News from Cizik School of Nursing

Diane M. Santa Maria, DrPH, MSN, RN, FAAN, has been appointed dean of the Jane and Robert Cizik School of Nursing at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), effective Tuesday, Sept. 1. In this role, Santa Maria will serve as the Jane and Robert Cizik Distinguished Chair and the Huffington Foundation Endowed Chair in Nursing Education Leadership.

A team led by Cizik School of Nursing at UTHealth’s Interim Dean Diane Santa Maria will expand its research of vulnerable youth to examine COVID-19 risks through a two-year, supplemental grant from the National Institute of Nursing Research of the National Institutes of Health.

An interprofessional team is studying COVID-19 symptoms among people with and without cancer through new grant awarded to Cizik School of Nursing at UTHealth Assistant Professor Meagan Whisenant, PhD, APRN. Faculty from across the UTHealth campus and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center are participating in the research project.

Congratulations to Rebecca Bergh, MSN, RN, CNM, the first Cizik School of Nursing at UTHealth PhD student to receive the prestigious Jonas Nursing and Veterans Healthcare scholarship. The award will fund her dissertation research on the mental health needs and challenges faced by young parents experiencing homelessness.

Stacey Crane, PhD, RN, will use a new grant from the St. Baldrick’s Foundation to pilot test a web-based interface designed to make it easier for kids with cancer and their parents to report symptoms in real time with the ultimate goal of improving kids’ outcomes. Crane is an assistant professor in the Department of Research at Cizik School of Nursing at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth Houston).