Elda Ramirez, PhD, RN, FNP-BC, ENP-BC, FAAN, has been awarded a two-year grant from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board for the Emergency and Trauma Care Education Partnership Program, which has been continuously funded since 2010.

Diane Santa Maria, DrPH, MSN, RN, FAAN, is collaborating on a grant with the Baylor College of Medicine-Texas Medical Center Leadership Education in Adolescent Health (LEAH) training program. The grant supports the goal of preparing diverse leaders in adolescent and young adult health through didactic, experiential, and research-based interdisciplinary education and training in core health disciplines of medicine, nursing, nutrition, psychology, social work, and public health. The five-year, HRSA-funded grant will provide a fellowship and stipend for family or psychiatric/mental health nurse practitioner students.

Barbara E. Hekel, PhD, MS, MPH, RN, and Bridgette Pullis, PhD, RN, are using an intramural pilot grant for their study, “Working with the Moveable Middle: Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy,” to develop and test curriculum to improve student confidence and effectiveness in addressing vaccine hesitancy. So far, more than 250 BSN students have completed the vaccine hesitancy simulation developed by Hekel, Pullis, and Instructor Jennifer Dugger, MSN, RN.

Padmavathy Ramaswamy, PhD, MSN, MPH, FNP-C, received a seed grant from The University of Texas Kenneth I. Shine Academy of Health Science Education to fund a project titled “The Use of the Interprofessional Collaborator Assessment Rubric (iCAR) in an intra-professional clinical simulation in a School of Nursing.” The project will assess how well undergraduate and graduate nursing students collaborate as a team when interacting with patients.

Rebecca Tsusaki, PhD, APRN, WHNP-BC, is principal investigator on a seed grant aimed at developing curriculum to help students better care 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” also is funded by a UT System Shine Academy grant.

Continuing Grants

South East Texas Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program Grant
Principal investigator: Janice Knebl, DO
Co-investigator: Jessica Hartos, PhD
Funded by Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program -HRSA-19-008 subcontract to Baylor College of Medicine, grantee institution