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Research highlights - Spring 2022

Nurse scientists grow research portfolios

Dr. Jennifer Beauchamp leads a stroke research study in the Smart Apartment
Dr. Jennifer Beauchamp leads a stroke research study in Cizik School of Nursing at UTHealth Houston's Smart Apartment.

Jennifer E. S. Beauchamp, PhD, RN, FAAN, is using a $100,000 PARTNERS grant to develop a fun, interactive way to help survivors and informal caregivers who are coping with post-stroke loneliness and mental health issues. Learn more about her study titled “Self-management EdUcation and SuPport to Promote PsychOsocial Health among StRoke Survivors and Informal Caregivers in a VirTual Stroke Community (SUPPORT): A Pilot Project.”

Barbara E. Hekel, PhD, MS, MPH, RN, and Bridgette Pullis, PhD, RN, CHPN, are using a pilot grant to develop curriculum to provide nursing students with greater confidence and effectiveness in addressing vaccine hesitancy. Get the details on their study titled “Working with the Moveable Middle: Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy.”

Rebecca Tsusaki, PhD, APRN, WHNP-BC, IBCLC, is principal investigator on a seed grant aimed at developing curriculum on interacting with and caring for sexual and gender minority patients. “Respecting Individuality and Sexuality in Nursing and Healthcare (RISING-H) Curriculum Development for Sexual & Gender Minority Education: A Feasibility Study” is funded by a grant from The University of Texas Kenneth L. Shine Academy of Health Science Education.

Also receiving a Shine Academy seed grant is Padmavathy Ramaswamy, PhD, MSN, MPH, FNP-C. Her project, “The Use of the Interprofessional Collaborator Assessment Rubric (iCAR) in an intra-professional clinical simulation in the School of Nursing,” will assess how well undergraduate and graduate nursing students collaborate as a team when interacting with patients.

Deniz Dishman, PhD, DNAP, CRNA, and Daphne Hernandez, PhD, MSEd, FAAHB, have teamed up with colleagues at the UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry on research projects funded through the SOD-CSON Joint Seed Award Program. These intraprofessional research projects focus on improving the oral and general health of children. Dishman is working with Brett Chiquet, DDS, PhD, on “Identifying the Incidence of Post-Sedation Adverse Events in Pediatric Dentistry,” and Hernandez is partnering with Margo Melchor, RDH, MED, EdD, on “Exploring the feasibility of using interprofessional education to deliver Nourishing Smiles to underserved adolescents in Houston area schools.”

Hernandez is also working with colleagues from the UTHealth School of Public Health on a five-year, $750,000 grant from the Research and Extension Experiential Learning for Undergraduates Program of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, a part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The project will provide undergraduate students from throughout the Houston area with the opportunity to learn how proper nutrition can help prevent obesity and chronic diseases. Read more about “Houston-area Opportunities for Student Training in Obesity & Nutrition (HOUSTON) Academy 2.0.”

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