- 1. Spotlight on Nursing Student Researchers
- 2. Recent Grant Awards
- 3. Awards, Accolades, National Presentations, and Publications
- 4. CUSON Sponsors Center for Health Policy Conference
- 5. New CUSON Center: The School of Nursing Center for Children and Families
- 6. ORR Research Seminar Series
Office of Research Resources Newsletter, Fall 2010
1. Spotlight on Nursing Student Researchers
Each Columbia University School of Nursing (CUSON) Office of Research Resources (ORR) Newsletter highlights the recent achievements and activities of one of our faculty researchers. For our 2010 Newsletter, CUSON is proud to highlight its student researchers for their achievements.
CUSON Students Secure Research Grants
 Sharron Close |
CUSON doctoral student, Sharron Close, is completing data collection on one of the largest samples of boys age 8-18 to be studied with Klinefelter Syndrome (KS). This original clinical research dissertation entitled, “An Exploratory Study of Physical Phenotype, Reproductive Hormones, Cardiometabolic & Bone Biomarkers and Psychosocial Health Parameters in Boys with Klinefelter’s Syndrome between the ages of 8 and 18 Years” has been funded by Sigma Theta Tau ($1,000), the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners ($2,500) and the Pediatric Endocrine Nursing Society ($10,000). Ms. Close recently received an additional donation of $3,000 from a private donor who has KS. These additional funds will provide seed money for Ms. Close to continue her work post graduation.
 Pam de Cordova |
Pamela de Cordova, CUSON PhD Student, was awarded an AHRQ-funded Dissertation Grant for $37,800 entitled “Off-Shift Nursing and Quality Patient Outcomes.” Working with her mentors, Drs. Pat Stone, Ann Bartel, Suzanne Bakken, Haomiao Jia, and Ciaran Phibbs, Ms. de Cordova is examining the relationships between nursing inputs (i.e., staffing levels, general human capital, facility- and unit-specific human capital, and team-specific human capital) and off-shifts (i.e., nights, weekends, and holidays) and nursing-sensitive patient outcomes in the Veterans Administration acute care settings.
 Kelli Stidham Hall, PhD |
Dr. Kelli Stidham Hall, recent CUSON PhD graduate, was awarded an NINR-funded National Research Service Award (NRSA) for $41,000 entitled “Psychological Symptoms and Oral Contraceptive use in Minority Adolescents.” Working with her sponsor, Dr. Nancy Reame, Dr. Hall examined the role of depressed mood, perceived stress, and eating disordered symptoms as psychological predictors of oral contraceptive use discontinuation in a multi-ethnic sample of adolescent and young adult females. Dr. Hall is currently a post-doctoral research fellow at Princeton University’s Center for Health and Wellbeing, where she plans to further study social determinants of reproductive public health disparities.
CUSON NIH Training Grant Trainees
Reducing Health Disparities through Informatics (RHeaDI)
Currently in its 2nd five-year cycle of funding, “Reducing Health Disparities through Informatics (RHeaDI)” is directed by Suzanne Bakken, DNSc, RN, co-directed by George Hripcsak, MD, Chair, Department of Biomedical Informatics, and funded by the National Institutes of Nursing Research. The overarching premise of RHeaDI is that informatics infrastructure, processes, and applications are essential components of a system to facilitate evidence-based practice, to reduce health disparities, and to promote patient and public safety. Three pre-doctoral trainees and 1 post-doctoral trainee are supported annually.
Robert Lucero, PhD, MPH, RN, received his PhD from the University of Pennsylvania. He is a trained health services researcher and recently completed a post-doctoral fellowship in informatics supported by funding from the National Institute of Nursing Research Center for Evidence-based Practice (CEPB) in the Underserved, Reducing Health Disparities through Informatics Program. Dr. Lucero's research focuses on the quality of nursing care and patient outcomes in hospitals and communities. Currently, he is the Principal Investigator of the Self Assessment via Personal Health Record (SAPHer) feasibility CEBP study. Dr. Lucero began his appointment as Assistant Professor of Nursing at the Columbia University School of Nursing (CUSON) on July 1, 2010. He is the newest faculty member of the federally-funded CUSON Training Nurse Scientists in Interdisciplinary and Translational Research in the Underserved (TRANSIT) grant. The goal of TRANSIT is to increase the number of nurse scientists from underrepresented backgrounds to conduct interdisciplinary, practice-relevant research that benefits underserved urban communities. As a recipient of a NIH Loan Repayment Grant, Dr. Lucero will dedicate 50% of his professional time to research focused on Clinical Decision Support Systems for Healthcare Quality Improvement.
Njoki Ng’ang’a is pursuing her PhD at Columbia University School of Nursing. Ms. Ng’ang’a earned a BS in Nursing from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, and a MSc in Health Systems Management from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She specializes in Women’s Health and has worked in high risk antepartum and obstetrics for eight years, taking time during five of those years to care for women suffering from obstetric fistula and other pelvic floor disorders related to childbirth injury in West Africa and South East Asia. Ms. Ng’ang’a is particularly interested in nursing workforce issues affecting quality of care for women in developing countries during pregnancy and childbirth. She recently completed a study on the status of nursing at a northern Vietnamese women’s hospital. A report of the findings has been submitted for publication. This past April, Ms. Ng’ang’a presented a poster titled “Problem Solving for Better Health Nursing: Developing the Capacity of Nurses Caring for Fistula Patients at the National Hospital in Niamey, Niger” at the 18th International Council on Women’s Health Issues conference in Philadelphia, PA.
 Andrew Phillips RHeaDI Predoctoral Trainee |
Andy Phillips is pursuing his PhD at Columbia University School of Nursing. He earned a BA in Economics from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri and a BS in Nursing from Columbia University. Prior to pursuing his degree in nursing, Andrew ran his own software development business and managed a national consulting practice advising clients on employee benefits administration, compliance, and design. Mr. Phillips is currently researching the value of regional health information organizations within New York State and the capability of these information exchanges to support Public Health within the state. Drs. Merrill and Bakken are supervising his work on this topic. Mr. Phillips will be presenting initial findings at the upcoming MedInfo 2010 conference in Cape Town, South Africa.
 Sunmoo Yoon RHeaDI Predoctoral Trainee |
Sunmoo Yoon, RN, MS, is pursuing her PhD at Columbia University School of Nursing in the Informatics field. She is supervised by Dr. Bakken. Ms. Yoon earned a BS in Nursing from Seoul National University in Korea and an MS in Nursing Informatics from Columbia University. Ms. Yoon specializes in nursing informatics and has been working as a clinical nurse in emergency, rehabilitation and neurology for 8 years at various hospitals, including NewYork-Presbyterian. She is particularity interested in Physical Activity Self Management using Social Media Web 2.0 technology. She is currently working on the data mining of Twitter using social network analysis and natural language process techniques. Last summer, Ms. Yoon presented a nursing competency scale at the 10th InternationalCongress on Nursing Informatics in Helsinki, Finland. In May 2010, she presented at the Annual European Stroke Conference in Barcelona, Spain and in September she will be presenting at the 13th World Congress on Medical and Health Informatics in Cape Town, South Africa.
Reducing Health Disparities through Informatics (RHeaDI) – Administrative Supplement for Comparative Effectiveness Research Workforce Development
CUSON’s newest NIH training grant is an Administrative Supplement to “Reducing Health Disparities through Informatics (RHeaDI)” which focuses on Comparative Effectiveness Research Workforce Development. Directed by Dr. Suzanne Bakken and Dr. Pat Stone, this 1-year ARRA-funded supplement will support 1 predoctoral and 1 postdoctoral trainee and expand CUSON’s PhD program curriculum to include a new CER seminar.
 May Uchida RHeaDI CER Predoctoral Trainee |
May Uchida is a first year PhD student at Columbia University School of Nursing. Ms. Uchida earned a BSN from Keio University of Tokyo, where she worked as a RN. She is a recent MSN graduate from Yale University’s gerontological nurse practitioner program. Her research interests include gerontology and nursing workforce shortage issues, specifically related to factors for recruiting, educating and retaining nurses. May hopes to further investigate cost effective analyses and policy developments surrounding geriatrics and the nursing workforce. Ms. Uchida was recently awarded the Jonas Nurse Leader’s scholarship and will attend the Jonas Scholars meeting in Washington, DC this fall.
Training in Interdisciplinary Research to Reduce Antimicrobial Resistance (TIRAR)
CUSON’s interdisciplinary NIH training grant, “Training in Interdisciplinary Research to Reduce Antimicrobial Resistance (TIRAR)” is directed by Elaine Larson, RN, PhD, and co-directed by Richard H. Kessin, PhD, Professor of Pathology and Cell Biology, College of Physicians & Surgeons of Columbia University. This 5-year training grant, which prepares pre- and post-doctoral scholars for participation and leadership in interdisciplinary research to reduce antimicrobial resistance, is funded by the National Institutes of Nursing Research supports 2 pre-doctoral trainees and 2 post-doctoral trainees annually.
 Ann-Margaret Dunn-Navarra TIRAR Predoctoral Trainee |
Ann-Margaret Dunn-Navarra is pursuing her PhD at Columbia University School of Nursing. Ms. Dunn-Navarra earned a BS in Nursing from the College of New Rochelle and a MS in Nursing from Columbia University. Ann-Margaret specializes in the adolescent HIV/AIDS population and worked as a pediatric nurse practitioner for 15 years at Cornell Medical Center’s Program for Children and Adolescents with AIDS. Her current research interests include health literacy and antiretroviral adherence in HIV infected youth, specifically the relationship among adherence to antiretroviral medications, health literacy, and the biomarkers of HIV disease (viral load, CD4 count). She also plans to explore how the developmental stage of adolescence impacts on adherence in teens with HIV disease. This past March, Ms. Dunn-Navarra presented at the Annual Nursing Research Society Conference in Providence, RI.
 Daniel Scanfeld TIRAR Predoctoral Trainee |
Dan Scanfeld earned a B.A. in Computer Science and Russian from Cornell University, an M.S. in Computer Science from Tufts University, and worked for 2 years as a computational biologist at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. His research included analyses of genetic markers of breast cancer, the development of theoretical methodologies for characterization of global transcriptional states, and a malaria pathogenesis study. Dan is a doctoral student in the Integrated Graduate Program in Cellular, Molecular, Structural and Genetic Studies. As a member of the Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics (C2B2) and the Fidock Malaria laboratory, he plans to study the genetic determinants of P. falciparum resistance to new antimalarials and compensatory mechanisms that accompany the acquisition of antimalarial drug resistance. Dan was featured on Good Morning America on 3/30/2010 where he discussed: Tweeting Medical Misinformation- http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/tweeting-medical-misinformation/story?id=10234917.
 Richard Eastman, PhD TIRAR Postdoctoral Trainee |
Dr. Rich Eastman holds a B.S. and a Ph.D. from the University of Washington. His research interests are focused on mechanisms of drug resistance in the pathogenic protozoan, Plasmodium falciparum, one of the causative agents of malaria. To elucidate the genetic and epigenetic determinants, Rich is employing whole genome analysis, using next-generation sequencing, along with biochemical and genetic approaches. In addition, he is involved in systematic analysis of the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of antimalarial drug combinations in order to identify optimal ACT combinations and dosing regiments that decrease the rate of recrudescence and treatment failure.
 Jennifer Horan, MD, PharmD TIRAR Postdoctoral Trainee |
Dr. Jennifer Horan is currently a second year infectious diseases fellow at Columbia University Medical Center. She holds a PharmD from the University of Texas and worked as a clinical pharmacist at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. She subsequently obtained her MD degree from University of Texas and completed her internal medicine and chief residency training at Columbia University Medical Center. Her research interests are focused on antimicrobial resistance in the context of solid organ transplantation and the immunocompromised host. Jennifer's current research includes the evaluation of multidrug resistant pathogens in bloodstream infections in the liver transplant population to further define trends and elucidate risk factors and outcomes. She is additionally engaged in a clinical pharmacokinetic evaluation of polymyxin B in the treatment of patients with multidrug resistant pathogens to ascertain the effects of varying degrees of renal function on polymyxin B pharmacokinetics to further optimize current dosing strategies.
 Benjamin Miko, MD TIRAR Postdoctoral Trainee |
Dr. Ben Miko is a second year fellow in the division of infectious diseases at Columbia University. He holds an MD from Boston University and completed his internal medicine residency training at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center in 2009. His research interests relate to the molecular epidemiology of community-associated Staphylococcus aureus (CA-SA). Working with Dr. Franklin Lowy, Ben is participating in a pilot study to evaluate CA-SA as a sexually-associated pathogen. Research will focus the prevalence of genital colonization and incidence of infection with CA-SA among a cohort of patients attending an inner city STD clinic in Baltimore, Maryland. Traditional risk factors for SA infection will be assessed, as will the effects of specific sexual practices and concomitant sexually transmitted infections. A molecular epidemiologic characterization of the isolates will be used to assess whether particular CA-SA clones posses unique determinants that facilitate genital colonization and infection.
 Nowai Keleekai, BSN TIRAR Predoctoral Trainee |
Nowai Keleekai holds a BSN from Ohio State University and a PhD student in the School of Nursing. She is the student recruiter for TRANSIT, CUSON’s HRSA-funded program led by Nancy Reame, PhD, to recruit and retain underserved minority students into health disparities research careers. She has been accepted into CUSON’s highly competitive pre-doctoral fellowship program, TIRAR, and her dissertation will focus on mental health needs of HIV-infected prisoners, part of a larger project funded by the NIH grant of PI Elaine Larson, PhD. This past March, Ms. Keleekai presented at the Annual Nursing Research Society Conference in Providence, RI.
Jonas Nurse Leaders Scholars
Columbia University School of Nursing received funding approval for four $20,000 scholarships from the Jonas Nurse Leaders Scholar Program, an initiative of the Jonas Center for Nursing Excellence. Designed to improve nurse recruitment and retention, increase ethnic and racial diversity among the nursing workforce, advance innovative practice models, and improve nursing practice settings, this program will support 50 scholars by 2012 with a goal of reaching 100 nationwide. Mr. Donald Jonas adds, "we are very pleased to support the new Jonas Scholars at Columbia and welcome them to join their distinguished colleagues Annie Rohan and Shanelle Nelson".
- Manuel C. Co Jr. is director of Nursing Informatics at NYU Hospitals. He holds a MS degree from Hunter College and a master's degree in Clinical Epidemiology & Health Services Research from Weill Cornell Graduate School. He will work with Suzanne Bakken, DNSc, for his dissertation in nursing informatics with a focus on underserved populations.
- May Uchida is a MSN graduate from the nurse practitioner program of Yale University, with a specialty in geriatric nursing. Her research interest is in gerontology nursing workforce shortage issues, specifically related to factors for recruiting, education, and retention of advanced practice nurses. Her advisor is Patricia Stone, PhD, herself an expert in nursing workforce issues.
- Olivia Velez holds bachelors' and master's degrees in computer science (Mount Holyoke), and a master's in public health (Columbia). She is now completing her 2nd year in the PhD program in Nursing with an interest in informatics related to mobile health messaging as a health promotion intervention for underserved communities, both in the US and in Africa. Dr. Bakken is her advisor.
- Nowai Keleekai, holds a BSN from Ohio State University. She is the student recruiter for TRANSIT, CUSON’s HRSA-funded program led by Nancy Reame, PhD, to recruit and retain underserved minority students into health disparities research careers. She has been accepted into CUSON’s highly competitive pre-doctoral fellowship program, TIRAR, and her dissertation will focus on mental health needs of HIV-infected prisoners, part of a larger project funded by the NIH grant of PI Elaine Larson, PhD.
2010 CUSON Appointed Post-Docs
Laura L. Ardizzone, DNP, CRNA received her BSN from the University of Pennsylvania and her MS and DNP from Columbia University School of Nursing. Laura is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Nursing and the Director of Clinical Education for the Nurse Anesthesia Program at Columbia University School of Nursing. She maintains a clinical practice at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center where she provides anesthesia services for a wide variety of surgical procedures and all age groups. Laura serves as a member of the board of directors of the New York State Association of Nurse. Her research interests include patient safety and patient outcomes and for her post-doctoral project she will spend 20% of her time for a year leading a project with a team from the School of Nursing and Memorial Sloan Kettering to examine surgical patient’s knowledge about hand hygiene practices.
Phyllis Tarallo, DNP, has practiced as a Family Nurse Practitioner in gynecologic oncology and co-investigator on women’s health clinical trials for the past ten years. In 2007, Phyllis joined the faculty of Columbia University School of Nursing as an Assistant Clinical Professor of Nursing and the Director of the Hepatobiliary Oncology Program in the Center for Liver Disease and Transplantation. It was in this role that she began to develop her interest in detecting the impact of liver transplantation on cervical dysplasia and Human Papilloma Virus. As a member of the Center for Clinical Practice and a recipient of the Dean’s Distinguished Post-Doctoral DNP fellowship she will spend 20% of her time for the next year to examine the impact of immunosuppression on women at high –risk for HPV and the need for closer monitoring for early detection of cervical dysplasia. She will also initiate a women’s health program in the Center for Liver Disease and Transplantation
Argerie Tsimicalis, PhD, has been awarded a Dean's Distinguished Scholar Award. Dr. Tsimicalis recently completed her doctoral education at the Lawrence S. Bloomberg School of Nursing, University of Toronto. For her dissertation, she conducted a mixed methods study to determine the costs incurred by families with children diagnosed with cancer. This important research was highlighted in the Canadian National Post newspaper and supported by the Canadian Cancer Society, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario (POGO), the University of Toronto, and The Hospital for Sick Children. Under the mentorship of Dr. Stone and as a member of the Center for Health Policy, Dr. Tsimicalis will spend one year investigating the societal costs incurred by other families with children diagnosed with complex chronic conditions.
First Four Graduates of CUSON’s PhD Program
Sarah Collins ’09 is a National Library of Medicine post-doctoral research fellow at Columbia University's Department of Biomedical Informatics. This is a two-year position funded by a National Library of Medicine Trainee Grant. Her background is as a critical care nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. Dr. Collins received a PhD in nursing informatics from the School of Nursing. With the acknowledgement that interdisciplinary communication is essential to safe and high quality patient care, she will use the electronic health record to build tools that support interdisciplinary communication and improve patient safety in the hospital setting. This work involves two foci: analyzing clinician-clinician handoff of patient care and how computerized tools can support that process, and using data mining to derive knowledge from electronic nursing documentation that may be early indicators of inpatient complications.
Kelli Stidham Hall ’10 is a post-doctoral research fellow at Princeton University’s Center for Health and Wellbeing, where she plans to further study social determinants of reproductive public health disparities. During her first year of fellowship at Princeton, Dr. Hall will submit multiple manuscripts for publication based upon her doctoral work, which included a National Institutes of Health-supported interdisciplinary dissertation that examined eating disorders, depression, and stress as mediators of oral contraceptive-attributed side effects and discontinuation in young minorities. Dr. Hall will also begin an epidemiologic research project using large national datasets and advanced analytical methods to investigate new psychological, bio-behavioral, socio-economical, and political determinants of negative population-based reproductive health outcomes. She hopes to identify risk factors for poor contraception use and lay the groundwork for relevant public health approaches to reduce disparities and sociopolitical barriers to adequate family planning and evidence-based reproductive health care.
Rebecca Schnall ’09 is an associate research scientist at Columbia University School of Nursing. Her time is divided between Wireless Informatics for Safe and Evidence-Based Advanced Practice Nurse Care project, a Health Resources and Services Administration-funded grant whose purpose is to include patient safety in clinicians’ curricula, and research and administrative activities related to the Center for Evidence-Based Practice. Dr. Schnall also teaches the Doctor of Nursing Practice course, Informatics for Practice. Her clinical expertise is in pediatrics and HIV care and her research interests include patient safety, personal health records, care coordination, decision support, and HIV/AIDS.
Po-Yin Yen ’10 is working with Suzanne Bakken, DNSc this summer as a research associate in the Center for Evidence-Based Practice in the Underserved while she considers several academic nursing opportunities related to nursing informatics. During her employment at the Center, Dr. Yen plans to submit multiple manuscripts for publication based upon her doctoral work, which concerns health information technology usability evaluation. She will also coordinate the summer education program for Gregorio Luperon High School. The program funding is provided by the U.S. government’s economic stimulus plan. In addition, Dr. Yen participates in other Center-funded projects including video podcasting for Symptom Self-Management and Adolescents with Diabetes Engage in Problem Solving through Tailored Intervention.
2. Recent Grant Awards
CUSON currently has a total of 25 active sponsored projects with a budget funding total of over $25 million. The active sponsored projects portfolio as of 9/1/10 includes:
Research Projects
- 5 NIH R01s (Research Project Grants)
- 1 NIH P30 (Center Core Grant with 4 pilot projects)
- 1 NIH P30 Administrative Supplement (ARRA Stimulus grant)
- 1 NIH P30 Competitive Revision (ARRA Stimulus grant)
- 1 NIH R03 (Feasibility/Pilot Studies)
- 1 CDC Cooperative Agreement
- 3 Foundation-supported Research Grants
- 1 Industry-funded Research Grant
Training / Education Projects
- 1 NIH T32 Institutional Training Grant (Supporting 3 pre-doctoral trainees and 1 postdoctoral trainee)
- 1 NIH T90 Interdisciplinary Institutional Training Grant (Supporting 2 pre-doctoral trainees and 2 postdoctoral trainees)
- 6 Institutional Training (HRSA, Jonas Center for Nursing Excellence)
- 1 R36 AHRQ Student Dissertation Grant
- 2 HRSA Nurse Faculty Loan Programs
Funding highlights since the Fall 2009 newsletter include:
Dr. Suzanne Bakken and Dr. Patricia Stone have received a $104,150 ARRA-funded supplement to the “Reducing Health Disparities Through Informatics (RHeaDI)” Pre- and Post-doctoral Training Program aimed at expanding the comparative effectiveness workforce. These special funds will support May Uchida as a pre-doctoral trainee and Sunmoo Yoon as a post-doctoral trainee. In addition, as part of this initiative, a new CER seminar will be developed and led by Drs. Bakken and Stone.
Columbia University School of Nursing received funding approval for four $20,000 scholarships from the Jonas Nurse Leaders Scholar Program, an initiative of the Jonas Center for Nursing Excellence. This program, which is led by Dr. Nancy Reame, is designed to improve nurse recruitment and retention, increase ethnic and racial diversity among the nursing workforce, advance innovative practice models, and improve nursing practice settings. The Jonas Nurse Leaders Scholar Program will support 50 scholars by 2012 with a goal of reaching 100 nationwide. Mr. Donald Jonas adds, "we are very pleased to support the new Jonas Scholars at Columbia and welcome them to join their distinguished colleagues Annie Rohan and Shanelle Nelson".
Dr. Patricia Stone and her research team have been awarded a 3-year competitive renewal, entitled “Prevention of Nosocomial Infections and Cost Effectiveness Refined” (P-NICER). This $2.1 million award extends their work to qualitatively and quantitatively examine infection prevention in hospitals across the nation. They will also study variations in state policies regulating mandatory reporting of infection control processes and health care associated infection rates.
Dr. Robert Lucero is a 2010 recipient of the NIH Loan Repayment Program. As a recipient, he will dedicate 50% of his professional time to research focused on Clinical Decision Support Systems for Healthcare Quality Improvement. Dr. Lucero began his appointment as Assistant Professor of Nursing at the Columbia University School of Nursing (CUSON) on July 1, 2010. His other projects include “Self Assessment via Personal Health Record (SAPHer) feasibility CEBP study” as well as being the newest faculty member on the federally-funded CUSON Training Nurse Scientists in Interdisciplinary and Translational Research in the Underserved (TRANSIT) grant which aims to increase the number of nurse scientists from underrepresented backgrounds to conduct interdisciplinary, practice-relevant research that benefits underserved urban communities.
3. Awards, Accolades, National Presentations, and Publications
CUSON Faculty
- Sally Aboelela was among the 2010 fellows named to the Glenda Garvey Teaching Academy at Columbia University Medical Center. The Academy recognize faculty who maintain the highest standards in teaching skills, dedication, and commitment and study and identify ways to improve CUMC’s educational mission. Previously named CUSON fellows to the Academy include Mary Byrne, Jennifer Dohrn, and Rita Marie John.
- Tracy Andrews, Sarah Cook and Kathleen Hickey had their article, “ARVC: Help Prevent Sudden Death,” published in the February 2010 issue of The Nurse Practitioner: The American Journal of Primary Healthcare.
- The Record, a publication of news and ideas for the Columbia University community, highlighted Mary Byrne and her scientific research on a prison nursery program to determine the outcomes of women and their children.
- Mary Byrne received the school's Distinguished Research Scholar Award at commencement. The award is given in recognition of research excellence to a faculty member who conducts research of the highest quality, who mentors the next generation of nurse researchers, and who is an exceptional scientist and outstanding scholar.
- Elizabeth Cohn, Haomiao Jia, and Elaine Larson presented their findings on “The Development and Testing of an Observational Tool to Measure the Process and Quality of Informed Consent for Clinical Research” at the 22nd Annual Scientific Sessions of the Eastern Nursing Research Society (ENRS).
- Elizabeth Cohn also presented her paper, “Informed Consent for Clinical Research: A Concept Analysis” at the 2010 ENRS Annual Meeting.
- Richard Garfield was appointed advisor to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to assist in its reorganization of international programs and the development of the Center for Global Health. Dr. Garfield has long led efforts to organize public health activities in less developed countries and is now analyzing the impact of non-communicable diseases for the World Health Organization. He is also coordinating research to estimate direct and indirect deaths due to conflict for the fourth round of the Global Burden of Disease project. His work with the CDC includes the design of what will be a major new set of US government global health initiatives as well as efforts to extend existing programs aimed at strengthening health services infrastructure, planning capacity and global health
- Richard Garfield has received a joint appointment in the Mailman School of Public Health, effective July 1, 2010. Dr. Garfield's new title is the Henrik H. Bendixen Professor of Clinical International Nursing and Clinical Population and Family Health.
- Norma Hannigan and Courtney Reinisch each received the school's Distinguished Clinical Scholar Award at commencement. The award is given in recognition of clinical excellence to a faculty member who practices comprehensive care at the highest level, who mentors future nurse clinicians, and who is an exceptional clinician and outstanding scholar.
- Kathleen Hickey was selected to attend the National Human Genome Research Institute’s Summer Workshop in Genomics at the National Institutes of Health this summer in Washington, DC. This intensive, six-day course updates researchers on genomic science and focuses on the continuing effort to find the genetic basis of various diseases and disorders, and current topics on the ethical, legal and social implications of genomics.
- Kathleen Hickey is serving on the Research Committee and the Planning Committee for the 2010 Annual Meeting of the International Society of Nurses in Genetics.
- Kathleen Hickey will be presenting a poster focusing on her Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funded research in cardiogenetics at the 25th Anniversary of the National Institutes of Nursing Research.
- Kathleen Hickey’s article, “The Utility of Ambulatory Electrocardiographic Monitoring for Detecting Silent Arrhythmias and Clarifying Symptom Mechanism in an Urban Elderly Population with Heart Failure and Hypertension: Clinical Implications,” was published in the June 2010 issue of the Journal of Atrial Fibrillation. She will also be giving an oral presentation on this research at the 2010 State of the Science Congress on Nursing Research in Washington, DC.
- Haomiao Jia’s article, “Trends in quality-adjusted life-years lost contributed by smoking and obesity” was published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
- Haomiao Jia was interviewed on his published research on the health burden of obesity for an August 2, 2010 article featured on WebMD. His study, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, reports that the impact of obesity on quality and quantity of life has more than doubled since the early 1990s.
- Rita Marie John received the school's Dorothy H. and Thomas L. O'Neil Distinguished Faculty Award at commencement. The award is given to a faculty member who exemplifies the multidimensional nurse scholar, who educates with enthusiasm, mentors with grace and commitment, seeks answers to important clinical questions, and remains focused on the ultimate goal of quality patient care.
- Rita Marie John presented her paper, “Effects of Parent-Focused Media Intervention on Body Mass Index, Waist Circumference, Self-Perception, Family Eating Habits, and Family Activity Habits in Overweight, Hispanic School-Aged Children” at the 22nd Annual Scientific Sessions of the ENRS in March 2010.
- Elaine Larson has been appointed to serve a prestigious 3-year term on the National Advisory Council for Nursing Research, NIH, Feb 1, 2010-Jan 30, 2014. The Council advises on matters relating to the conduct and support of nursing research, training, health information dissemination, and other programs.
- Robert Lucero was admitted into the new Academy Health Minority Scholars Program. This competitive program supports the professional development of underrepresented minorities in the field of health services research.
- Mary Mundinger was honored at a CUSON Gala Benefit for her 24 years of leadership in the School of Nursing on November 9, 2010. A vibrant school in a renowned university, Columbia Nursing enjoys an outstanding reputation built over its 117-year history and burnished by Dean Mundinger. Under her stewardship of nearly 24 years, annual enrollment increased to 600 students, 11 endowed chairs were created, and the School’s endowment soared to over $105 million in 2008. More than half of all living alumni - over 4,500 students - graduated during her deanship. Funds raised at the benefit helped establish the Mary O'Neil Mundinger Professor of Nursing endowed chair.
- Nancy Reame was an Inducted Fellow in the New York Academy of Medicine in November 2009.
- Nancy Reame hosted an expert panel at the 20th Annual Meeting of the North American Society for Menopause (NAMS) in San Diego in October 2009. Dr. Reame attended as immediate past Chair of the Research Affairs Committee, and hosted a "meet the experts" breakfast panel on "is it PMS or Perimenopause?" She was also the senior author of the poster entitled "Menopause Symptoms in Women with Diabetes: Glucose Control is an Important Correlate of Severity" which won the First Runner Up Award for Best Poster. The work was completed by PhD student, Patricia Rouen and colleagues at the University of Michigan and VA Medical Center.
- Nancy Reame served as the Keynote Speaker, Annual Research Day, University of South Dakota Medical Center in April 2010 and the Commencement Speaker Michigan State University College of Nursing Graduation in May 2010.
- Nancy Reame is senior author on “Adipokine Concentrations in Nonobese Women: A Study of Reproductive Aging, Body Mass Index, and Menstrual Cycle Effects” published in Biological Research for Nursing.
- Rebecca Schnall presented “Case Managers’ Perceptions of the Implementation of an Electronic Continuity of Care Record” at Poster Session II of the 2010 ENRS Scientific Sessions.
- Arlene Smaldone served as a member of the ENRS planning committee for its 22nd Annual Scientific Sessions in March 2010. She is also serving a term as ENRS Treasurer.
- Jan Smolowitz, Judy Honig, and Courtney Reinisch will be presenting their abstract, “Clinical Case Narratives: A Transformative Teaching Methodology for Educating DNP Students” at the 2010 Global Alliance for Leadership in Nursing Education and Science (GANES) Second Annual International Conference in Arlington, VA in December 2010.
- Patricia Stone delivered the plenary address “Incorporating Economic Analyses into Nursing Research: An Extension of Comparative Effectiveness Research” at the 2010 ENRS Scientific Sessions in Providence, RI.
- Patricia Stone also presented her paper, “The Type of Nurse Matters: The Effects of Nurse Staffing Levels, Non-RNs, and Contract Nurses on Length of Stay” at the 2010 ENRS Scientific Sessions in Providence, RI.
- Patricia Stone was interviewed about one of her current research studies in “The Changing Role of the Infection Preventionist: Looking for Answers” which appeared in Spring 2010 issue of Prevention Strategist.
- Patricia Stone was an invited speaker at the APIC 2010 Annual Meeting Concurrent Session on “The Changing Role of Infection Preventionists (CHAIPI).”
CUSON Students
- Tracy Andrews was the CUSON student selected to attend the NIH Genome Scholars Program, which is held concurrently with the six-day Summer Workshop in Genomics. This program parallels the short course, and offers a close-up view of careers in genetic research while providing an enhanced mentoring experience.
- Sharron Close presented two posters at the 2010 ENRS Scientific Sessions in Providence, RI – “Preliminary Bone Mineral Density Findings in a Sample of Boys with Klinefelter Syndrome,” and “An Adaptation of the Biophysical Model of Health Compromise in Klinefelter Syndrome” for which she won second place for a doctoral student poster.
- Sharron Close presented a paper on “Bone Mineral Density Findings in Klinefelter Syndrome” at the Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia in April 2010 and recently had a paper accepted for publication in the November issue of the Journal of Pediatric Nursing entitled, “Klinefelter Syndrome: Awareness and Index of Suspicion.”
- In July 2010, Sharron Close also conducted a presentation entitled, “A Model for Understanding Sex Chromosome Aneuploidies: The example of Klinefelter Syndrome” at the National Klinefelter Syndrome and Sex Aneuploidy Families Conference held in Ohio.
- Ann-Margaret Dunn-Navarra presented “Adolescent Health Literacy: An Evolving Concept” at the Early Doctoral Poster Session at the 2010 ENRS Scientific Sessions.
- Patricia Dykes, CUSON alum, won the Harriet H. Werley Award at the 2009 American Medical Informatics Association annual symposium. This award is for a paper judged to make the greatest contribution to advancing the field of nursing informatics. She is the fourth Columbian to win this award which CUSON has won 5 times in the last 9 years.
- Lorie Goshin presented “Subsequent Reenrollment in a Follow-up Study of Research Participants Enrolled while Incarcerated” at the 2010 ENRS Scientific Sessions. She was awarded second prize for this doctoral oral presentation.
- CUSON PhD graduate, Dr. Kelli Stidham Hall, won the 2010 Sally Pearlman Best Poster Award at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology for “Disordered Symptoms and Oral Contraceptive-Attributed Weight Side Effects as Mediators of Oral Contraceptive Use in Minority Adolescents.” Dr. Hall’s PhD mentor, Dr. Nancy Reame, was one of the co-authors.
- Nowai Keleekai presented “TRANSIT: A Columbia University-Hunter College Initiative for TRAining Nurse-Scientists in Interdisciplinary & Translational Research in the Underserved” at the Early Doctoral Poster Session at the 2010 ENRS Scientific Sessions. CUSON co-authors included Suzanne Bakken, Elaine Larson, and Nancy Reame.
- Patricia Moreland presented “Determinants of Nonadherence to Pediatric Follow-up Guidelines of HIV-exposed Infants in Rwanda” at 2010 ENRS Scientific Sessions.
- Njoki Ng’ang’a presented a poster titled “Problem Solving for Better Health Nursing: Developing the Capacity of Nurses Caring for Fistula Patients at the National Hospital in Niamey, Niger” at the 18th International Council on Women’s Health Issues conference in Philadelphia, PA.
- Patricia Quinlan presented “The Relationship Between Health Literacy, Health Knowledge and Adherence to Treatment in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis” at 2010 ENRS Scientific Sessions.
- Dan Scanfeld was featured on Good Morning America on 3/30/2010 where he discussed “Tweeting Medical Misinformation.”
- Barbara Sheehan won the Nursing Informatics Working Group Award at the 2009 American Medical Informatics Association annual symposium. This honors a student who demonstrates excellence in nursing informatics and who has the potential to contribute significantly to the discipline of nursing and health informatics. Po-Yin Yen was also nominated for the award.
CUSON Staff
- Mandar Apte presented a poster entitled, “A Comparison of Performance of Two Computer Algorithms to Identify Surgical Site Infections Using Electronic Data” at the 2010 Association for Professionals in Infection Control (APIC) Annual Meeting. CUSON co-authors included former TIRAR post-doctoral fellow, Tim Landers, and Elaine Larson.
- Sarah Jordan and Monika Pogorzelska presented a poster entitled, “Range of Policies for Prevention of Catheter Associated Urinary Tract Infections in Intensive Care Units” at the 2010 APIC Annual Meeting. CUSON co-authors included Elaine Larson and Pat Stone.
- Kristine Kulage was appointed as a Contributing Editor for the National Council of University Research Administrators (NCURA) Magazine. As contributing editor for the Biomed Corner of the magazine, Ms. Kulage is responsible for 6 articles annually on topics related to research administration in the academic medical center setting. She recently published an article on her experiences serving as the grants manager and web designer for the School of Nursing’s Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Antimicrobial Resistance (CIRAR), “Interdisciplinary Research at an Academic Medical Center: One Administrator’s Journey.” This publication is read by over 7,000 members of research administration worldwide.
- Kristine Kulage is part of the Columbia University Medical Center Research Compliance and Administration (RASCAL) System Improvements Focus Group. This group, convened through CUMC Sponsored Projects Administration, is identifying, discuss, and develop changes to improve the Rascal Proposal Tracking (PT) module for a better end-user experience and for better institutional compliance at CUMC.
- Kristine Kulage and Ruth Torres are serving as Program Committee members for the 2011 NCURA Region II Annual Meeting to be held in New York City, May 1-3, 2011. The theme of the regional meeting next year is “Setting Our Sights on the New World of Research Administration.”
- Kristine Kulage and Ruth Torres recently co-authored an article for the September/October NCURA Magazine, “Researchers’ Relationships with Pre-Award and Post-Award Offices: Bridging the Gap,” which focuses on their ongoing initiatives to improve communication and work flow between the School of Nursing pre-award and post-award grants administration offices.
- Melissa Marine presented a posted entitled, “Methods of Measuring Compliance with Transmission-Based Isolation Precautions: Comparison of Paper-Based and Electronic Data Collection” at the 2010 APIC Annual Meeting. CUSON co-authors included Bevin Cohen and Tim Landers.
- Ruth Torres was an invited author for the May/June 2010 issue of NCURA Magazine. Ms. Torres’ article, “ARRA Awards One Year Later: The Dawning of a New Age of Compliance?” was featured in the special American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)-themed issue of the magazine.
4. CUSON Sponsors Center for Health Policy Conference
The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) began its inaugural Nursing Student Policy Summit in Washington, DC for the next generation of health policy leaders. Sponsored by the Jonas Center for Nursing Excellence, the Johnson & Johnson Campaign for Nursing's Future, and Columbia University School of Nursing’s Center for Health Policy (Patricia Stone, Director), the summit featured a variety of presentations by policy experts, interactive discussions with Washington insiders, lobbying visits to U.S. members of Congress, and strategic networking opportunities. While the summit was originally planned for 100 students, generous support from the Jonas Center for Nursing Excellence, the Johnson & Johnson Campaign, and the Center for Health Policy at Columbia University School of Nursing enabled AACN to accommodate 135 students (room capacity).
5. New CUSON Center: The School of Nursing Center for Children and Families
The School of Nursing is pleased to announce the formation of the School of Nursing “Center for Children and Families.” Its mission is to address the needs of children and families at risk for threatened, sub-optimal or compromised health and to intervene through the generation and sharing of clinical and empirical knowledge from original research, innovative clinical practice, consultation and education. The broad goals of the new Center are to create and disseminate knowledge for practice and research with families and children at risk, to provide scholarly resources for faculty and students, to support translational partnerships within the School and the professional and lay communities and to foster education for advanced practice and research in nursing. The Center Director is Mary W. Byrne, PhD, MPH, CPNP, The Stone Foundation and Elise D. Fish Professor of Clinical Health Care for the Underserved.
6. ORR Research Seminars
The Office of Research Resources conducted its 2010 Spring Research Seminar entitled, “Important Recent and Future Changes at the NIH: What do PIs really need to know.” Topics included new requirements and formatting for NIH biosketches, compliance with the NIH Public Access policy, and new instructions for the “Resources” Grant section.
SAVE THE DATE! Friday October 29 from 8:30am-11:00am the ORR will present the 2010 Fall Research Seminar, “The New NIH Application, Structure, & Scoring Workshop: The NIH-APPS Workshop”
The NIH-APPSS Workshop will take place on Friday, October 29 from 9am-11am in the School of Nursing First Floor Student Lounge. Join ORR Faculty and Staff for an informal, hands-on workshop covering:
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Because this will be an interactive session, attendees are encouraged to bring their current or future grant submission ideas, as well as aims and hypotheses, to the workshop. Come for all or just part of this interactive workshop! Breakfast will be served, so please RSVP to Laureen Pagan at lp2043@columbia.edu.