News from Cizik School of Nursing

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.

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).

(July 2, 2020) Santa Maria, D., Cuccaro, P., Bender, K. et al. Feasibility of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention with Sheltered Youth Experiencing Homelessness. J Child Fam Stud 29, 261–272 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-019-01583-6

Daphne Hernandez, PhD, is expanding her work with Hispanic immigrant families through a new study that will seek to understand where parents and teens get information about COVID-19, their beliefs about the disease, and how socioeconomic factors are affecting their health behaviors. The overall impact of COVID-19 and other stressors on mental health will also be examined.

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.