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Doctoral Program

Doctoral Faculty

Debra J. Barksdale, PhD, RN, CFNP, CANP
Associate Professor

Research Interests: Cardiovascular Health and Responses; Hypertension; Cortisol; Stress and Coping; Biobehavioral research methods; Black American adults; Diversity and discrimination in Health Care; Care of families and the underserved; Spirituality and health

Current Studies:

Anna Beeber, PhD, RN
Assistant Professor

Research Interests:

Current Studies:

Linda Beeber, PhD, RN, CS
Professor

Research Interests: Depression in mothers of young children; Interventions for depressive symptoms; Psych-mental health nursing; Depression in women with HIV disease; General linear models; Diversity and inclusiveness in nursing

Current Studies:

Diane Berry, PhD, CANP
Assistant Professor

Research Interests: Behavioral and physiological work with African American, Latino, and Caucasian children and parents to manage their weight and prevent type 2 diabetes.

Current Studies:

Susan A. Brunssen , PhD, RN
Assistant Professor

Research Interests: Perinatal infection, inflammation & very preterm birth; Hypoxia/ischemia & neuroinflammatory injury; Inflammation and neurological outcomes of very preterm infants; Neurodevelopmental disorders of children; Cytokines, growth factors, neurotransmitters; Biomolecular methods & imaging techniques; Behavioral methods, rodent and human; Observational methods

Barbara Waag Carlson, PhD, RN
Associate Professor & Associate Director, Biobehavioral Lab

Research Interests: Physiological signal processing/analysis; EEG sleep and arousal in older adults; Respiratory periodicity during sleep; Patterns of cardiovascular stability during sleep; Neurocognitive measures and assessment; Cerebral oxygenation in sleep; Biological markers of memory impairment and cognitive decline in older adults

Current Studies:

Linda Cronenwett, PhD, RN, FAAN
Professor

Research Interests: Effects of administrative contexts on quality of care; Use of improvement science methods

Noreen Esposito, EdD, WHNP, FNP
MSN Coordinator, Women's Health Care Nurse Practitioner

Research Interests: Violence against women and sexual assault; Substance abuse in women; Discrimination and health outcomes; Minority/underserved/vulnerable women and access to care Hispanic women's health and menopause; Qualitative research, ethnography, focus groups

Current Studies:

Cathie Fogel, Ph.D, RNC (WHCNP), FAAN
Professor

Research Interests: Health promotion/disease prevention for disadvantaged women and incarcerated women; Preterm labor risk assessment and prevention; STD/AIDS prevention for incarcerated women; Pregnant prisoners; Weight reduction in incarcerated women; Violence and women prisoners

Current Studies:

Sandy Funk, PhD. FAAN
Professor

Research Interests: Research dissemination and utilization; Applied measurement and psychometrics; Research facilitation; Chronic illness; Preschool developmental screening

Edward J. Halloran, PhD, RN, FAAN
Associate Professor

Research Interests: Nurse staffing & patient classification; Severity of illness; Measurement of nursing care costs at patient, ward, institution and national levels; Genesis of nursing - from Nightingale to Henderson; American Civil War disease mortality reductions; Care of the dying; Development of modern nursing in China; Yale nurses

Jill Hamilton, PhD, RN
Assistant Professor

Research Interests:

Current Studies:

Donna S. Havens, PhD, RN, FAAN
Professor

Research Interests: Hospital organization and outcomes; Evidence-based management and organization; Staff nurse decisional involvement; Magnet Hospitals; Translating organizational research into practice; The nursing work environment; Implementation research

Current Studies:

Cheryl B. Jones, PhD, RN, FAAN
Associate Professor and MSN Coordinator, Health Care Systems

Research Interests: Nursing & health care systems; Quality & patient safety; Cost, quality, & outcomes of health services; Economics of care delivery; Nursing work environment; Health services research

Current Studies:

Diane Kjervik, JD, RN, FAAN
Professor & Division Chair

Research Interests: Nursing law and ethics; Informed consent and the elderly; Mental health law and ethics; Policy and nursing; End of life decision-making; Advance directives; Women’s issues

Kathleen Knafl, PhD, FAAN
Professor

Research Interests:

Jennifer Leeman, DrPH, MDIV
Research Associate Professor

Research Interests: Translating research to practice; Implementing change in practice; Disseminating research findings; Managing diabetes

Current Studies:

Mary Lynn, PhD
Professor

Research Interests: Psychometrics and evaluation; Definition and measurement of quality of care; Statistical and research methods; Work satisfaction; Organizational commitment; Patient-centered intervention; Patients’ expectations; Outcomes measurement; Predicting success in undergraduate nursing program

Current Studies:

Barbara Mark, PhD, RN, FAAN
Sarah Frances Russell Professor

Research Interests: Organization of acute care health systems; Organization theory; Outcomes and patient safety research

Current Studies:

Merle Mishel, PhD, RN, FAAN
Kenan Professor of Nursing & Director, Doctoral and Post-doctoral Programs

Research Interests: Middle range theories; Theory of uncertainty in illness; Uncertainty in illness scales; Uncertainty management interventions with cancer patients; Uncertainty in chronic illness; Theory-based interventions; Experimental designs; Psychosocial theories in acute and chronic illness; Psycho-educational interventions for the chronically ill

Current Studies:

Virginia Neelon, PhD, RN
Associate Professor & Director, Biobehavioral Laboratory

Research Interests: Delirium/Acute confusion & chronic cognitive impairment in older adults -measurement and intervention; Role of hypoxic challenge in sleep and cognitive decline in older adults; Physiology of aging; The study of biobehavioral markers of vulnerability; Development of non-invasive methods of measuring physiologic responses; Biobehavioral markers of vulnerability & resilience; Biobehavioral measures of intervention effect

Current Studies:

Marilyn Oermann, PhD, RN, FAAN, ANEF
Professor & Adult/Geriatric Health Chair

Research Interests: Dissemination of research in the clinical nursing literature; Evidence-based practice; Clinical teaching methods and evaluation

Mary H. Palmer, PhD, RNC, FAAN
Umphlet Distinguished Professor in Aging

Research Interests: Aging; Long-term care; Older adults in acute care; Urinary continence in adults; Gerontology/Geriatrics; Health promotion

Current Studies:

Pamela Johnson Rowsey, PhD, RN
Associate Professor

Research Interests: Neuroendocrine and immunopeptide regulation of body temperature; Cytokines, exercise, injury and illness; Organophosphate insecticide-induced changes in core temperature; Chemical vulnerability and the Gulf-War Syndromes

Current Studies:

Margarete Sandelowski, PhD, RN, FAAN
Cary C. Boshamer Professor

Research Interests: Reproductive technology; Psychosocial, cultural, ethical issues; Technology in nursing; History, philosophy; Qualitative methodology

Current Studies:

Gwen Sherwood, PhD, RN, FAAN
Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs

Research Interests: Caring; Pain relief; Nursing administration

Anne Skelly, PhD, RN, ANP-C
Associate Professor

Research Interests: Type 2 diabetes in African-American women; Coping, social support and stress

Current Studies:

Mi-Kyung Song, PhD, RN
Assistant Professor

Research Interests:

Suzanne Thoyre, PhD, RN
Associate Professor

Research Interests: Co-regulatory mechanisms of feeding and growth of preterm infants; Maternal working models of feeding co-regulation; Physiologic regulation during feeding in preterms; Observational coding; Biobehavioral measures; Feeding issues for children with Down syndrome

Current Studies:

Marcia Van Riper, PhD, RN
Chair, Family Health Division

Research Interests: Families of children with developmental disabilities; Ethical implications of genetic testing; Children with Down Syndrome and their families; Family experience of a genetic condition; Family-provider relationships; Ethical issues in genetic testing; Feeding issues for children with Down syndrome; Siblings; Genetic testing in minority families

Current Studies:

Doctoral Program

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