Latest Research highlights
Advancing Nursing Science
Additional projects recently funded by NIH and other external sources
Assistant Professor Stacey Crane, PhD, RN, CPON, received a Betty Irene Moore Fellowship from the University of California-Davis. The fellowship comes with $450,000 in funding over three years for her research project, “Advancing Comprehensive Symptom Assessments for Children with Cancer.” The award builds on a grant Crane received from the St. Baldrick’s Foundation in 2020, followed by a three-year K23 grant in 2021 from the National Institute of Nursing Research, to fund the development of the Smart Pediatric Oncology Tracker of Symptoms (SPOTS).
Associate Professor Daphne Hernandez, PhD, MSEd, FAAHB, received a one-year, $385,023 supplement grant from the NINR for her study, “Health Outcomes Post-Eviction Moratoria (HOPE-M).” The mentoring grant focuses on learning more about two groups of people who have not been evicted but feel pressure from their landlords to move out – those who do move and those who stay in their homes but continue to feel the pressure to move from their landlords.
Associate Professor Janet Van Cleave, PhD, RN, FAAN, received a one-year $72,000 grant supplement from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to explore differences in survivorship services available to patients living in urban and rural areas for her project, “Assessing and Enhancing Survivorship Care in Rural and Urban Patients with Head and Neck Cancer.” This is a supplement to her R01 grant, “Implementing the NYU Electronic Patient Visit Assessment (ePVA) for Head and Neck Cancer in Rural and Urban Population,” that she received in 2023.
Assistant Professor Deniz Dishman, PhD, DNAP, CRNA, NSPM-C, received a one-year, $62,667 grant from the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology Foundation to detect and measure responses to nociception in a cohort of stroke survivors using the Nociceptive Level (NOL) index™ for her study, “Calculating Objective Measures of Pain After Stroke (COMPAS).”
Assistant Professor Veronica J. Brady, PhD, RN, FNP-BC, FADCES, BC-ADM, CDCES, received two grants to study type 2 diabetes and HIV. She is using a one-year, $40,000 grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) via the HIV and Aging Research Consortium and the University of Washington for the study “Impact of Type 2 Diabetes on Aging Among People with HIV.” This study incorporates bone mineral density (BMD) testing and trabecular bone scores (TBS) to assess aging bone health among patients with HIV, with both HIV and Type 2 diabetes, and without either disease.
Brady also received a $50,000 grant from the Texas Developmental Center for AIDS Research (TX D-CFAR) for her study, “Barriers to Attainment of Glycemic Outcomes in Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Type 2 Diabetes.” She is using the award to advance her studies of people living with both HIV and diabetes.
Associate Professor Doncy Eapen, PhD, MSN, RN, FNP-BC, received a $2,000 grant from the Zeta Pi Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing that supports interviewing nurses recruited from the Indian American Nurses Association of Greater Houston (IANAGH) to identify barriers to South Asian Indian (SAI) nurses pursuing leadership positions. The study is titled “Barriers to Leadership and Career Advancement in the Nursing Profession: Experiences and Perceptions of South Asian Immigrant Nurses in the United States.”
Intramural grants:
2024 Global Health Educational Innovations and Research Grants from UTHealth Houston:
Associate Professor Jennifer E. S. Beauchamp, PhD, RN, FAAN, received a $10,000 grant for her project, “Let’s Talk About Stroke.” This grant supports the development and evaluation of an online global health course in Spanish aimed at health care providers and students in El Salvador.
Assistant Professor Higinio Fernández-Sánchez, PhD, RN, received an $11,500 grant for his study, “Challenges in Transit Migration: Ethnographic Insights into Human Trafficking, Violence, and HIV.” He will interview migrants in transit through Mexico to gather data about the risks they face and barriers to HIV prevention.
Aging in place research awards:
Xiaoqian Jiang, PhD, and Professor Carolyn E. Z. Pickering, PhD, RN, received a $40,000 grant for their proposal “Health care Mobile ALOHA: Enhancing Independent Living for Aging Populations.” Jiang is the associate vice president of medical artificial intelligence at McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics at UTHealth Houston.
Ryan Ramphul, PhD, an assistant professor in the department of epidemiology at UTHealth Houston School of Public Health, received a $40,000 grant for the study, “The Influence of Neighborhood and Environmental Characteristics on Physical and Psychological Wellbeing in Older Adults: Analysis Using Data from the Cart Study.” Assistant Professor Carina Katigbak, is co-investigator.
Stephanie Silveira, PhD, an assistant professor in the Department of Management, Policy, and Community Health at UTHealth Houston School of Public Health, received a $30,000 grant for her project, “Assessment of the GaitMate Application for Activities of Daily Living, Gait Metrics, and Falls.” Pickering is a co-investigator.
Dean’s Research Awards:
Assistant Professor Karla Abela, PhD, RN, CCRN-K, CPN, received a $10,000 grant for her proposal, “Examining the Influence of Social Determinants of Health on Health Outcomes of Critically Ill Children and Their Families: A Pilot Study.”
Assistant Professor LaDawna Goering, DNP, APRN, ANP-BC, CNE, BC-ADM, CDP, received a $10,000 grant for her proposal, “Workplace Violence Prevention Competency Development for Home Safety Protection for Health Care Professionals.”
Associate Professor Bridgette R. Pullis, PhD, RN, CHPN, received a $10,000 grant for her proposal, “Competency-Based Education: Teaching Nursing Students EOL Communication Skills through Simulation.”
Assistant Professor Darlene Acorda, PhD, RN, CNE, CPNP-PC, received a $5,000 grant for her proposal, “Development and Psychometric Evaluation of the Tracheostomy Self-Efficacy Scale.”
Assistant Professor Emily A. Barr, PhD, RN, CPNP-PC, CNM, ACRN, FACNM, FAAN, received a $5,000 Dean’s Research Award to further her study on improving knowledge and training for lactation consultants using telehealth to support people in their infant feeding decisions. The study is titled “Tele-lactation for breast/chest feeding parents with HIV: An examination of HIV-knowledge, attitudes, experiences, and HIV stigma in certified lactation consultants in the United States and Canada.”
Assistant Professor Christian “Paige” Owen, PhD, MSN, RN, CEN, received a $5,000 grant for her proposal “Assessment and Feasibility of Trauma-Informed Care Training among Emergency Health care Providers Working in a Level I Trauma Facility.”
Speros Martel Endowment for the Aging Geriatric Nursing Research Scholarship
Assistant Professor Wesley Browning, PhD, received a $7,000 grant for his proposal, “Assessing Dementia Family Caregiving Networks: A Feasibility Study.”
Continuing research grants:
“Health Outcomes Post-Eviction Moratoria (HOPE-M)”
Principal Investigator: Daphne Hernandez, PhD, MSEd, FAAHB
Funding: $2,360,082 R01 award from the NINR
“Evaluation of Food Security Scales among Hispanic Parents: A Cognitive Interview and Psychometric Properties Study”
Principal Investigator: Daphne Hernandez, PhD, MSEd, FAAHB
Funding: $169,028 R03 award from the NICHD
Houston-Area Opportunities for Student Training in Obesity and Nutrition (HOUSTON) Academy 2.0
Principal Investigator: Daphne Hernandez, PhD, MSEd, FAAHB
Funding: Research and Extension Experiential Learning for Undergraduates Program of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, USDA
“Assessing the use of MY-RIDE, a Just-in-Time Adaptive Intervention, to Improve HIV Prevention and Substance Use in Youth Experiencing Homelessness”
Principal Investigator: Diane Santa Maria, DrPH, MSN, RN, ACRN, PHNA-BC, FSAHM, FAAN
Funding: $1,443,905 R01 award from the NINR
“Management of Chronic Low Back Pain in Older Adults Using Auricular Point Acupressure”
Principal Investigator: Professor Constance Johnson, PhD, MS, RN, FAAN
Funding: $1,870,508 R01 award from the NIA
“Auricular Point Acupressure to Manage Chemotherapy Induced Neuropathy”
Principal Investigator: Professor Constance Johnson, PhD, MS, RN, FAAN
Funding: $2,208,407 R01 award from the NCI
“Diabetes Learning In Virtual Environments Just In time for Community reEntry (Diabetes LIVE JustICE)”
Co-Investigator: Professor Constance Johnson, PhD, MS, RN, FAAN
Funding: $41,758 award from the American Diabetes Association
“Daily Decisions of Family Caregivers”
Principal Investigator: Carolyn E. Z. Pickering, PhD, RN
Funding: $641,415 award from the NIA
“Discovering Solutions for Dementia Symptoms”
Principal Investigator: Carolyn E. Z. Pickering, PhD, RN
Funding: $486,805 award from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
“Daily Medication Decisions by Dementia Family Caregivers”
Principal Investigator: Carolyn E. Z. Pickering, PhD, RN
Funding: $619,609 award from the NIA
“Feasibility of a Positive Parenting Program for Women Experiencing Homelessness Who Have a History of Interpersonal Violence: A Randomized Controlled Trial”
Principal Investigator: Doncy Eapen, PhD, MSN, RN, FNP-BC
Funding: $50,000 award from Hillman Emergent Innovation (HEI) program
“Kabalikat” Emotional Wellness Program
Principal investigator: Assistant Professor Riza V. Mauricio, PhD, APRN, CPNP-PC/AC, FCCM, CCRN, in collaboration with the Philippine Nurses Association of America
Funding: $135,271 from the ALL IN Fund
“TEC-HIV: Telehealth use and engagement in care in young adults living with HIV”
Principal investigator: Emily Barr, PhD, RN, CPNP-PC, CNM, ACRN, FACNM, FAAN
Funding: $50,000 award from the Texas Developmental Center for AIDS Research (TX-DCFAR)
“ePATHS: Patient Activation Through Home STI testing using electronic communication and telehealth in youth living with HIV”
Principal investigator: Emily Barr, PhD, RN, CPNP-PC, CNM, ACRN, FACNM, FAAN
Funding: $50,000 award from TX-DCFAR