Beerstecher-Blackwell Distinguished Scholar Sheila Santacroce, PhD, RN, APRN, CPNP has been inducted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (FAANP). She was recognized for outstanding contributions to advancing the nurse practitioner role in research and also in the education of nurse practitioners.
Dr. Santacroce is a certified pediatric nurse practitioner with more than 35 years of experience in research and care of people affected by serious childhood illness. Her investigative work focuses on the influence of illness uncertainty on physical and psychosocial outcomes, especially for childhood cancer patients, survivors, and their close family members.
For her research, Dr. Santacroce has been awarded funding by the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Nursing Research, the Office of Research Integrity, the Oncology Nursing Society, and Sigma Theta Tau International. She has served on many professional committees, working groups and boards, including the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, the American Cancer Society, Children’s Inn at NIH, LIVESTRONG, and the National Cancer Institute.
Dr. Santacroce is especially proud of being a co-founder of the Yale University HEROS program. For over 10 years, HEROS has provided childhood cancer survivors with evidence-based care and opportunities for participating in research, and nurse practitioner students and other health professionals in training with education and experience in addressing survivors’ health-related needs and concerns. Dr. Santacroce is also very proud of her nurse practitioner students who have gone on to PhD study with the goal of improving the childhood cancer experience and its outcomes through nursing research.