The Jane and Robert Cizik Lecture is an annual series created as part of a transformational $25 million gift in 2017 from Jane Cizik and her late husband, Robert.
Their generosity – which led to the school being named Cizik School of Nursing at UTHealth Houston in their honor – also supports faculty research and student scholarships and enabled the establishment of the interprofessional Cizik Nursing Research Institute in 2024. Learn more about the Cizik family’s support of the nursing school.
Loss of smell linked to dementia, mortality risk
Paule Valery Joseph, PhD, MBA, CRNP, FAAN, co-director of the National Smell and Taste Center, told attendees at the 2026 Jane and Rober Cizik Lecture that loss of the ability to smell can be an early warning sign for more than 139 diseases, including dementia.
Previous lectures
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2025: Care from the bench to the bedside, Terri S. Armstrong, PhD, ANP-BC, FAANP, FAAN, scientist emerita of the National Institutes of Health, retired deputy chief of the Neuro-Oncology Branch, and former associate director for patient-centered outcomes at the Center for Cancer Research of the National Cancer Institute.
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2024: Health begins in the womb – Hudson Santos, PhD, RN, FABMR, FAAN, president of the International Society of Nurses in Genetics
- 2023: NINR director emphasizes nurse researchers’ unique perspective – Shannon N. Zenk, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN, director of National Institute of Nursing Research
- 2022: Seeds of nursing research – Research Patricia A. Grady, PhD, RN, FAAN, director emeritus of the National Institute of Nursing
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