Cizik School of Nursing Homepage

Cizik School of Nursing at UTHealth's own Meagan Whisenant, PhD, APRN, an assistant professor in the Department of Research, is one of seven new recipients of the First-Time, Tenure-Track Faculty Member Awards granted this week by the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT).

Researchers from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and Rice University are initiating research in the Cizik School of Nursing at UTHealth’s Smart Apartment using seed grants to study technological tools to help older people live independently. The first three Internet of Things and Aging in Place Seed Grants were awarded to interdisciplinary teams from multiple institutions who will work together to test ideas, gather critical information, and lay the groundwork for larger grant applications in the future.

A five-year grant awarded last month to Associate Professor Hyochol “Brian” Ahn, PhD, ANP-BC, will fund his continued research into nonpharmacological treatments for knee pain that focus on altering how the brain perceives pain. Ahn is the Cizik School of Nursing’s Theodore J. and Mary E. Trumble Professor in Aging Research. He received the grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) through the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) in April to study transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) combined with mindfulness-based meditation for home-based self-management of pain related to knee osteoarthritis in older adults.

This year, the Houston Chronicle honored nurses from UTHealth and UT Physicians as the top nurses in Houston during their annual Salute to Nurses for 2020.

Social distancing required by COVID-19 has made providing health care via phone calls and video chats not just a convenient option but, in many cases, an imperative. Telehealth will continue to play an important role as businesses gradually reopen and “nonessential” health care services resume. In fact, many providers believe it will become a permanent and routine element of practice.