Her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, professional organizations, and private foundations. Vessey has authored numerous articles, presented, and influenced policy related to this topic. She was a Robert Wood Johnson Nurse Scholar at the University of California, San Francisco. She is a member of Alpha Chi Chapter.

Jane Armer, PhD, RN, FAAN, is a professor at the Sinclair School of Nursing, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, USA; director of nursing research, Ellis Fischel Cancer Center; founding director of the American Lymphedema Framework Project; and member of the National Lymphedema Network Medical Advisory Committee and Lymphology Association of North America board. As principal investigator for three grants funded by the National Institutes of Health, she has conducted extensive work in lymphedema prevalence, signs and symptoms, anthropometric measurement, and self-management among breast cancer survivors; fatigue among persons with lymphedema; and self-management of chronic illness. She is subcontract principal investigator on an NCI-funded grant prospectively examining lower limb lymphedema following gynecological cancer. Armer also leads the lymphedema research in three NCI-funded Alliance Cooperative Oncology Group trials now underway. She has published more than 125 articles—the majority on lymphedema and cancer survivorship. She has a strong record of mentoring doctoral students, junior faculty, and clinical colleagues. She is a member of Alpha Iota Chapter.

Kathryn H. Bowles, PhD, RN, FAAN, FACMI, is the van Ameringen Professor in Nursing Excellence at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, and director of the Center for Home Care Policy and Research at the Visiting Nurse Service of New York. Bowles’ program of research in transitional care, decision support, home care, and the electronic health record has been continuously funded for 20 years by federal and foundation sources. She has over 200 publications and presentations and has served on many international committees and workgroups to advance care of older adults and development of the electronic health record. She is an elected fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and the American College of Medical Informatics In 2011, Bowles co-founded RightCare Solutions, a software company based on her research on discharge referral decision-making. She is a member of Alpha Nu Chapter.

Diane L. Carroll, PhD, RN, FAAN, FAHA, FESC, is a nurse scientist in the Yvonne L. Munn Center for Nursing Research at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Carroll has maintained a program of research that focuses on improving patient-care outcomes in acute care settings and during health transitions. She has contributed to knowledge that describes the recovery trajectories in patients with cardiovascular disease, tested nursing interventions, and translated knowledge into practice by creating an environment where nurses can ask questions generated from the bedside and answered in mentored research experiences. She has authored more than 80 articles in peer-reviewed journals and four book chapters, and she has presented her research at several regional, national, and international research conferences. Carroll is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, the European Society of Cardiology, and the American Heart Association. She is a member of Alpha Chi Chapter at Boston College.

Trisha Dunning, PhD, AM, RN, CDE, a professor of nursing at Deakin University and Barwon Health in Australia, is an internationally recognized clinician, author, and researcher. She has served on many professional committees, including two terms on the board of The International Diabetes Federation and she is a member of the Board of Diabetes Victoria. She has held positions in the Australian Diabetes Educators Association, including president, and currently chairs the Research Council. She is regularly invited to speak at national and international conferences and has published more than 300 peer-reviewed articles, 10 books, and several diabetes-related guidelines—including the McKellar Guidelines for Managing Older People with Diabetes, which won two safety awards and has been implemented in many aged-care facilities in Australia. Her research focuses on older people with diabetes and end-of-life care. She has a passion for creative writing and has published in that genre. Dunning is a member of Xi Omicron Chapter.

Veronica D. Feeg, PhD, RN, FAAN, is the Gitenstein Professor and associate dean at Molloy College, Rockville Centre, New York, USA. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Villanova University, a master’s degree from New York University, and a PhD from Penn State University. She has been a nurse educator for more than 35 years and was editor of Pediatric Nursing, a clinical and research journal, for 25 years. She was the AAN/ANF Senior Nurse Scholar-in-Residence at the Institute of Medicine in 2004-05 and is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and the New York Academy of Medicine. Her research focuses on children and families with an emphasis on pediatric palliative care, along with a trajectory in health informatics and methods. She is a past member of the board of directors for Health Services for Children with Special Needs in Washington, D.C. She is the author of two review books and has authored more than 150 book chapters, research articles, and editorials. She is a member of Epsilon Kappa Chapter.

Mei R. Fu, PhD, RN, FAAN, is a tenured associate professor of nursing at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing, New York University, New York, NY, USA. She is an internationally known researcher and educator who has had a prolific and distinguished career in nursing research, education, and practice that has focused on symptom science to develop effective assessment and management of cancer-related symptoms. Her research incorporates qualitative and quantitative methods, genomic and biomarker approaches, and cutting-edge measurement technology as well as innovative behavioral interventions. Her award-winning research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, Oncology Nursing Society, Hartford Institute of Geriatric Nursing, Avon Foundation, Vital Fund, Judges and Lawyers for Breast Cancer Alert, and Pfizer Independent Learning and Change grant. She has also been honored as a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, fellow of Geriatrics at the Hartford Institute of Geriatrics, and fellow of New York Academy of Medicine. She is a member of Upsilon Chapter.

Donna Sullivan Havens, PhD, RN, FAAN, is a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA. Her science focuses on designing environments for excellent nursing practice and patient care. Because of her mantra “Designing systems to promote desired outcomes,” some say she has furthered the global tipping point for reforming the organization of nursing in hospitals. Her signature contribution is the Decisional Involvement Scale, which assesses shared governance globally. In 2015, Mometrix ranked her third out of 30 Most Influential U.S. Nursing Deans, citing the DIS as a major influence on policy and practice. She is one of a few who are defining evidence-based practice for nurse leaders. Havens has chaired American Organization of Nurse Executives task forces and committees to impact future care delivery systems and research agendas and American Academy of Nursing expert panels. She also conducted the first ANCC Magnet research and authored the first publications in this field. Today, she chairs the Commission on Magnet, overseeing the ANCC Magnet Program globally. She is a member of Alpha Alpha Chapter.

Cheryl Dennison Himmelfarb, PhD, ANP, RN, FAAN, is a professor and director of the Office for Science and Innovation at Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Himmelfarb’s commitment to reducing health disparities and improving care and outcomes for cardiovascular patients is evident through her scholarship. Her research has led to development of effective, transferable health system and team-based strategies to improve the quality of cardiovascular care. Her work has contributed to greater understanding of social and cultural determinants of cardiovascular risk, particularly among vulnerable populations. She has served on national expert panels, generating scientific statements and clinical guidelines to improve cardiovascular care. Himmelfarb has been prolific in her efforts to disseminate this research to scientific and clinical audiences, thus informing research and policy efforts while driving improvements in clinical practice and patient outcomes. She is a member of Nu Beta Chapter.

Christine Kennedy, PhD, RN, PNP, FAAN, is associate dean for academics at the University of Virginia School of Nursing, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA, and holds the M.H. Sly Endowed Chair with a joint appointment as professor of pediatrics, School of Medicine. She was professor and Koehn Endowed Chair in Pediatrics at the University of California–San Francisco from 1993-2013. Over the past two decades, she has conducted funded research studies with an emphasis on the influence of illness, media, and culture on young children’s developing health behaviors in the United States and Pacific Rim countries. In serving on the Children and Families Commission, her policy activities helped establish universal healthcare for one in three children in the state of California. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and Wharton School Executive Leadership. She is a member of Alpha Eta and Beta Kappa chapters.

Susan Carter McMillan, PhD, ARNP, FAAN, is a distinguished university professor and the Thompson Professor of Oncology Nursing at the University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, USA, where she chairs the Oncology Nursing Concentration in the master’s, DNP, and PhD programs. McMillan’s major areas of research have been symptom assessment and management in persons with cancer across the disease trajectory and quality of life of hospice patients with cancer and their family caregivers. McMillan has developed several clinically relevant assessment tools, including the Hospice Quality of Life Index, the Caregiver Quality of Life Index, and the Constipation Assessment Scale. The tools have been used widely in the United States and have been translated for use in other countries. She is known internationally for her work with quality of life of hospice patients, and she has traveled widely around the globe speaking to nurses about her research. She is a member of Delta Beta-at-Large Chapter.

Sandy Middleton, PhD, RN, ICU Cert, FACN, is a professor of nursing and director of the Nursing Research Institute, St Vincent’s Health Australia in Sydney, and Australian Catholic University, also in Sydney. She has obtained 71 grants totaling more than $22 million. She has led large, multi-site, cluster randomized controlled implementation trials demonstrating that nurse-initiated protocols can reduce death and dependency following acute stroke. She has a track record of translating evidence into practice nationally and internationally and has won multiple awards. Middleton is a ministerial appointment to Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council Research Committee and has published in multiple international peer reviewed journals, including Lancet, Stroke, Implementation Science, and International Journal of Stroke. She is a member of Xi Omicron Chapter.

Lorraine C. Mion, PhD, RN, FAAN, is research professor and interim director, Center of Excellence in Critical and Complex Care at The Ohio State University College of Nursing in Columbus, Ohio, USA. Her areas of specialty are acute care geriatrics (physical restraints, delirium, falls) and implementation science. Mion’s research has been funded by federal, foundation, and organizational resources for more than 30 years. She has authored more than 110 peer-reviewed articles in prestigious geriatric, nursing, quality and safety, administration, and critical-care journals. She has presented more than 100 times at national and international meetings. Her work on decreasing physical restraints in U.S. hospital settings has impacted policy through The Joint Commission accreditation standards and NICHE best practices for geriatric nursing. Mion influenced emergency care medicine through one of the early ED geriatric care models. She has served as a mentor to numerous staff nurses, advanced practice nurses, doctoral students, and physicians specializing in geriatric care. She is a member of Alpha Chapter.

Susan M. Rawl, PhD, RN, FAAHB, FAAN, is a professor of nursing at Indiana University, USA, and co-leader of the Cancer Prevention and Control Program at Indiana University Simon Cancer Center. For the past 20 years, Rawl has conducted patient-centered research, testing interventions to increase cancer screening among people at increased risk—including those with limited resources, low literacy levels, and minority populations. Currently, she is conducting a PCORI-funded trial to increase colorectal cancer screening among low-income and minority patients and collaborating on a multi-behavior intervention trial to increase colon, breast, and cervical cancer screening among rural women. Rawl has authored more than 85 peer-reviewed articles and made more than 200 research presentations. She is immediate past president of the Midwest Nursing Research Society, immediate past chair of the American Cancer Society’s Lakeshore Division board of directors, and a fellow in the American Academy of Health Behaviors and the American Academy of Nursing. Rawl is a member of Alpha and Mu Omega chapters.

Nancy S. Redeker, PhD, RN, FAHA, FAAN, is the Beatrice Renfield Term Professor of Nursing, director of the Biobehavioral Laboratory, and principal investigator of the Yale Center for Sleep Disturbance in Acute & Chronic Conditions, New Haven, Connecticut, USA. Her sustained program of research focuses on the role of sleep and sleep disorders among people with, or at risk for, chronic conditions in a variety of clinical and community settings. Redeker is a member of the National Advisory Council for Nursing Research and an ambassador for the Friends of the NINR. She is editor of Sleep Disorders & Sleep Promotion in Nursing Practice, the first textbook focused on evidence-based practice regarding sleep in nursing practice. She is also editor of Heart & Lung: The Journal of Acute & Critical Care. She is a member of Delta Mu Chapter.

Sheila Hedden Ridner, PhD, RN, FAAN, is the Martha Rivers Ingram Professor of Nursing at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. She has conducted funded research in lymphedema and cancer symptom management for more than a decade in national and international settings and has numerous publications and presentations to her credit. She has brought sophisticated measurement and intervention tools to professionals and patients alike. She has worked with and led teams composed not only of nurses but also medical, psychological, physical therapy, and alternative therapy researchers— with results that influence the profession, patients, families, community, and public policy. She is well-known as an international expert in lymphedema and for her worldwide service to the lymphedema community. She is a member of Iota Chapter.

Yea-Ing Lotus Shyu, PhD, RN, is a professor at Chang Gung University School of Nursing in Taiwan. Her research has focused on family caregiving for persons with dementia and care models for older persons recovering after hip-fracture surgery. More than 20 of her three- to five-year research projects have been funded by Taiwan’s National Health Research Institute and Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan. She has authored more than 160 peer-reviewed publications. She is a member of Lambda Beta-at-Large Chapter.

Mary Lou Sole, PhD, RN, CCNS, FAAN, FCCM, is dean and professor and Orlando Health Endowed Chair in Nursing at the University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USA. She is certified as a critical-care clinical nurse specialist. She serves on editorial boards of three critical care journals and is a regular member of an NIH study section. She has authored numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals and is lead editor of a highly regarded critical-care nursing textbook. She served as principal or co-investigator on three NIH-funded research grants. Sole has received numerous awards for clinical practice, teaching, and research, including the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses 2010 Distinguished Researcher and the 2013 Researcher of the Year from the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists. She is a member of Theta Epsilon Chapter.

Alexa K. Stuifbergen, PhD, RN, FAAN, is the James R. Dougherty Jr. Centennial Professor in Nursing, the Laura Lee Blanton Chair and dean of the School of Nursing at the University of Texas at Austin, USA. Internationally known for her innovative research projects studying various aspects of health promotion and wellness for persons with chronic and disabling conditions, Stuifbergen served as director of the NIH-funded Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research in Underserved Populations from 2000 to 2011 and is presently a co-director of the NIH-funded Center for Transdisciplinary Collaborative Research in Self-Management Science. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and a current member of the Advisory Council for the National Institute of Nursing Research. She is a member of Epsilon Theta Chapter.

Sally Thorne, PhD, RN, FAAN, FCAHS, professor at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, has maintained a longstanding program of substantive research into the complex dynamics of health professional interactions toward optimizing the care of persons with chronic illness and cancer. Concurrently, she has sustained a platform of scholarly activity in relation to the theoretical and philosophical underpinnings of nursing science, including critical reflections on the nature of evidence claims as well as consideration of the contribution of nursing epistemology to inquiry methodologies. She has authored an extensive body of published research and scholarly papers, book chapters, and four books, including the popular applied qualitative research methods text Interpretive Description. In addition to holding several senior advisory and editorial board positions, she is editor-in-chief of the scholarly journal Nursing Inquiry. She is a member of Xi Eta Chapter.

Katri Vehviläinen-Julkunen, PhD, Lic HC, MSc, RN, RM, FEANS, professor and chair at the University of Eastern Finland, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Nursing Science, Finland, is an internationally renowned researcher, scholar, and mentor who leads the doctoral program in health sciences. She holds a part-time nurse director position at Kuopio University Hospital. Vehviläinen-Julkunen is nationally and internationally recognized as an expert in leading multidisciplinary teams in maternal and child health research as well as health services research and evidence-based practice. She has supervised many PhD dissertations and has been lead investigator on several competitive funded projects. She has published more than 400 articles, other papers, and textbooks as well as innovation disclosures. Currently, she is principal investigator of INEXCA, a million-euro grant awarded by the European Union H2020 on quality of cancer care from several perspectives, with partners from Europe and the USA. She is a member of Iota Iota-at-Large Chapter.

Lorraine O. Walker, EdD, MPH, RN, the Luci B. Johnson Centennial Professor at the University of Texas at Austin, USA, has a multidisciplinary background covering the fields of nursing, education, and public health. A leading expert in nursing on women’s weight gain during pregnancy and the postpartum period, she also has extensive expertise in the behavioral and psychosocial health of new mothers, the motherhood transition, and implications for maternal and infant health. Her research emphasizes needs of low-income and minority women. She also is co-author of a book on theory development strategies that is used worldwide in nursing graduate programs. She teaches courses in the areas of global health, quantitative data analysis, and philosophic and theoretical foundations of nursing science. She has consulted with nurse scientists in diverse areas of the world, including Mexico, South Korea, and Iran. She is a member of Epsilon Theta Chapter.

Roger Watson, PhD, RN, FRCPE, FRCN, FAAN, professor of nursing at the University of Hull in the United Kingdom, has a special interest in the feeding and nutritional problems of older people with dementia. Editor-in-chief of Journal of Advanced Nursing and editor of Nursing Open, he is a frequent visitor to the Far East, South East Asia, and Australia and has honorary and visiting positions in China, Hong Kong, and Australia. He was a member of the UK 2014 Research Excellence Framework sub-panel for Allied Health Professions, Dentistry, Nursing and Pharmacy. He is a member of Phi Mu Chapter.

Terri E. Weaver, PhD, RN, FAAN, is dean and professor of the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Nursing, USA. She is recognized internationally for her research on the effect of daytime sleepiness on daily behaviors and assessment of treatment outcomes. Supported by the National Institutes of Health, Weaver’s scholarship has been widely disseminated in more than 100 publications. She received the Ada Sue Hinshaw Award, the pre-eminent award of the Friends of the National Institute of Nursing Research, for research that improves healthcare. Weaver is a fellow and past board member of the American Academy of Nursing and will be joining the board of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. She is a member of Alpha Lambda and Xi chapters.

View the 2015 Conversation with Honorees

View Photos of Honorees and the 26th International Nursing Research Congress

Ruth Anderson, PhD, RN, FAAN, a professor at Duke University School of Nursing, USA, focuses her research on chronic illness and care outcomes for older adults. Her expertise includes using complexity science and the adaptive leadership framework in research about trajectories of chronic illness and care systems. She employs quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods in her research program. She has been funded by numerous agencies and is in her 13th year of continuous funding from the National Institutes of Health. Anderson’s major accomplishments have been to pioneer the use of complexity theory and management science for analysis of relationships and practices needed to provide high-quality care to older adults in long-term care; to develop and test the CONNECT intervention to reduce falls in nursing homes; and to pioneer application of adaptive leadership theory in studying the intersection of chronic illness and care systems. She is also principal investigator for the National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Nursing Research-funded P-30 Center of Excellence in Adaptive Leadership for Cognitive/Affective Symptom Science. She is a member of Beta Epsilon and Epsilon Theta chapters.

Elizabeth R. A. Beattie, PhD, RN, FGSA, is professor of aged and dementia care, director of the Dementia Collaborative Research Centre: Carers and Consumers, and director of the Queensland Dementia Training Study Centre in the School of Nursing at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia. Her expertise is in psychiatric and gerontological nursing. Beattie’s primary research interests are in the areas of preventing negative functional outcomes of behavioral issues in dementia, carer support, quality of life, and decisional capacity. She is a member of Phi Delta-at-Large Chapter.

Stijn Blot, PhD, MNSc, RN, is a research professor at Ghent University in Belgium (Flanders) and honorary professor at The University of Queensland, Australia. In the past 15 years, he has published more than 200 articles in international journals in the field of health care-associated infections and outcomes research in critical care. He has also coauthored several books or book chapters on infectious diseases in critically ill patients. His work has been recognized with several international awards, and he is chair of the Nurses and Allied Health Professionals Committee of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine. Blot has been a member of the Flemish Society for Critical Care Nurses since 1996. He is an editorial board member of the American Journal of Critical Care and Australian Critical Care, and he is an international advisory board member of the Intensive and Critical Care Nursing journal. He has served as referee for over 70 nursing and non-nursing journals. He is a member of Rho Chi-at-Large Chapter.

Wendy P. Chaboyer, PhD, RN, is director of the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council Research Centre of Excellence in Nursing Interventions for Hospitalised Patients—the first NHMRC-funded nursing center of research excellence in Australia. She was foundational director of the Research Centre for Clinical and Community Practice Innovation, which grew significantly in funding, grant successes, membership numbers, and discipline representation during her eight-year tenure. Chaboyer has focused her research interests on acute and critical care nursing practices. Over the past five years, her research has led to several studies related to patient safety. Some of this work has been in relation to adverse events, clinical handover, the ICU discharge process, and, more recently, the areas of patient participation in patient safety activities, pressure injury prevention, and surgical wounds. She is a member of Phi Delta-at-Large Chapter.

Greta G. Cummings, PhD, RN, FCAHS, FAAN, is centennial professor at the University of Alberta in Canada. She established the Connecting Leadership Education & Research Outcomes research program in leadership science in health services, focusing on managers’ leadership practices. She has systematically documented both positive and negative effects of specific leadership practices on outcomes for the health system, the health care workforce, and patients. Since 2003, she has published over 140 peer-reviewed articles in nursing, medical, health services, and sociology journals. Cummings has been recognized with the Canadian Nurses Association Order of Merit for Research Award, the Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing Award for Research Excellence, and fellowship in the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. She has been named a Highly Cited Researcher in social sciences. She is sought out to supervise students, collaborate on research, give addresses on health care leadership, and provide consultative services. Her extensive community service includes positions on editorial and professional boards, including the International Society of Nurses in Cancer Care. She is a member of Mu Sigma Chapter.

Susan G. Dorsey, PhD, RN, FAAN, is an associate professor of nursing and anesthesiology, chair of the Department of Pain and Translational Symptom Science, and co-director of the University of Maryland Center for the Advancement of Chronic Pain Research, USA. Her program of research, which has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health since 2001, focuses on the role for neurotrophin signaling in chronic pain plasticity and muscle function. In addition, she and her group utilize genetic and other “omics” approaches to discover novel therapeutic targets for the treatment of chronic pain. She is a member of Pi Chapter.

Carol J. Farran, DNSc, RN, FAAN, is a professor at Rush University College of Nursing and The Nurses Alumni Association Chair in Health and the Aging Process, USA. She has been a nursing faculty member during her entire career, initially teaching beginning nursing students and currently teaching and mentoring Doctor of Philosophy students and junior faculty members. She has served as an administrator for a nursing education program and has directed Rush University's Doctor of Philosophy program. For many years, she served as principal investigator of the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center’s Education and Information Transfer Core, which focused on implementing a program of multicultural outreach and recruiting African-Americans to participate in dementia-related research. Farran conducted three Research Project Grant clinical trials, funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research, that focused on family caregiver skill building, mental and physical health, and physical activity promotion. She is currently developing and testing a Small Business Technology Transfer mobile-based educational program concerning skill building for family caregivers of persons with dementia. She is highly committed to multidisciplinary teamwork and multicultural issues that advance the science and care of people with Alzheimer’s disease. She is a member of Gamma Phi Chapter.

Mary Beth Happ, PhD, RN, FAAN, FGSA, is the Distinguished Professor of Critical Care Research at The Ohio State University College of Nursing and director of the Center of Excellence in Critical and Complex Care, USA. A National Institutes of Health-funded researcher, she has served as investigator/mentor on more than 30 studies. Her research program is targeted toward seriously ill older adults and focuses on understanding and improving patient-provider communication in critical and complex illness. Happ led a multidisciplinary team in developing and testing the SPEACS program: nurse training, communication tools, and expert consultation to improve patient communication in the ICU. She also co-led the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Interdisciplinary Nursing Quality Research Initiative project, SPEACS-2: Improving Patient Communication and Quality Outcomes in the ICU. She co-chairs the American Academy of Nursing Expert Panel on Acute and Critical Care and serves on several journal editorial boards. Her work is widely disseminated in over 130 published articles, editorials, book chapters, and educational modules. She is a member of Epsilon Chapter.

Diane Holditch-Davis, PhD, RN, FAAN, is the Marcus E. Hobbs Distinguished Professor of Nursing and associate dean for research affairs at Duke University School of Nursing, USA. She uses observation of parent-child interactions and infant sleep to determine health and developmental outcomes of high-risk infants, including those who are premature, adopted, seropositive for HIV, medically fragile, or children of low-income, depressed mothers. Holditch-Davis has been principal investigator on Research Project Grants funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research that compared the effects of infant massage and kangaroo care administered by mothers on infant health and development and mother-infant interactions; tested the effectiveness of a nursing support intervention for African-American mothers of preterm infants; and examined how biological risk, measured by sleep-wake state development and EEG dysmaturity, interacts with social risk to result in developmental and health outcomes of preterm infants. She is a member of Beta Epsilon Chapter.

Tonda L. Hughes, PhD, RN, FAAN, is a professor and associate dean for global health at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Nursing, USA. She is an internationally recognized researcher with more than 25 years of funded research on women’s mental health and substance use, totaling more than US $20 million. Hughes has served as a consultant to numerous U.S. federal agencies and institutes and to researchers in the United States, Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, South Africa, and Thailand. She was the first researcher to garner major national funding for research with sexual minority women—a population considered by the Institute of Medicine to be greatly understudied. Her findings have global implications for understanding sexual minority women’s high-risk health profiles, for improving the health and quality of life of both sexual minority and heterosexual populations, and for progress toward eliminating health disparities based on sexual orientation. She is a member of Alpha Lambda Chapter.

Christine E. Kasper, PhD, RN, FAAN, is a professor and senior research scientist for the Department of Veterans Affairs and Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, USA. Her 32-year research career has focused on the cellular mechanisms underlying skeletal muscle atrophy following prolonged immobilization and spaceflight, interventions for explosive blast-induced traumatic brain injury, and genotoxic changes deriving from embedded military-relevant heavy metals. She has published more than 110 research papers, book chapters, and books. Kasper was founding editor of Biological Research for Nursing and is editor of the Annual Review of Nursing Research. She has been principal investigator of multiple National Institutes of Health, NASA, and Department of Veterans Affairs grants. She is a member of Nu Beta Chapter.

Gail Melkus, EdD, C-NP, FAAN, is the Florence and William Downs Professor in Nursing Research, associate dean for research, and director of the Virginia and Muriel Pless Center for Nursing Research at the New York University College of Nursing, USA. She is an internationally recognized expert in diabetes nursing care and research. Her sustained interest in eliminating health disparities among vulnerable populations led her to focus on the development and testing of culturally competent models of diabetes care to improve biobehavioral outcomes. Melkus developed and implemented the first specialty curriculum in diabetes care and research for advanced practice nurses and pre- and postdoctoral students. Her research on physiological and behavioral outcomes of self-management interventions has served as an education and training ground for multidisciplinary scientists nationally and internationally. She serves as principal investigator or mentor on numerous funded projects. She is a member of Upsilon Chapter.

Christine Miaskowski, PhD, RN, FAAN, is a professor at the University of California, San Francisco School of Nursing, USA. She is an internationally recognized expert in symptom management research. Her program of research focuses on identification of phenotypic and molecular characteristics that place patients at higher risk for a more severe symptom profile. In addition, she has been a leader in evaluating symptom clusters in oncology patients. Her intervention studies are focused on evaluating pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic interventions to decrease pain in patients with cancer. Across all her funded studies, Miaskowski works with large teams of transdisciplinary scientists. She is a member of Alpha Eta and Alpha Omega chapters.

Dianne Morrison-Beedy, PhD, FAANP, FNAP, FAAN, is senior associate vice president of USF Health; dean of the College of Nursing; and professor of nursing, public health, and global health at the University of South Florida, USA. Her more than 20 years of research culminated in Health Improvement Project for Teens, a sexual-risk reduction intervention for adolescent girls. The project has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control for significant outcomes in reducing teen pregnancy and HIV/STI infection. Both agencies offer the intervention nationally to organizations interested in promoting sexual-risk reduction in adolescent girls. The author of more than 200 publications, Morrison-Beedy is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, and the National Academies of Practice. She is a member of Delta Beta-at-Large Chapter.

Karen Frick Pridham, PhD, RN, FAAN, is the Helen Denne Schulte Professor Emerita at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Nursing, USA. She has been a public health nurse, and her research program has focused on the feeding practices and interaction of parents with infants, both healthy and with lung disease or complex congenital heart disease. The aims of this research are to learn about parents' internal working models of caregiving—specifically, feeding through the first year. She has taught in an outreach program for nurse-physician teams, the Department of Family Medicine, and the School of Nursing, all at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Now an emerita professor, Pridham continues her research program and mentoring of nursing students in pediatric nursing research. She is a member of Beta Eta-at-Large Chapter. 

Barbara Resnick, PhD, CRNP, FAAN, FAANP, is a professor and the Sonya Ziporkin Gershowitz Chair in Gerontology at the University of Maryland School of Nursing, USA. She co-directs the Adult/Gerontological Nurse Practitioner Program and the Biology and Behavior Across the Lifespan Research Center of Excellence and does clinical work at Roland Park Place. Her research program is focused on optimizing function and physical activity among older adults and testing dissemination and implementation of interventions in real-world settings. Resnick has authored over 250 published articles, numerous chapters in nursing and medical textbooks, and books on restorative care and resilience. She is editor of Geriatric Nursing; associate editor of numerous journals, including the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association; and editorial board member for several journals, including those of The Gerontological Society of America. She has also held leadership positions in multiple organizations. She is a member of Pi Chapter.

Barbara Riegel, DNSc, RN, FAHA, FAAN, is the Edith Clemmer Steinbright Professor of Gerontology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, USA. She is co-editor of the Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing. Riegel is an established nurse scientist studying adults with cardiovascular disease. Her primary research interest is self-care of older adults with chronic heart failure. With more than 250 peer-reviewed publications, Riegel is recognized internationally for her work in self-care. This interest grew out of her early years as a clinical nurse researcher at Sharp HealthCare, where she led several studies that tested methods of transitioning chronically ill patients from hospital to home. She speaks nationally and internationally on self-care. She is a member of Xi Chapter.

Margarete J. Sandelowski, PhD, RN, FAAN, the Cary C. Boshamer Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Nursing, USA, serves as director and principal faculty of the Summer Programs in Qualitative Research offered through the Center for Lifelong Learning at the School of Nursing. She has been published widely in nursing, interdisciplinary health, and social science books; anthologies; and journals in the areas of technology and gender and of qualitative and mixed-methods primary research and research synthesis. Sandelowski has received numerous grants and awards for her achievements in these research domains. She is a member of Alpha Alpha Chapter.

Antonia M. Villarruel, PhD, RN, FAAN, is the Margaret Bond Simon Dean of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing and director of the school's World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Nursing and Midwifery Leadership, USA. A bilingual and bicultural researcher, she has extensive research and practice experience with Latino and Mexican populations as well as health promotion and health disparities. She incorporates a community-based participatory approach and has been principal investigator or co-principal investigator of more than eight randomized clinical trials on reducing high-risk behaviors in teens. Cuídate!, a program to reduce sexual risk behavior among Latino youth, is disseminated nationally by the Centers for Disease Control. Villarruel has assumed leadership in many organizations. A member of the Institute of Medicine, she serves on its Board of Population Health and Public Health Practice and chairs its Roundtable on the Promotion of Health Equity and the Elimination of Health Disparities. She is a member of Xi Chapter.

View the 2014 Conversation with Honorees

Views Photos of Honorees and the 25th International Nursing Research Congress

Li-Chi Chiang, PhD, RN, is professor, School of Nursing, National Defense Medical Center in Taiwan. A pediatric nursing professor for more than 30 years, she has studied assessment and management of pain in children and helped them and their families cope with chronic illness. She has improved the quality of life for children through biofeedback and patient- and family-centered care. Her series of studies over 15 years led to the development of a hospital-based health education program for children with asthma. Family-centered care, the core value of taking care of children and their families, has been the leading concept in Chiang’s recent studies. Because asthma is a chronic disease, it affects both pediatric patients and their families. Developing a specific family intervention and providing care and concern for the whole family are essential. Through family life courses, nurses can help families achieve more healthy lives. Chiang is a member of Lambda Beta-at-Large Chapter. 

Deborah Chyun, PhD, RN, FAHA, FAAN, is professor and executive associate dean at New York University College of Nursing, USA, where she also served as director of the Florence S. Downs PhD Program in Nursing Research and Theory Development. Previously, Chyun served 21 years on the faculty at Yale University. She has led interdisciplinary research teams and developed a research program focusing on cardiac-related outcomes and quality of life in older adults with type 2 diabetes. Chyun has extensive experience in training and mentoring health professionals in the United States as well as internationally. She serves as vice chair of the American Heart Association’s Council of Cardiovascular and Stroke Nursing. Chyun is a manuscript reviewer for more than 20 nursing and medical journals and is associate editor of Nursing Research. She is a member of Upsilon Chapter.

Mary D. Courtney, PhD, MHP, BAdmin, RN, FACN, is professor of nursing and head of the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine at Australian Catholic University in Brisbane, Australia. For 20 years, she has maintained a significant and sustained level of achievement in nursing research that has had a broad impact on the national and international community. Her major contributions focus on advancing nursing knowledge in in-home assessment, telephone case management, discharge planning, transitional care, and prevention of hospital readmissions in vulnerable population groups, such as older people who are at risk of poor outcomes. Courtney conducts research studies on applied translational health services, undertaking evaluations of innovative clinical interventions and new models of health service delivery to improve efficiency and intervention effectiveness in hospital and community health settings. She has authored 126 referred articles, 21 book chapters, and four books. She has received funding totaling $5 million, including a recent grant of $1.9 million to evaluate nursing interventions for people with dual diagnosis of cardiovascular disease and diabetes to reduce hospital readmission. She is a member of Phi Delta-at-Large Chapter.

Martha A.Q. Curley, PhD, RN, FAAN, is Ellen and Robert Kapito Professor in Nursing Science at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, USA, and holds a joint appointment in critical care medicine at the university’s Perelman School of Medicine. She is also a nurse scientist at Boston Children’s Hospital. Curley’s research—funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; the National Institute of Nursing Research; and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Human Development—has specifically focused on nurse-implemented interventions. Throughout several decades, Curley’s studies have illuminated relationship-based care when partnering with parents of critically ill children and have influenced the practice of caring for critically ill pediatric patients with acute respiratory failure. Curley has also led the development and dissemination of core metrics in the field of pediatrics. She is a member of Xi Chapter.

Cynthia M. Dougherty, PhD, ARNP, FAHA, FAAN, is professor in the Department of Biobehavioral Nursing and Health Systems at the University of Washington School of Nursing, USA, and a nurse practitioner in cardiology at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System. Dougherty is a pioneer and remains one of a handful of nurse scientist experts in promoting health for patients and families in the context of cardiac arrest and receipt of the implantable cardioverter defibrillator. Over the past two decades, she and her research team have engaged in clinical research on behalf of patients who suffer cardiac arrest, are resuscitated by paramedics, and go on to receive an ICD and live normal lives. She is a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and the American Heart Association and a member of Psi-at-Large Chapter.

Carol Estwing Ferrans, PhD, RN, FAAN, professor and associate dean for research at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Nursing, USA, is internationally recognized for her groundbreaking work in quality of life. She developed the Ferrans and Powers Quality of Life Index, which has been translated into 21 languages and used in more than 30 countries. Ferrans’ research also focused on reducing the African-American death rate from breast cancer, which was twice that of Caucasians in Chicago at its peak. Her research showed that cultural beliefs contribute directly to later diagnosis of breast cancer in African-American and Hispanic women, and she reached more than 8,000 women with a short film that changes those beliefs. Ferrans’ research and advocacy work culminated in creation of the Illinois Reducing Breast Cancer Disparities Act, which was designed to improve access to screening and quality of mammography throughout Illinois. This work provides a model for the effective dissemination of research findings to create wide-ranging changes in health care and policy. She is a member of Alpha Lambda Chapter.

Betty R. Ferrell, PhD, MA, RN, FAAN, FPCN, CHPN, has been in oncology nursing for 35 years and has focused her clinical expertise and research on pain management, quality of life, and palliative care. She is director of nursing research and education and professor at the City of Hope National Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, USA. Ferrell has been principal investigator of Palliative Care for Quality of Life and Symptom Concerns in Lung Cancer, a project funded by the National Cancer Institute. The End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium project was developed after her research findings revealed that end-of-life care was absent in nursing education curricula. As principal investigator of ELNEC, she developed curricula in end-of-life/palliative care for undergraduate and graduate nursing programs; for oncology, pediatric, critical care, and geriatric nursing; and for veterans with life-threatening illnesses. Ferrell’s seminal research in education and practice has fostered hundreds of nurse leaders and scholars in palliative and end-of-life care of individuals and families, satisfying the International Council of Nurses mandate that all nurses provide quality end-of-life care. Her significant research contributions to the ELNEC program have benefited thousands of nurses, patients, and families throughout the world. She is a member of Gamma Tau-at-Large Chapter. 

Joyce J. Fitzpatrick, PhD, MBA, RN, FAAN, is Elizabeth Brooks Ford Professor of Nursing at Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, Case Western Reserve University, USA. She has invested her professional energies in science development for the discipline of nursing, including theory and research. She has contributed widely to global nursing and health care research literature through publications and classic dissemination efforts, including three editions of the Encyclopedia of Nursing Research and editing the journal Applied Nursing Research. She is widely published in nursing and health care literature in more than 300 publications, including more than 75 books. Her own scholarship has been focused on the meaningfulness of life, including patients’ experiences through health and illness and the meaningfulness of nurses’ work life. She is a member of Alpha Mu Chapter.

Nancy Glass, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN, is professor and associate director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Global Health at Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, USA, where she conducts clinical and community-based interventions with diverse populations across multiple domestic and global settings. She is principal investigator of five federally funded multidisciplinary research studies to test employment, economic empowerment, and safety interventions to improve the health of survivors of gender-based violence and their families. She is PI of a UNICEF-funded trial to determine effectiveness of a primary prevention and response program on safety for women and girls in Somalia and South Sudan. She is co-investigator on a Department of State Bureau of Population, Refugee and Migration-funded partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to develop and test a screening tool to identify survivors of GBV in displaced and refugee populations in Ethiopia, Uganda, and Colombia. In partnership with Congolese-led nongovernmental organizations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, she is testing effectiveness of a livestock microfinance program on health and economic stability. She is a member of Nu Beta Chapter.

Margaret Grey, DrPH, RN, FAAN, dean and Annie Goodrich Professor at Yale University School of Nursing, USA, has been at Yale since January 1993. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from the University of Pittsburgh, a Master of Science in Nursing in pediatric nursing from Yale University, and a Doctor of Public Health degree from Columbia University. Her research has focused on improving the lives of youth with type 1 diabetes and preventing type 2 diabetes using innovative Web-based programs, and she has had a major impact on the study of self-management of chronic conditions. Grey has been the principal investigator for grants totaling more than US $32 million, and she has authored more than 270 journal articles, chapters, and abstracts. She has received numerous honors for her research. She is an elected fellow and member of several organizations, including the Institute of Medicine, the Society of Behavioral Medicine, and the American Academy of Nursing. Grey is a member of Delta Mu Chapter.

Joan E. Haase, PhD, RN, FAAN, is Holmquist Professor in Pediatric Oncology Nursing and co-director of the Research in Palliative and End-of-Life Communication and Training Center at Indiana University, USA. Her research focuses on factors influencing positive adjustment of children/adolescents/young adults with chronic illness and their families. Her Resilience in Illness Model is used to guide and evaluate intervention research. The Children’s Oncology Group Nursing Discipline adapted RIM as the guiding framework for its research and practice missions. COG is the primary cooperative group conducting pediatric cancer research in North America, Australia, New Zealand, and parts of Europe. RIM concepts include social integration, family environment, spiritual perspective, hope-derived meaning, courageous coping, and self-transcendence. Haase’s innovative approaches to theory and instrument development are taught as models of mixed-methods research in graduate nursing programs. She is a member of Alpha Chapter.

Eun-Ok Im, PhD, MPH, RN, CNS, FAAN, is professor and Marjorie O. Rendell Endowed Professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, USA. She is a highly regarded methodologist and theorist in global women’s health. A pioneer in the burgeoning field of groundbreaking Internet research, she has obtained continuous and substantial research funding through more than 30 research grants for the past 20 years. The impact of Im’s research is reflected in her more than 300 papers, abstracts, and chapters and more than 200 international and national multidisciplinary presentations. Her recognition as a global expert in this area is also reflected in her national and international services on more than 30 multidisciplinary National Institutes of Health review groups and on editorial and review boards for more than 30 prestigious multidisciplinary journals. Im’s articulation of the new approach of situation-specific theory has been a crucial and productive addition to nursing theory. She is a member of Xi Chapter.

Deborah Koniak-Griffin, EdD, RNC, FAAN, is professor and Audrienne H. Moseley Endowed Chair in Women’s Health Research at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Nursing, USA. She is chair of the Health Promotions Science Section and director of the Center for Vulnerable Populations. Koniak-Griffin’s integrated program of research and scholarly works build on clinical experiences as a women’s health care nurse practitioner and public health nurse. She is an international expert in maternal-child/women’s health with more than 150 publications. In 2012, Koniak-Griffin received the Pathfinder's Distinguished Service Award from Friends of the National Institute of Nursing Research for advancing understanding of health and health care. Numerous federal grants have supported her development of health promotion interventions for young parents and their children. Three of those interventions are evidence-based models that the U.S. government endorses. Koniak-Griffin earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from Columbia University, a Master of Science in Nursing degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Doctor of Education degree from Teachers College at Columbia University. She is a member of Gamma Tau-at-Large Chapter. 

Elizabeth Manias, PhD, RN, CertCritCare, BPharm, MPharm, MNurs, DLF-ACN, MPSA, MSHPA, is a research professor at Deakin University School of Nursing and Midwifery, Australia. She is a qualified nurse and pharmacist, and her work considers the importance of working collaboratively in clinical settings to improve quality in health care. She has made outstanding contributions to patient safety, medication management, interpersonal and organizational communication, and consumer participation. Her work has led to translational outputs in developing and implementing tools aimed at identifying medication-related problems in patients of non-English-speaking backgrounds and in patients presenting to the emergency department, and in identifying patients’ ability to administer medications in hospitals. These tools are used extensively by clinicians, managers, and policymakers. Manias’ work on inappropriate medication management in older people and young children has been featured widely in the media. She developed the Medication Communication Model, which is based on many years of observing how health professionals of different disciplines, patients, and families communicate with each other about how to manage medications in diverse environments. She is a member of Xi Omicron Chapter.

Ruth McCorkle, PhD, RN, FAAN, is Florence Schorske Wald Professor of Nursing at Yale School of Nursing, USA, and professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health. She was program leader of cancer control at Yale Comprehensive Cancer Center from 1998 to 2010. She was recently appointed assistant director of Psychosocial Oncology Research at Smilow Cancer Hospital, Yale New Haven. An international leader in cancer nursing, education, and research, McCorkle has done landmark research on testing the effects of the role of the advanced practice nurse on patient and caregiver outcomes. She has secured national funding for this program of research over four decades.  McCorkle has been a faculty member of the University of Washington and the University of Pennsylvania, where she is professor emeritus. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and a member of the Institute of Medicine and Delta Mu Chapter.

Brendan G. McCormack, DPhil (Oxon.), BSC (Hons.) Nursing, PGCEA, FEANS, RGN, RMN, is professor of nursing and head of the Division of Nursing School of Health Sciences at Queen Margaret University, United Kingdom. His internationally recognized work in person-centered practice development and research have resulted in successful long-term collaborations in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Norway, Netherlands, Canada, Australia, and South Africa. His writing and research work focus on person-centered practice, gerontological nursing, and practice development, and he serves on several editorial boards, policy committees, and development groups in these areas. He has a focus on the use of arts and creativity in health care research and development. McCormack has more than 150 peer-reviewed publications and has had eight books published. He is editor of the International Journal of Older People Nursing and is a fellow and board member of The European Academy of Nursing Science. In 2011, the University of Ulster awarded him the status of senior distinguished research fellow in recognition of his research achievements. He is a member of Phi Mu Chapter.

Usha Menon, PhD, RN, FAAN, is vice dean and professor at the College of Nursing and director of community engagement for the Center for Clinical Translational Sciences at The Ohio State University, USA. Her research focuses on increasing early detection of cancer among ageing and vulnerable minority populations and reducing health disparities in cancer prevention through tailored and targeted interventions that are guided by rigorous theory-based models of inquiry. With consistent funding from the National Institutes of Health, Menon has incorporated models of dissemination and implementation testing of screening interventions in national and international settings into her research program. She is a recognized expert in behavior change theory and intervention research and is passionate about mentoring future nurse scientists. She is a member of Epsilon and Alpha chapters.

Norma Metheny, PhD, RN, FAAN, is professor at Saint Louis University School of Nursing, USA, where she serves as associate dean of research. She also holds the Dorothy A. Votsmier Endowed Chair in Nursing. In the past 20 years, Metheny has conducted six major National Institutes of Health-funded studies of methods to prevent complications in critically ill tube-fed patients. Findings from her studies serve as the basis for widely circulated practice guidelines to determine feeding tube placement and to prevent aspiration associated with tube feedings. Among her numerous awards are the GE Healthcare-AACN Pioneering Spirit Award and the Distinguished Research Lecturer award from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. Metheny serves as a mentor for junior faculty and doctoral students, and she communicates with nurses around the world who work to improve care of tube-fed patients. She is a member of Delta Lambda Chapter.

Robin P. Newhouse, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, is professor and chair of the Department of Organizational Systems and Adult Health and co-director of the Center for Health Outcomes Research at the University of Maryland School of Nursing, USA. Her research focuses on health-system interventions to improve care and patient outcomes. She has been published extensively on health services improvement interventions and evidence-based practice. Newhouse was appointed to the Methodology Committee of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute by the comptroller general of the U.S. Government Accountability Office and is currently serving as committee chair. She has also been appointed to the Institute of Medicine Standing Committee on Credentialing Research in Nursing and to the IOM study on Treatment of Cardiac Arrest: Current Status and Future Directions. She serves on the American Nurses Credentialing Center Research Council and is past chair of the Research and Scholarship Advisory Council for Sigma. She is a member of Pi and Nu Beta chapters.

Adeline Nyamathi, PhD, ANP, FAAN, is distinguished professor and associate dean for international research and scholarly activities and Audrienne H. Moseley Endowed Chair in Community Health Research at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Nursing, USA. She has led an impressive multidisciplinary team as principal investigator of nine National Institutes of Health Regions of Interest and several other NIH-funded awards throughout the past 28 years. Her research has focused on culturally sensitive intervention programs for impoverished and/or homeless populations at risk for HIV and other comorbidities in Los Angeles and India. Many of Nyamathi’s studies represent the first randomized experimental designs conducted in hidden and high-risk populations, and they have led to program and institutional changes. She has had more than 180 papers published in leading interdisciplinary journals and has received numerous honors and awards, including fellowship in the American Academy of Nursing, the Distinguished UCLA Wellness Lecturer Award, and distinguished alumnus awards in both her master’s and doctorate programs. She is a member of Gamma Tau-at-Large Chapter.

Gayle G. Page, DNSc, RN, FAAN, professor and Independence Foundation Chair in Nursing Education at Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, USA, has been a faculty member since 1998. From 1993 to 1998, she was a faculty member at The Ohio State University College of Nursing. Her program of research provides evidence that unrelieved pain has significant biologic consequences. She has shown experimentally that undergoing and recovering from surgery can promote tumors and that providing pain relief significantly ameliorates this consequence. Her continuing work focuses on impact of early postnatal pain on responses to both painful and nonpainful stress at maturity. Page has also collaborated with several investigators to study the neuroendocrine and immune responses to laboratory or naturally occurring chronic stressors in healthy individuals, those undergoing joint replacement, individuals with sickle cell disease, and women in situations of domestic violence, as well as those seeking to escape domestic violence. Page is a member of Nu Beta Chapter.

Nilda Peragallo Montano, DrPH, RN, FAAN, is dean and professor at the University of Miami School of Nursing and Health Studies, USA, is a renowned nurse scientist who has devoted her career to improving the health of disparate populations in the United States and globally. Her solid research-funding record includes positions as director and principal investigator of the University of Miami Center of Excellence for Health Disparities Research, funded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities/National Institutes of Health. Peragallo Montano is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, a past member of the NIH/NIMHD Advisory Council, a past president of the National Association of Hispanic Nurses, and founding editor of Hispanic Healthcare International. She is an adjunct professor of the Australian Catholic University Faculty of Health Sciences and a member of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Nurse Faculty Scholars Program National Advisory Committee. HispanicBusiness honored her as one of the 100 Most Influential Leaders of 2012. She is a member of Beta Tau and Theta Epsilon chapters.

Linda Sarna, PhD, RN, FAAN, AOCN, professor and Lulu Wolf Hassenplug Endowed Chair at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Nursing, USA, is recognized for her scholarship promoting nursing involvement in tobacco control and her research focused on quality of life and symptoms of patients with lung cancer. Because smoking affects interventions with patients as well as nurses’ health, Sarna led the Tobacco Free Nurses initiative to help nurses quit smoking. Her Web-based intervention studies involve nurses in the United States, China, and Eastern Europe with the goal that every nurse is prepared to help patients quit tobacco use and reduce tobacco-related disease, premature mortality, and suffering. She has received numerous honors for her work, including recognition from the Oncology Nursing Society as a Distinguished Research Professor. Sarna has collaborated with national and international nursing organizations on tobacco control policies. Among her extensive publications is a monograph for the World Health Organization about the nurse’s role in reducing noncommunicable diseases and risk factors, especially tobacco use. She is a member of Gamma Tau-at-Large Chapter.

Joan Shaver, PhD, RN, FAAN, is professor and dean of the University of Arizona College of Nursing, USA, and was dean at the University of Illinois at Chicago from 1996 until 2009. For more than 20 years, she has conducted funded studies in women’s health and sleep science, particularly women in menopausal transition and with fatiguing health conditions such as fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. Her scientific work has been published in nursing, medical, and interdisciplinary journals. Shaver has served on the National Advisory Council for the National Institutes of Health National Institute of Nursing Research and Scientific Advisory Committee for the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research in Canada. She is a fellow and past president of the American Academy of Nursing and a fellow of the Western Academy of Nursing. She received the Lifetime Achievement Award for Research from the Midwest Nursing Research Society and the Menopause and Sleep Research Award from the North American Menopause Society/Duramed Pharmaceuticals Inc. She is a member of Beta Mu Chapter.

Patsy Yates, PhD, RN, FACN, FAAN, head of the School of Nursing and director of the Centre for Palliative Care Research and Education at Queensland University of Technology in Australia, is an internationally recognized leader in nursing. She has contributed to major scientific advances in cancer and palliative care nursing that have resulted in widespread benefits for patients and families, the profession, and policymakers. She has conducted numerous large-scale trials of novel interventions and service delivery models to improve symptom outcomes for people affected by cancer and at the end of life. She has also pioneered research to advance understanding of the experiences of people affected by cancer and health system interventions to improve services for people at the end of life. Yates has been published extensively, and her work is widely cited and incorporated into practice guidelines and government policies. She has held appointments on numerous boards and committees for federal and state governments and for professional bodies, and governments regularly contact her to undertake research and service development projects. She is a member of Phi Delta-at-Large Chapter.

View the 2013 Conversation with Honorees

Views Photos of Honorees and the 24th International Nursing Research Congress

Karen J. Aroian, PhD, RN, FAAN, has more than 30 years of federal and private funding and has generated numerous publications about immigrant and minority stress and psychosocial adaptation, health beliefs and health behaviors, and health care accessibility and utilization. She also developed a widely-used measure of immigrant stress, the Demands of Immigration Scale, and is an expert on cross-cultural measurement. Her methodological approaches include qualitative and mixed-method research as well as longitudinal quantitative research designs. Currently she is the director of research and an endowed professor at the University of Central Florida, College of Nursing. In that capacity, she developed a model of research partnerships with health care organizations that facilitates advancing faculty members' programs of research. She is a member of Theta Epsilon Chapter. 

Victoria Lee Champion, PhD, RN, FAAN, is distinguished professor and the Edward W. and Sarah Stam Culipher Endowed Chair at Indiana University School of Nursing, USA. Her research career has spanned almost 30 years, focusing on three primary areas: tailored interactive intervention programs to increase screening for both breast and colorectal cancer; use of technology to develop and deliver interventions with the intent of increasing accessibility to our underserved populations; and cancer survivorship, which includes the study of symptoms and symptom burden in cancer survivors. Champion’s studies have been supported continuously during this time from serving on many peer review panels and advisory boards, including her current six-year term on the National Cancer Advisory Board/National Institutes of Health and the American Cancer Society. She is a member of Alpha Chapter.

Sally WaiChi Chan, PhD, MSc, BSc, DipEd, RTN, RMN, RN, FHKCMHN, is department head and professor of the Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies, National University of Singapore. She is a pioneer in nursing research related to mental health nursing in Hong Kong and Singapore and has a consistent record of research grant acquisition. She has received a total of 56 grants since 1992 and has been published extensively in international nursing and health care journals as well as books and book chapters. Chan serves on the editorial and advisory board of many renowned journals. She is the editor of the Journal of Nursing Interventions and Singapore Nursing Journal. Her main research focus lies in mental health and psychosocial nursing. She has spent the past 20 years on the following key research themes: community mental health, perinatal mental health, old-age mental health, and nursing education. She is a member of Upsilon Eta Chapter.

Barbara Daly, PhD, RN, FAAN, is a professor in the School of Nursing and the School of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University and director of clinical ethics services at University Hospitals Case Medical Center. She holds the Gertrude Perkins Oliva Chair in Oncology Nursing. Daly has an established program of research centered on the care of patients facing life-limiting illness and their family caregivers. Over the past 15 years, she has conducted five large National Institutes of Health-funded studies of the chronically critically ill, patients with advanced cancer, and family caregivers. She has received the Distinguished Research Award from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. Daly has mentored numerous doctoral, postdoctoral, and medical students in research and actively collaborates with faculty colleagues across the university. She is a member of Alpha Mu Chapter.

Sandra B. Dunbar, DSN, RN, FAAN, FAHA, is the Charles Howard Candler Professor and associate dean for academic advancement at Emory University Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, USA. A nurse researcher and educator, she focuses on psychosocial responses to serious cardiovascular illness, such as heart failure and ventricular arrhythmia and treatment with implantable technology. Studies of patient and family responses have led to development and testing of interventions to improve physical and psychosocial outcomes. Dunbar has studied a family-focused intervention to improve outcomes for heart failure patients, and she completed another clinical trial of a psychoeducational intervention to improve psychological outcomes of patients treated with implantable cardioverter defibrillators. She is developing and testing interventions to improve integrated self-care for persons with heart failure and concomitant diabetes. She is also the principal investigator of a National Institutes of Health-funded study focused on caregiver stress for those assisting family members who have heart failure. She is a member of Alpha Epsilon Chapter.

Susan Gennaro, DSN, RN, FAAN, dean and professor of the William F. Connell School of Nursing, Boston College, USA, is a National Institutes of Health-funded researcher who currently sits on the Advisory Council for the National Institute of Nursing Research and the Nursing Advisory Council of the March of Dimes. She is editor of the Journal of Nursing Scholarship. Gennaro's research in the United States attempts to explain the antecedents and consequences of preterm birth. The focus of her international research has been on improving the safety of childbirth. She is a member of Alpha Chi Chapter.

Margaret McLean Heitkemper, PhD, RN, FAAN, is professor, chairperson, and Elizabeth Sterling Soule Endowed Chair, Department of Biobehavioral Nursing and Health Systems; adjunct professor, Division of Gastroenterology; and director, Center for Research on Management of Sleep Disturbances at the University of Washington, USA. Heitkemper leads an interdisciplinary team focused on the study of the pathophysiology and nonpharmacological management of individuals with irritable bowel syndrome. Her team is studying the interaction of stress, sleep, genetics, and symptoms in women with IBS. This work has been substantially funded by the National Institute for Nursing Research— National Institutes of Health. She is a member of Psi-at-Large Chapter.

Ann Kurth, PhD, RN, CNM, FAAN, is a professor at New York University College of Nursing and executive director of NYUCN Global. She works on HIV, reproductive health, and global health workforce/health systems. Her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, Gates Foundation, UNAIDS, and others for studies in the United States and internationally. She has consulted on methodology for the World Health Organization, NIH, the Centers for Disease Control, and Gates. She also led the Health System Strengthening subgroup of the Institute of Medicine committee evaluating the global President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief program. Kurth has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and scholarly monographs, including one of the first books on women and HIV. She served as president of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, which created credentialing certifications for HIV nurses. She is a member of Upsilon Chapter.

Yeur-Hur Lai, PhD, RN, is a professor in the School of Nursing at National Taiwan University. She is best known for her research and expertise in cancer care, including pain management, quality of life, and care needs. She leads the national tobacco control training and is involved in many cancer policymaking committees in Taiwan. Lai has more than 90 publications and numerous research presentations in nursing/medical and multidisciplinary conferences. She has served in leadership positions in many academic associations: She is past president of the Oncology Nursing Society of Taiwan; was a chapter president of Sigma; and is a board member of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer. She serves as editor for many international journals and is editor-in-chief of the Journal of Nursing Research. She has received many awards, including the 2002 Oncology Nursing Society International Award for Contribution to Cancer Care and the 2012 Distinguished Contribution Award from the Taiwan Nurses Association. She is a member of Lambda Beta-at-Large Chapter.

Kathryn Lee, PhD, RN, CBSM, FAAN, is a professor and the James and Marjorie Livingston Endowed Chair in Nursing at the University of California, San Francisco. She is associate dean for research at the School of Nursing and director of a Nurse Research Training Grant on Symptom Management. Lee is co-director of UCSF’s Mentor Development Program in Clinical and Translational Science. She has been a principal investigator and co-investigator on research teams contributing to the understanding of sleep and sleep disorders across the lifespan. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, is certified in behavioral sleep medicine, and is a founding member of the Society of Behavioral Sleep Medicine. The interdisciplinary nature of her research has made important contributions to clinical practice. Lee serves as a mentor to faculty and students in research within UCSF and at other universities nationally and internationally. She is a member of Alpha Eta Chapter. 

Marie Poggenpoel, BArt et Scien, M Soc Sc, D Phil, RN, a nurse academic attached to the University of Johannesburg, is an internationally known expert on qualitative research. She is rated by the National Research Foundation of South Africa as an established researcher with international recognition. For the past 10 years, her research has focused on the experience and management of aggression in South African society. She has published more than 150 articles from research projects she has led and has supervised more than 150 master’s and more than 100 doctoral students to graduation. She is a member of Tau Lambda-at-Large Chapter.

Therese “Terry” S. Richmond, PhD, CRNP, FAAN, is the Andrea B. Laporte Endowed Term Professor in the School of Nursing and professor of nursing in surgery in the School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, USA. Her research focuses on the intersection of physical and mental health after traumatic injury and its effect on recovery. She is currently funded to examine psychological consequences of injury in urban black men. Richmond has an extensive research program in preventing violence, particularly in vulnerable populations. She co-founded and is research director of the Firearm & Injury Center at the University of Pennsylvania, which is an interdisciplinary research center dedicated to reducing injury and death from violence. She is a fellow in the Center for Public Health Interest, the Jerry Lee Center of Criminology, and the Leonard Davis Institute for Health Care Economics—all interdisciplinary research centers. She directs the Hillman Scholar Program in Nursing Innovation, which is an integrated and rigorous BSN-PhD program. She is a member of Xi Chapter.

Claire Rickard, PhD, RN, is a respected leader whose acute and critical-care research has significantly influenced practice. She is a chief investigator with the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council Centre for Research Excellence in Nursing Interventions for Hospitalised Patients, the Griffith Health Institute - Health Practice Innovation Program, and the School of Nursing & Midwifery at Griffith University in Australia. She is a fellow of the Australian College of Nursing. Rickard’s work was awarded Australian Nursing Innovation of the Year in 2008, and she was named in Australia’s Top 10 Emerging Leaders (Health) in 2009. Rickard’s Intravascular Access Device Research Group undertakes large, randomized controlled trials and Cochrane systematic reviews of interventions to prevent complications including infection, blood loss, and device failure. Rickard’s multidisciplinary team includes nurses, doctors, microbiologists, chemists, engineers, statisticians, and economists; has attracted significant research funding; and has been published in respected journals such as The Lancet. She is a member of Phi Delta-at-Large Chapter.

Laetitia Rispel, PhD, RN, RM, is head of the School of Public Health and associate professor at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. Her research expertise is broadly in public health and specifically in health policy and systems research, with more than 70 publications in the HPSR field. A creative teacher, she has experience in teaching both undergraduate and post-graduate students. Until June 2012, she was principal investigator of a large, multiyear research program titled Research on the State of Nursing. The overall goal of the program was to develop and strengthen the evidence for improved nursing policy development and practice in South Africa. She is president of the Public Health Association of South Africa and serves on the governing council of World Federation of Public Health Associations. She is a member of Tau Lambda-at-Large Chapter.

Phyllis W. Sharps, PhD, RN, FAAN, is a professor of nursing and public health and associate dean for community and global programs at The Johns Hopkins University, USA. She is a maternal child health expert, a researcher, and a mentor to the next generations of nurses, local to global. She is also the director of three nurse-led health and wellness centers that provide care to women and children and are sites for community-based research. Her research program examines the effects of intimate-partner violence on the physical and emotional health of pregnant women, infants, and very young children. She has received funded grants from the National Institutes of Health, for nursing home visiting, and for using computer tablets for screening and implementing the Domestic Violence Enhanced Visitation Program, an intervention to keep abused women and babies safe from intimate-partner violence. A fellow in the American Academy of Nursing, she is a member of Nu Beta Chapter.

Kyung Rim Shin, EdD, RN, FAAN, is a professor at the College of Health Science, Division of Nursing Science, Ewha Womans University, Republic of Korea. She earned her degree in the USA then returned to Korea in 1992, accepting a position at Ewha Womans University as an assistant professor. Shin moved rapidly through the ranks and was appointed professor in 2001. From 2002 to 2004, she served as president of the International Council on Women’s Health and, at the same time, as dean of university relations and development. In 2006, she was appointed as dean of the College of Nursing Science, and from 2007 to 2012, she was dean of Nursing Science and dean of the College of Health Science. In May, Shin was elected to the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea and is now a member of parliament. Throughout these 20 years, Shin continued to conduct nursing research at a most impressive rate. She is a qualitative researcher but not exclusively. Her area of inquiry is gender and health, and her “method” is mainly phenomenological; she has written and contributed to books on this method. She has been published extensively and consistently on various aspects of the health of elderly women. Shin has translated 16 U.S. qualitative inquiry texts and 16 general nursing texts into Korean. She is a member of Lambda Alpha-at-Large Chapter.

JoEllen Wilbur, PhD, APAN, FAAN, is a professor, endowed Independence Foundation Chair in nursing, and associate dean for research at Rush University College of Nursing, USA. For two decades, she has conducted a series of community-based clinical trials to develop evidence-based behavior-change interventions to increase physical-activity adherence and improve cardiovascular outcomes in women. Her current research is a physical-activity clinical trial, conducted in six Chicago, Illinois, communities, to test the use of the group visit for African-American women and one of three different telephone conditions. Wilbur has widely disseminated her work in reviewed publications and served on editorial boards and grant review panels. She has mentored several international doctoral students, National Institutes of Health National Research Service Award-funded predoctoral trainees, and postdoctoral fellows. Her awards include the 2011 Distinguished Contribution Award from the Midwest Nursing Research Society for contributions to nursing research. She is a member of Alpha Lambda and Gamma Phi chapters.

Ann Bartley Williams, EdD, RN, FAAN, is professor of nursing and associate dean for research at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Nursing. Before moving to UCLA, Williams was the Jayne Professor of Nursing and professor of medicine at Yale University. From 1991 to 2010, she led the Connecticut AIDS Education and Training Center. She is guest professor, Faculty of Nursing, Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan Province, China. For more than three decades, Williams has worked as a nurse practitioner caring for people with HIV and AIDS in the United States and abroad. Her program of research is a direct outgrowth of that clinical work. She designed and conducted some of the earliest studies of AIDS among drug users. Her work tested interventions to decrease HIV transmission, improve gynecologic care of women living with HIV, and increase patient adherence to antiretroviral medication. She is a member of Gamma Tau-at-Large Chapter.

Nancy Fugate Woods, PhD, RN, FAAN, is professor of biobehavioral nursing and dean emeritus at the University of Washington School of Nursing, USA. She has led a sustained program of research in the field of women’s health. Her collaborative, interdisciplinary research has resulted in an improved understanding of women’s experiences of menstrual cycle symptoms as well as the menopausal transition, including endocrine, social, personal, and genetic factors influencing symptoms and women’s approaches to symptom management. In 1989, Woods and her colleagues, including Joan Shaver, PhD, RN, FAAN, established the first National Institutes of Health-funded Center for Women’s Health Research at the University of Washington School of Nursing and established the Seattle Midlife Women’s Health Study, a longitudinal study of women during the menopausal transition and early postmenopause. She is an investigator for the Women’s Health Initiative Study and for the Menopause Strategies: Finding Lasting Answers for Symptoms and Health study of symptom-management approaches for hot flashes and related symptoms. Her honors include election to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies and to the American Academy of Nursing. She is a member of Psi-at-Large Chapter. 

View the 2012 Conversation with Honorees

Jerilyn Allen, ScD, RN, FAAN, is associate dean for research and M. Adelaide Nutting Professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing with joint appointments in the School of Medicine and Bloomberg School of Public Health. She is principal investigator and co-investigator on research teams in the nursing, medical and public health arenas, contributing to the understanding of cardiovascular risk factors and lifestyle modification in people with or at high risk for cardiovascular disease. The interdisciplinary nature and findings of this research have made important contributions to the practice of nurses, physicians and other health care providers who are involved in the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease. Allen serves as a positive mentor—teaching, guiding and developing faculty and students in research within Johns Hopkins University and other universities nationally and internationally. She is a member of Nu Beta Chapter. 

Patricia M. Davidson, PhD, RN, MEd, is professor of cardiovascular and chronic care at the University of Technology, Sydney and professor of cardiovascular nursing research at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney, Australia. Her research focuses on noncommunicable diseases and the social determinants of health. Her work has concentrated on improving heart failure management and palliative and supportive care for noncommunicable diseases, and advancing policy, practice and research strategies to improve women’s health. Davidson’s research focuses on models of care development to improve transitional care and access to effective health care services. She is a member of Xi Omicron Chapter.

Helen Edwards, PhD, OAM, RN, is professor and head of the School of Nursing at Queensland University of Technology in Queensland, Australia, and is a member of the Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation. She is also a program leader for the Wound Management Innovation Cooperative Research Centre and director for the Queensland Dementia Training and Study Centre. She has worked in education and research for 30 years and is internationally recognized for her work in ageing and wound management. In 2008, she established a wound healing community outreach service that is based on an empowerment model of care. Edwards has more than 100 publications, supervises PhD students and serves on editorial boards. In 2011, she received an Order of Australia Medal in recognition of her service to nursing education and research. She was the recipient of a Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Queensland for outstanding contribution to research and advocacy in aged care and dementia. She is a member of Zeta Omega and Phi Delta chapters.

Minrie Greeff, PhD, RN, RM, has been professor in the Africa Unit for Transdisciplinary Health Research of the Faculty of Health Science at North-West University since 2008. She was dean of the School of Nursing Science from 1994 to 2004. An acknowledged researcher, she has published 62 articles in national and international scientific journals. She is on review and editorial boards of seven peer-reviewed journals. She has presented her research findings at 56 national and 73 international conferences. She is the author of 10 chapters in books. Greeff has been a study leader and promoter of 40 master’s and doctoral students. She has been a National Research Foundation rated researcher since 2009. In 2011, she received Blue Skies funding from the NRF for innovative research in the field of HIV stigma reduction. In 2011, she received two hall of fame awards. She is a member of Tau Lambda-at-Large Chapter.

Deborah Gross, DNSc, RN, FAAN, is Leonard and Helen Stulman Professor in Mental Health and Psychiatric Nursing at Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. She is best known for her work in improving the mental health of young children and their families living in low-income urban communities. At Johns Hopkins University, she holds joint appointments in the schools of Nursing, Medicine and Public Health. She and her colleagues developed the Chicago Parent Program, an innovative parenting program being used by agencies in Chicago, New York City, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Gross was a Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellow, and among her many recognitions are the Friends of the National Institute for Nursing Research President’s Award for outstanding research and the American Academy of Nursing Edge Runner Award that honors developers of model programs offering solutions to health care challenges. She has served on numerous review panels for the National Institutes of Health and the Institute of Medicine, is widely published, and serves on the editorial boards of Research in Nursing & Health and Nursing Outlook. She is a member of Nu Beta Chapter.

William L. Holzemer, PhD, RN, FAAN, is dean and professor of the College of Nursing, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine, a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and a member of the Japan Academy of Nursing. He is an elected member of the International Council of Nurses board of directors, 2005-13. In 2010, he was elected a fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine. Holzemer is an internationally recognized expert in academic nursing and HIV/AIDS care, providing global leadership to the World Health Organization, the International Council of Nurses and many universities around the world. Under his leadership, the Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science was organized within the American Academy of Nursing to provide a national voice for translational research and health policy development related to nursing science. He has mentored many graduate and postgraduate students throughout his career. He is a member of Alpha Eta and Alpha Tau chapters.

Pamela R. Jeffries, PhD, RN, FAAN, ANEF, is professor and associate dean for academic affairs at Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. She is nationally known for her research and work in developing simulations and online teaching and learning. At Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing and throughout the academic community, she is highly regarded for her expertise in experiential learning, innovative teaching strategies, new pedagogies and content delivery using technology in nursing education. Jeffries served as project director for a national simulation study funded by the National League for Nursing and Laerdal Corporation. She was named to the same role for a second National League for Nursing and Laerdal grant to facilitate the creation of Web-based courses for faculty development in simulation and a national simulation innovation resource center. Her current research, funded by a five-year Health Resources and Services Administration grant, aims to develop health information technology scholars. She has received several grants to support her research and numerous teaching awards. She is a member of Alpha Chapter.

Miyong T. Kim, PhD, RN, FAAN, professor at Johns Hopkins University, USA, is a translational researcher who has built a strong program of research focused on community-based participatory research as a means of reducing health disparities among traditionally underserved ethnic minority populations. Her research program examines the effectiveness of self-care strategies for improving health outcomes and overcoming racial, ethnic and social disparities in health care. Kim has been principal investigator on several externally funded research projects and is director of JHU Center for Excellence in Cardiovascular Health for Vulnerable Populations. She has a well-established track record in identifying important social determinants of health disparity that appear to be associated with uncontrolled diabetes mellitus and high blood pressure in underserved ethnic minorities, including stress, low health literacy and insufficient access to health care, health information and health technologies. She also has an excellent reputation for mentoring numerous doctoral and postdoctoral students from various disciplines. She is a member of Beta Mu and Nu Beta chapters.

Ruth Kleinpell, PhD, RN, FAAN, FCCM, is director of the Center for Clinical Research and Scholarship at Rush University Medical Center and professor at Rush University College of Nursing in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She is a certified acute care nurse practitioner and maintains an active practice at Mercy Hospital and Medical Center in Chicago. She is an experienced researcher, clinician and educator in the areas of acute and subacute care and advanced practice nursing roles. Kleinpell presents and publishes widely and is on the board of the Society of Critical Care Medicine and the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, the Institute of Medicine of Chicago and the American College of Critical Care Medicine. She is president of the World Federation of Critical Care Nursing, an organization that represents more than 400,000 critical care nurses from 39 countries. She is a member of Gamma Phi and Alpha Lambda chapters.

Marie T. Nolan, PhD, MPH, RN, is professor and chair of the Department of Acute and Chronic Care at Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, USA. She is internationally known for her empirical and theoretical work on patient and family decision-making at the end of life, funded by the National Institute for Nursing Research at the National Institutes of Health. She has studied patients with advanced cancer, heart failure and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and is testing an intervention to prepare family members for end-of-life decision-making. Nolan holds a joint appointment in the Berman Institute of Bioethics at Johns Hopkins University. She is also president of the International Network for Doctoral Education in Nursing, an organization advancing doctoral education in nursing globally. She is JHU director of the doctoral program partnership between the schools of nursing of Johns Hopkins University and Peking Union Medical College in Beijing, China, a collaboration that has produced 20 PhD graduates. She is a member of Nu Beta Chapter.

Linda Shields, MD, PhD, FRCNA, holds the position of professor of tropical health nursing at James Cook University in Townsville, Australia, and is an honorary chair in the School of Medicine at The University of Queensland. She is an expert in family-centered care—the topic for which, in 2011, she was awarded a Higher Doctorate-Doctor of Medicine from The University of Queensland. Shields is the first nurse in Australia to attain a higher doctorate. Her current research interests include comparison of differences between nursing outcomes in tropical areas and cooler climes, the history of nursing and family-centered care. She is a member of Xi Omicron Chapter.

Carol E. Smith, PhD, RN, FAAN, is professor at the University of Kansas School of Nursing in Kansas City, Kansas, USA. Her contributions to improve nursing are in research, mentorship and use of technology in patient homes and for academic education. She has 25 years of consecutive funding from four institutes of the National Institutes of Health. Her research teams’ interventions have used telehealth, Internet and wireless technologies to provide interdisciplinary care. The interventions have assisted family caregivers in preventing untoward effects of acute and chronic illness in their loved ones who require complex care at home. Smith’s data have been written into national regulations, presented at science forums and congressional panels, and used in funded mentorships for faculty. The team has published in top-notch health science and clinical journals as well as in lay caregiving guides and textbooks. Her research-based interventions have been used by numerous nurses, medical centers, and international and national associations. A policy highlight was her 2008 panel presentation on Capitol Hill to the Congressional 21st Century Health Care Caucus on Supporting Family Caregiving. She is a member of Delta Chapter.

Kathleen R. Stevens, EdD, RN, ANEF, FAAN, is professor of nursing and director of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. As founding director of the Academic Center for Evidence-Based Practice, she advances evidence-based quality improvement through research, education and practice. Stevens is an investigator on interprofessional projects emphasizing systematic reviews and organizational improvement. Her trailblazing research investigates uptake of evidence-based practice, knowledge transformation and workforce preparation for quality and safety. She developed and launched the Improvement Science Research Network, a national network “collaboratory” in which to conduct rigorous improvement research projects. Stevens served on Sigma’s board of directors and committees, is a national-level consultant and is a fellow of the Academy of Nurse Educators and the American Academy of Nursing. In October 2011, Sigma honored her with the Episteme award. She is a member of Delta Alpha-at-Large Chapter.

Hsiu-Hung Wang, PhD, RN, FAAN, is professor and dean of Kaohsiung Medical University College of Nursing in Taiwan. She has dedicated herself to being at the forefront of the nursing profession nationally and internationally and is the first nursing scholar authorized as deputy minister of health in Taiwan. For decades, her research has focused on women’s health and elderly long-term care. Wang has published more than 140 articles in national and international journals. Her education, research and policy work follow a coherent pattern related to women’s health and care of elders. As a nursing scholar, she initiated research on sexual harassment in medical practice, health care and health promotion among women in transnational marriages, and domestic violence against women. These research outcomes have had significant influences on medical and health care systems, society and policymaking in Taiwan. She is a member of Lambda Beta-at-Large Chapter.

View the 2011 Conversation with Honorees

Jacquelyn Campbell, PhD, RN, FAAN, professor and chair of the Department of Community Health at Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, is a national leader in research and advocacy in the field of domestic and intimate partner violence. Her studies paved the way for a growing body of interdisciplinary investigations by researchers in nursing, medicine and public health. National and international policymakers frequently seek her expertise in exploring IPV and its potential health effects on families and communities. She has been conducting advocacy, policy work and research in domestic violence and health outcomes since 1980. Her global work includes co-chairing the Steering Committee for the World Health Organization Multi-Country Study on Violence and Health and co-chairing the IOM Forum on Global Violence Prevention. Campbell is also active in national policy work, testifying before Congress and maintaining membership on the congressionally appointed U.S. Department of Defense Task Force on Domestic Violence.

Chung-Hey Chen, PhD, MSN, BSN, is a Professor of Nursing at the National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan. She is past dean at the Kaohsiung Medical University College of Nursing and president of the Kaohsiung City Nurses Association in Taiwan. Her research, funded by the Taiwan National Science Council, has focused for the past 20 years on prepartum and postpartum depression, stressfulness of childbearing, and complementary/alternative therapy. She is the author of 118 articles. Her research findings not only contribute to the clinical practice in terms of establishing the women health care model in Taiwan, but also motivating the graduate students to extend her research focus on women health, nursing education and illness management.

Inge B. Corless, PhD, RN, FAAN, is the Amelia Peabody Professor in Nursing Research at MGH Institute of Health Professions School of Nursing. She was a Robert Wood Johnson postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, San Francisco. Her early work focused on death and dying and hospice. At UCSF, she initiated her first study on HIV/AIDS. She has combined her interests in research on symptom management, depression and grief. Corless has been focusing on the question “So what?” She wants to answer that question about her own studies, as well as identify research that makes a difference for patient care. She is a graduate of the Bellevue Schools of Nursing. She completed her bachelor’s degree in nursing at Boston University, a master’s degree in sociology at the University of Rhode Island and a doctoral degree in medical sociology at Brown University.

Julie A. Fairman, PhD, RN, FAAN, is professor of nursing and director of the Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. She holds a secondary appointment in the Department of the History and Sociology of Science. Fairman is also a senior fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania. She is the author of two critically acclaimed books, Critical Care Nursing: A History and Making Room in the Clinic. Her work examines the historical foundations of contemporary nursing issues, including the nurse practitioner movement; the relationship among gender, technology and nursing; and the negotiation of clinical practice boundaries between providers. Fairman is writing a new book focusing on the intersection of nursing and health care policy.

Fannie G. Gaston-Johansson, PhD, RN, FAAN, professor and Elsie M. Lawler Chair of the Department of Acute and Chronic Care at Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, is an internationally renowned nurse educator, researcher and clinical practitioner. She is also co-director of a postdoctoral training program in breast cancer research for underserved and minority women. Her research focuses on end-of-life issues with an emphasis on strategies to manage pain and other symptoms in patients with cancer and terminal or chronic illnesses. Gaston-Johansson was named to the Maryland Task Force on Health Care Access and Reimbursement and is the recipient of the National Black Nurses Association's Trailblazer Award. She is the first African-American woman to be a tenured full professor at Johns Hopkins University and has received citations from the U.S. Congress and the government of Sweden for her international and domestic research endeavors. Gaston-Johansson served on the board of directors for Sigma.

Kaye A. Herth, PhD, RN, FAAN, is dean emeritus at the School of Nursing, Minnesota State University, Mankato. She has extensive clinical, teaching and administrative experience. Her pioneering research has focused on hope and humor in individuals with a chronic or terminal illness and the impact they have on family or significant others. She has also studied the impact that hope and humor have on homeless families and children. Herth's instruments to measure hope have been translated into 19 languages and are used throughout the world. Her Hope Intervention Program and Guide for Leadership from a Hope Paradigm have achieved national and international recognition. She has published, presented and consulted widely. Her foundational book with colleagues on hope and hopelessness established hope as a crucial construct in health care and across disciplines.

Wipada Kunaviktikul, DSN, RN, is professor and director of the Nursing Policy and Outcome Center at Chiang Mai University Faculty of Nursing in Thailand. She also serves on the national board of the Thailand Health Care Accreditation Institute and on the advisory board of Thailand Nursing and Midwifery Council. She was the dean of Chiang Mai University’s Faculty of Nursing from 2001-08, where she also held the position of first director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre #203 at her university. She was a research fellow at Harvard University, School of Public Health from 2008-09. She has conducted many significant research projects and has more than 50 research publications. The NPOC outcomes have influenced nurses, faculty and students to be leaders in policy, research and practice. The center is a model of development for other institutes in Thailand and other parts of Asia.

Elaine L. Larson, PhD, RN, FAAN, CIC, is associate dean for research and professor of pharmaceutical and therapeutic research at Columbia University School of Nursing and professor of epidemiology at Columbia University School of Public Health. She was formerly a dean at Georgetown University School of Nursing and associate director of nursing at Georgetown Hospital. Larson is editor of the American Journal of Infection Control. She has published more than 200 journal articles and four books and book chapters in the areas of infection prevention, epidemiology and clinical research. She has served as a consultant in infection control and nursing in international settings such as Kuwait, Jordan, Singapore, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Ghana, Peru, Brazil, Spain, Portugal, France and Egypt, as well as the World Health Organization. She is director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Research to Prevent Antimicrobial Resistance.

Bernadette Mazurek Melnyk, PhD, RN, CPNP/PMHNP, FNAP, FAAN, is Dean of the College of Nursing and Associate Vice President for Health Promotion and Chief Wellness Officer, The Ohio State University. Her 25-year research program focuses on improving healthy behaviors and on children, teens and parents experiencing stressful life events, such as hospitalization or premature birth. Her extramural funding exceeds $11 million, and recognitions of her contributions to research and nursing include Sigma’s Audrey Hepburn Award and American Academy of Nursing’s Edge Runner Award. Melnyk is one of only two nurse members on the United States Preventive Services Task Force. Her work is widely disseminated, with more than 170 publications, and her COPE program has been adopted by hospitals and insurers, and adapted by investigators in eight countries. An international expert in evidence-based practice, Melnyk has provided hundreds of presentations and consultations to health care and professional organizations. Recognized as a forerunner in educational texts, Melnyk’s book Evidence-Based Practice in Nursing & Healthcare: A Guide to Best Practice, co-authored by Ellen Fineout-Overholt, PhD, RN, FNAP, FAAN, is used by more than 300 universities across nursing and health profession disciplines. 

Ann Fenley Minnick, PhD, RN, FAAN, is the Chenault Professor of Nursing, senior associate dean for research, director of the postdoctoral program and co-director of the PhD program at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing. She has taught and held leadership positions in all levels of university-based nursing education programs. Minnick has held clinical and national research leadership positions and led more than 25 funded research projects. Her research findings have influenced clinical and administrative practice guidelines and public policies, including those regarding the nursing workforce. She has authored more than 95 publications and made hundreds of presentations nationally and internationally. Her overall research expertise has led to consultations at every level of government and with international agencies and private entities. Minnick earned a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing at Michigan State University, a master’s degree at Loyola University Chicago and a PhD at Northwestern University.

Merle H. Mishel, PhD, RN, FAAN, is Kenan Professor of Nursing and director of doctoral and postdoctoral programs at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Nursing. Her career has focused on developing the middle range theory of uncertainty in illness, with scales to measure this concept, and the reconceptualization of uncertainty in illness. The uncertainty-in-illness scales have been translated into more than 15 languages and are used around the world. In her current work, she is developing and testing interventions for cancer patients in managing uncertainty. Mishel has been funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research and the National Cancer Institute for six intervention studies on breast or prostate cancer. Her current intervention study is with younger breast cancer survivors and is based on the reconceptualized uncertainty theory. She is developing a biopsychological model of uncertainty in illness. Mishel has a master's degree in psychiatric nursing and a PhD in social psychology.

Ida Moore, DNSc, RN, FAAN, is professor and director of the Behavioral Health Science Division at the University of Arizona College of Nursing. For the past 25 years, she has focused her program of research on childhood cancer, more specifically the deleterious effects of cancer treatment on the central nervous system. Moore and her research team have contributed new knowledge about the mechanisms of treatment-related CNS injury and consequential cognitive, academic and behavioral adjustment outcomes among children with cancer. Translating this knowledge into practice, she is developing and testing innovative and effective interventions to preserve and improve academic abilities and quality of life for children receiving CNS treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Moore's sustained research program has significantly contributed to the health of children with cancer by advancing knowledge about the toxicity associated with CNS medical treatment, developing basic science models to investigate novel hypotheses about injury mechanisms, and testing cognitive interventions to improve academic and quality-of-life outcomes among the ever-increasing population of childhood cancer survivors.

Debra K. Moser, DNSc, RN, FAAN, is professor and holder of the first endowed chair in nursing at the University of Kentucky. Her research concentrates on improving morbidity, mortality and quality-of-life outcomes in patients with heart failure and acute myocardial infarction and on preventing cardiovascular disease. In addition to her academic position, she is co-editor of the Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, director of the RICH Heart Program and director of the Center for Biobehavioral Research in Self-Management of Cardiopulmonary Disease. She has received numerous awards in recognition of her work, including the 2006 Katharine A. Lembright Award from the American Heart Association Council on Cardiovascular Nursing and the 2007 Distinguished Research Lecturer award from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. Moser holds a Master of Nursing degree and Doctor of Nursing Science degree from the University of California at Los Angeles.

Mary A. Nies, PhD, RN, FAAN, FAAHB, the Carol Grotnes Belk Endowed Chair in Nursing and professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte School of Nursing, has received funding from the National Institutes of Health and foundations for her research focusing on health promotion across the life span for vulnerable populations. She served as permanent member of an NIH study section and has been published in numerous journals. Her textbook, Community/Public Health Nursing, now in its fifth edition, is known for its upstream and social justice approach. Nies received the American Public Health Association's Ruth B. Freeman Award, Sigma's Excellence in Mentorship Award from Rho Chapter, and Midwest Nursing Research Society's Public Health/Community Health Experienced Investigator Research Excellence Award. She is past chair of the Expert Panel on Women’s Health for the American Academy of Nursing. Nies serves on the American Journal of Health Behavior editorial board and is a member of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society.

May L. Wykle, PhD, RN, FAAN, FGSA, is dean and the Marvin E. and Ruth Durr Denekas Professor of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University's Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing. She is a respected and accomplished scholar, teacher, active researcher and advocate for diversity. She has achieved national and international recognition as an expert in the field of gerontological nursing, and she is a mentor who has influenced and empowered geriatric nurse scholars. Wykle’s extensive research contributions to nursing science have covered such areas as geriatric mental health, family caregiving, minority caregivers and caring for patients with dementia. In 2010, she received the Mary Mahoney Award from the American Nurses Association. In 2007, she was honored with the establishment of the May L. Wykle Professorship, the first professorship named for an African-American at Case Western Reserve University. Wykle is a past president of Sigma.

Linda H. Aiken, PhD, RN, FRCN, FAAN, is an authority on causes, consequences and solutions for nurse shortages around the world. She directs the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research, and is The Claire M. Fagin Leadership Professor of Nursing, professor of sociology, and senior fellow of the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at the University of Pennsylvania, USA. Prior to joining the University of Pennsylvania, she was vice president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for 13 years. She co-directs the National Council on Physician and Nurse Supply in the United States. Aiken is a recipient of the Episteme Award and the 2006 Baxter International Foundation's William B. Graham Prize for Health Services Research. She has received the Individual Earnest A. Codman Award from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations for her leadership utilizing performance measures to demonstrate relationships between nursing care and patient outcomes. Aiken leads the International Hospital Outcomes Consortium studying the impact of nursing on patient outcomes in 16 countries.

Kathryn E. Barnard, PhD, RN, FIOM, FAAN, is professor emerita of nursing and founder and director of the Center on Infant Mental Health and Development at the University of Washington, USA. Her pioneering work to improve the physical and mental health outcomes of infants and young children has earned her numerous honors, including the Gustav O. Leinhard Award from the Institute of Medicine, Sigma’s Episteme Award, and the Living Legend Award from the American Academy of Nursing. Between 1969 and 1993, she also received 15 other major awards, including the Lucille Petry Leone Award for Teaching; the M. Scott Award for Contributions to Nursing Science, Education and Service; the Martha May Eliot Award for Leadership in Maternal-Child Health; and the Nurse Scientist of the Year Award.

Nancy Bergstrom, PhD, RN, FAAN, is the Trumble Professor of Aging Research and director of the Center on Aging at University of Texas Health in Houston, USA. She was instrumental in testing and developing the Braden Scale for Predicting Pressure Sore Risk. Bergstrom was president of the Midwest Nursing Research Society, chair of the American Nurses Association's Council of Nurse Researchers and chair of two U.S. Agency for Health Care Policy and Research panels developing guidelines for the prediction and prevention of pressure sores and for treatment of pressure sores. She has published widely in first tier interdisciplinary and nursing journals and received numerous awards, including the Episteme Award. Her current work, a Phase III multisite, clinical trial that focuses on nursing interventions to prevent pressure ulcers in at-risk nursing facility patients, is being funded by three U.S. federal agencies.

Marion E. Broome, PhD, RN, FAAN, is a distinguished professor and dean at Indiana University School of Nursing, USA. She is best known for her research in pain management, research ethics and obesity of children, funded by the National Institutes of Health, the American Cancer Society and the Pfizer Foundation. Broome has disseminated her research in more than 98 articles, chapters and books. She has served as a permanent member of two National Institutes of Health study sections and was appointed to the National Advisory Council for the National Institute of Nursing Research in 2008. Broome is currently editor-in-chief of Nursing Outlook, the official journal of the American Academy of Nursing.

Dorothy Brooten, PhD, RN, FAAN, is professor of nursing at Florida International University, College of Nursing & Health Sciences, USA. She was the first recipient of the Sigma and Baxter Episteme Award for development of the Quality Cost Model of Advanced Practice Nurse Transitional Care. Results of randomized trials have demonstrated that the model improves patient outcomes and reduces health care costs. Brooten’s research has been funded by NIH for more than 28 years. Her work has been published in prestigious interdisciplinary and nursing journals, including The New England Journal of Medicine, Annals of Internal Medicine, Obstetrics & Gynecology, JAMA, Journal of Nursing Scholarship, Nursing Research, Research in Nursing & Health, and JOGNN. She has served as chair of 18 PhD dissertation committees and as a member of 16 others, and has guided six postdoctoral fellows. Brooten received Sigma’s Elizabeth McWilliams Miller Founders Award in Research, the American Nurses Association’s Jesse Scott Award, and honorary doctorates in science from Medical College of Ohio and State University of New York. She is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Nursing.

Ann Wolbert Burgess, DNSc, RN, FAAN, is a pioneer in the assessment and treatment of victims of trauma and abuse. She is a professor at Boston College William F. O’Connell School of Nursing, USA. A recipient of the Episteme Award, Burgess has been called a “nursing pathfinder.” Her research with victims began when she co-founded, with Boston College sociologist Lynda Lytle Holmstrom, one of the first hospital-based crisis counseling programs at Boston City Hospital. She then worked with FBI Academy special agents to study serial offenders and the links among child abuse, juvenile delinquency, and subsequent perpetration. Her work continues in the study of elder abuse in nursing homes, cyber stalking, and Internet sex crimes. Burgess has published in numerous scholarly journals and books and authored or co-authored four books.

Marylin J. Dodd, PhD, RN, FAAN, is professor emerita at the University of California, San Francisco School of Nursing, USA. She has had continuous NIH funding since 1986 for her research into symptom management for people with cancer and their families. The fruit of Dodd's dedication lies in the more than 300 articles, papers and books she has authored, as well as in the establishment of UCSF's Research Center for Symptom Management. She has transformed the way we look at symptom management and has had a direct impact on improving the lives of patients receiving cancer treatment and their families.

Jacqueline Dunbar-Jacob, PhD, RN, FAAN, is dean at the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing, USA, and professor of nursing, psychology, epidemiology, and occupational therapy. Dunbar-Jacob’s research, funded by the NIH, has focused for the past 30 years on patient adherence in chronic conditions. In addition, she was principal investigator of a National Science Foundation grant designed to develop robotic assistance for the elderly, known as "Nursebot." She serves as director and principal investigator of the Center for Research in Chronic Disorders and director and principal investigator of the P01 program project grant for Adherence & Health Related Quality of Life: Translation of Interventions. She has served on three NIH safety and data monitoring boards, as a behavioral scientist for three NIH funded multi-center clinical trials, and on 20 NIH working groups addressing research agenda.

Lois K. Evans, PhD, RN, FAAN, is the van Ameringen Professor in Nursing Excellence at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, USA. Emphasizing mental health, she is one of the foremost researchers in care of the elderly. Along with her colleague Neville Strumpf, Evans developed path-breaking research that lessened the use of restraints with frail elders in the nation’s nursing homes and hospitals. She has received NIH and U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration federal and foundation grants for her work. She has published more than 100 journal articles and book chapters and three books.

Esther C. Gallegos, PhD, has been a nursing professor in the School of Nursing-Autonomous University of Nuevo León, México, since 1969. During this period, she has occupied diverse positions; her leadership has resulted in the development of graduate studies and nursing research in Mexico. Gallegos was recognized as the first nurse to receive a PhD in Mexico. Recently, she was admitted as a member of the American Academy of Nursing and as a national researcher by National Council of Science and Technology in Mexico. Her research focuses on self-care in chronic illness situations and risk reduction.

 Ellen J. Hahn, PhD, RN, is a professor at the University of Kentucky College of Nursing, USA, where she directs the Tobacco Policy Research Program and is assistant director of the Center for Biobehavioral Research in Self-Management. Hahn is currently principal investigator on a five-year Rural Smoke-Free Communities research project funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. For her leadership in smoke-free policy research, she was awarded the 2004 John D. Slade, M.D. Memorial Advocacy Award from the ATOD section of the American Public Health Association. In 2007, she was named Distinguished University Scientist by the Kentucky Academy of Science.

Martha N. Hill, PhD, RN, FAAN, is dean of the School of Nursing and professor of nursing, medicine and public health at the Johns Hopkins University, USA. Hill is known for her research in preventing and treating hypertension and its complications, particularly among young, urban African-American men; her particular expertise is integrating patient, provider and system level interventions to improve care and outcomes for vulnerable and underserved populations. Hill has been an active investigator, mentor and consultant on NIH-funded clinical trials. She has consulted on hypertension in Australia, China, Israel, Scotland, South Africa and Uganda. Hill has more than 180 publications, including journal articles and book chapters on hypertension care and control, nurse-led clinics, community outreach, and community-based participatory research in underserved populations.

Loretta Sweet Jemmott, PhD, RN, FAAN, is the van Ameringen Professor in Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing and director of the Center for Health Equity Research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, USA. She is one of the nation's foremost researchers in the field of HIV/AIDS prevention. Jemmott, along with her research team, has received more than $100 million in federal funding to design and evaluate a series of behavioral intervention trials with African American, Latino, Jamaican and South African populations. These trials have demonstrated remarkable success in reducing HIV risk-associated behaviors and the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases. Jemmott has transformed her evidence-based research outcomes and translated them for use in real world settings. To date, seven of her interventions have been designated by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control for national and international dissemination. She provides leadership on an NICHD-funded HIV prevention grant, two NIH-funded randomized controlled trials in South Africa focusing on adolescents and adult men, and an HIV prevention study focusing on Jamaican mothers and their daughters.

Susan M. Ludington, PhD, CNM, FAAN, is the Carl W. and Margaret Davis Walter Professor of Pediatric Nursing at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, Case Western Reserve University, USA. In 1980, Ludington established the Infant Development and Education Association of America after studying the effects of early sensory stimulation on newborn development. She is the author of How to Have a Smarter Baby and Kangaroo Care: The Best You Can Do for Your Preterm Infant. Her Kangaroo Care research earned her the Lifetime Achievement Award in Research from the Midwest Nursing Research Society and the national Excellence in Research award from the Association for Women’s Health, Obstetric, and Neonatal Nursing in 2007.

Pamela Holsclaw Mitchell, PhD, RN, FAHA, FAAN, is professor of biobehavioral nursing and health systems, adjunct professor for the Department of Health Services, and founding director of the Center for Health Sciences Interprofessional Education and Research at the University of Washington, USA. Her research and teaching focus on hospital care delivery systems, effective management of clinical care systems, biobehavioral interventions for patients with acute and chronic cardiocerebrovascular disease, and outcomes of interprofessional education. These works are funded by the National Institute of Nursing; National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute; Bureau of Health Professions; Health Resources Services Administration; and the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation. She is past president of the American Academy of Nursing and is a member and past chair of the Expert Panel on Quality Healthcare. She is immediate past chair, Nursing and Rehabilitation Professionals Committee, Stroke Council, of the American Heart/American Stroke Association.

Shirley M. Moore, PhD, RN, FAAN, is professor and associate dean for research, Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, Case Western Reserve University, USA. Her research focuses on recovery following cardiac events and on promoting healthy lifestyles in women and elders recovering from cardiac events. In a series of studies, Moore developed and tested interventions to improve physical and psychological health following cardiac events. Using the principles of environmental redesign, her System CHANGE intervention has been shown to effectively change lifestyle behaviors. Moore also is director of an NIH-funded Center of Excellence in Self-Management Research and the FIND Lab (Full Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Research). 

Janice M. Morse, PhD (Nurs), PhD (Anthro), FAAN, is a professor and Presidential Endowed Chair at the University of Utah College of Nursing, USA, and professor emerita, University of Alberta, Canada. She was the founding director of the International Institute for Qualitative Methodology, University of Alberta; founding editor for the International Journal of Qualitative Methods; and since 1991, has served as the founding editor for Qualitative Health Research. Morse is the recipient of the Episteme Award and honorary doctorates from the University of Newcastle, Australia, and Athabasca University, Canada. She is the author of 370 articles and 15 books on qualitative research methods, suffering, comforting and patient falls. Her most recent book is Mixed Method Design: Principles and Procedure.

Mary D. Naylor, PhD, RN, FAAN, is the Marian S. Ware Professor in Gerontology and director of the New Courtland Center for Transitions and Health at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, USA. She and her research team have completed three National Institute of Nursing Research-funded randomized clinical trials, testing and refining the Transitional Care Model, an innovative approach to addressing the needs of high-risk, chronically ill elders and their family caregivers. Her research team has recently partnered with a major insurance organization and health care plan to translate this model into the "real world" of clinical practice and promote its widespread adoption. Naylor and colleagues are also engaged in a study funded by the National Institute on Aging and the National Institute for Nursing Research that will examine, over time, the natural history of changes in health and quality of life among elders newly admitted to long-term care settings or services. She also is national program director for the Interdisciplinary Nursing Quality Research Initiative, sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Sr. Callista L. Roy, PhD, RN, FAAN, is professor and nurse theorist at Boston College Connell School of Nursing, USA, and a pre-eminent scholar in philosophical and clinical research. Best known for the Roy Adaptation Model of Nursing, she is a leader in knowledge-based practice, with more than 300 published studies based on her work. Roy has received 55 research and mentoring grants and has published 135 works, including two award-winning books and translations in eight languages. More than 300 speeches and 100 consultations have taken her to 48 U.S. states, five provinces of Canada, three states in Mexico, Peru, Chile, Colombia, three states in Australia, Korea, Japan and China.

Neville E. Strumpf, PhD, RN, FAAN, is widely recognized for her outstanding contributions to the field of gerontology. Strumpf is probably best known for her work with her colleague, Lois Evans, on the elimination of physical restraints in nursing homes and hospitals. Her remarkable career as a groundbreaking researcher, innovative teacher and caring mentor, as well as top administrator, is unmatched. Strumpf officially retired in 2008 and continues to work part-time as associate director of the HCGNE, co-director of the Resource Center for Minority Aging Research in the School of Medicine, and coordinator of the School of Nursing’s Faculty Mentoring Program. She continues to work closely with doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows, to partner with colleagues on grants and papers, and to consult on numerous educational and research projects. Strumpf is a recipient of the Episteme Award.

Clarann Weinert, PhD, RN, SC, FAAN, is a professor at the Montana State University College of Nursing and a Sister of Charity of Cincinnati, USA. She has nearly 30 years of funded programs of rural nursing research on the management of chronic illness, with a focus on needs and resources of rural residents. Weinert is widely published in the areas of social support, rural health and theory, and chronic illness management. She is a past board member of Sigma and chair of numerous regional and national research task forces.

Thelma J. Wells, PhD, RN, BSN, MSN, is professor emerita at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Nursing, USA. She retired in 2003 to enjoy travel, reading and the peaceful life. Her 40-year nursing career was based on a deep commitment to care of the elderly. Best known for her leadership and research in urinary incontinence, she and colleagues produced 24 research and 37 clinical papers, 22 chapters and one book. Wells served on the first charted study section for nursing from 1987 to 1990 at the U.S. National Center for Nursing Research. She also served on the National Arthritis Foundation Research Review and the American Federation for Aging Research Scientific Advisory Council.

Hsiao-Yean Chiu, PhD, RN, is an assistant professor at Taipei Medical University College of Nursing, Taiwan. Her research activities focus on the relationship between sleep and cognitive functions, particularly in patients with brain injury and older adults. She also applies non-pharmacological strategies to manage sleep disturbances and cognitive impairments in a variety of clinical and community settings. She is a member of Lambda Beta-at-Large Chapter.

Bukola Oladunni Salami, RN, BScN, MN, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta. Her main area of research is immigrant health. Since 2014 (until 2017), she has been involved in thirty-five funded research projects, including fifteen as the principal investigator. Her research has been supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, among other agencies. She has published twenty-five papers in peer-reviewed journals (with an additional ten papers submitted) as well as two book chapters and eight reports. She has presented at several local, national, and international conferences, and her work has been featured in the media. In 2016, she became a collaborating researcher at the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development in Geneva and was named one of Edmonton’s Top 40 Under 40. She is a member of Lambda Pi at-Large Chapter and Mu Sigma Chapter.

Shelley Schmollgruber, PhD, RM, RN, is an accomplished lecturer, dedicated to teaching Intensive and Critical Care Nursing in the Department of Nursing Education at the WITS Faculty of Health Sciences. She is an avid researcher with a high level of research productivity aimed at investigating and promoting nurse-led care and evidence-based practice. Shelley has a particular interest in improving psychological outcomes for patients in critical care. Shelley is currently supervisor of 13 MSc and six PhD students. During her tenure in the department, she has held various departmental portfolios and some in the Faculty. She is also an executive council member of the Critical Care Society of Southern Africa (CCSSA), Fellow of the Academy of Nursing South Africa (ANSA) and International Ambassador for the World Federation of Critical Care Nurses (WFCCN). Shelley has presented at various national and international conferences and has also published in national and international journals.

Parveen Azam Ali, PhD, MScN, RN, SFHEA, FRSA, is a Registered Nurse, Registered Midwife (Pakistan) and a Registered Nurse Teacher. She is a Lecturer in the School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Sheffield and is an associate editor of Nursing Open, United Kingdom. Parveen moved to the United Kingdom following many years in nursing practice and commenced her academic career and has excelled in promoting best nursing practice. She also received the prestigious Mary Seacole Leadership Award in 2015. Her research focuses on domestic violence and health experiences of minority ethnic communities.  She is a member of Phi Mu Chapter.

Lydia Aziato, PhD, MPhil, FWACN, FGCNM, ONC, BA (Nsg/Psych) (Hons), RN, is a Senior Lecturer and the Head of Adult Health Department School of Nursing, University of Ghana. She has published in many credible peer-reviewed journals and is a reviewer for many. She is the Vice President of Chi-Omicron Chapter in Africa. Her research interest cut across pain, cancers and issues related to women’s health research, spirituality and herbal medicine. She has advanced skills in qualitative research.

Ryan J. Shaw, PhD, RN, is an Assistant Professor at the Duke University School of Nursing and Director of the Duke Health Innovation Lab. He has a secondary appointment in the Duke University School of Medicine where he is the faculty lead in mobile health technologies in the Center for Applied Genomics & Precision Medicine. He is a pioneer in mobile health—the collection and dissemination of information using mobile and wireless devices. These technologies afford researchers, clinicians, and patients a rich stream of real-time information about individuals’ biophysical and behavioral health in everyday environments. He is funded by the US National Institutes of Health, served on four special-emphasis NIH grant review panels, published over 34 peer-reviewed manuscripts, co-authored a book chapter, presented at national and international conferences, and been featured in local and national media outlets. He is a member of Beta Epsilon Chapter.

Tara Albrecht, PhD, MSN, ACNP-BC, is an assistant professor in the School of Nursing at Virginia Commonwealth University, USA. Her research is focused on symptoms, distress, associated biological signatures and the relationship to health outcomes in patients with cancer, specifically those with acute leukemia and their family members. She works with an interdisciplinary team of scientists and clinicians with the goal of advancing symptom science to ultimately ameliorate distressing symptoms and improve health outcomes for patients and their families in both the oncology and palliative care settings. She maintains once weekly clinical practice as a nurse practitioner dividing her time between the oncology and palliative care clinics. She is a member of Gamma Omega Chapter

Siedine Knobloch Coetzee, PhD, MCur, BCur, RN, RM, RCN, RPN, RNE, is an associate professor at the School of Nursing Science of the North-West University (Potchefstroom Campus), South Africa.  Within this capacity, she teaches research methodology at the baccalaureate, masters and doctoral level. Her research programme focuses on nurse outcomes, specifically empirical measures of the physical and psychological work environment and its effect on the nurse. Within this programme, she has published nine peer reviewed articles, delivered seven masters and five doctoral students, and has presented her work at several national and international conferences.  She has also served as a collaborator or co-investigator of five international, and principal and co-principal investigator of two national collaborative research projects. She recently received national recognition, with a Y-2 rating from the National Research Foundation.  She has also served on various national task teams, committees and boards, and has served on the Sigma Theta Tau International Research Scholarship and Advisory Council since 2012. She is a member of Tau Lambda-at-Large Chapter.

Rachel Walker, PhD, MN, Bn, BA, RN, was a Research Fellowship with the National Health and Medical Research Council’s Centre of Research Excellence in Nursing and was based at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane, Australia. In April 2015, Rachel commenced a joint appointment with the Division of Surgery at the hospital, and is currently the acting Assistant Director of Nursing, Research in the Nursing Practice Development Unit. Rachel’s research activities include: a pilot RCT in pressure injury prevention; Cochrane Reviews investigating wound dressings for treating pressure ulcers; a pre-post continuous observation time-motion study to evaluate the impact of an electronic health record data management system on nurse time at the bedside and; an integrated knowledge translation approach to explore the barriers and facilitators to timely reporting and intervention in patient clinical deterioration in acute care settings. She is a member of Phi Delta-at-Large Chapter.