School of Nursing

Faculty Research

School of Nursing research is characterized by collaboration and synergy among School of Nursing researchers as well as colleagues from other disciplines. These brief descriptions of faculty research illustrate the breadth and depth of our work.

    Faculty’s areas of research and scholarship

    Sandra Banta-Wright Ph.D., NNP-BC — Breastfeeding outcomes, inborn errors of metabolism, newborns.

    Patricia Barfield, Ph.D., PMHNP-BC — Pediatric mental health; rural collaborative practice.

    Kristin Cloyes, Ph.D., M.N., RN — Chronic illness, end of life, caregiver health and wellbeing, social support, social networks, LGBTQ+ health, mixed methods.

    Quin Denfeld, Ph.D., RN — Symptom biology, frailty, and quality of life in heart failure. Visit the Denfeld Lab page.

    Nathan Dieckmann, Ph.D. — Decision making, health numeracy, risk communication and statistical methods.

    Angela Docherty, Nurs.D., M.P.H., RN — Disparities in access and use of prenatal care; grading practices in nurse education.

    Cathy Emeis, Ph.D., CNM — Vaginal birth after cesarean; lactation outcomes; promotion of physiologic birth.

    Jenny Lynn Firkins, RN, Ph.D. — Spirituality, quality of life, and treatment decision making in cancer survivorship.

    Lissi Hansen, Ph.D., RN — Treatment decisions, symptom management, and quality of life in end stage liver disease.

    Dena Hassouneh, Ph.D., RN, ANP, PMHNP, FAAN — Intersectionality, social justice, and mental health; critical race, gender, and disability studies.

    Shigeko (Seiko) Izumi, Ph.D., RN, FPCN — Palliative care, patient-centered value-based care, implementation science, qualitative and mixed methods research

    Hiroko Kiyoshi-Teo, Ph.D., RN — Older adults; preventing falls in primary care, hospital, and residential care settings. Visit the Fall Prevention Research page.

    Allison Lindauer, Ph.D., RN — Dementia; caregiving; technology support.

    Andrew McHill, Ph.D. — Influence of sleep, circadian rhythms, and the timing of daily behaviors on health and performance. Visit the Sleep, Chronobiology, and Health Laboratory page.

    Deborah Messecar, Ph.D., RN — Family caregiving for older adults; returning veterans coping with chronic anxiety symptoms; interprofessional education.

    Nickolaus Miehl, Ph.D., RN — Leadership in complex healthcare delivery systems; best-practices in healthcare simulation.

    Lyndsey Miller, Ph.D., RN — Dementia care planning and family caregiver support; dyadic research; interpersonal aspects of family health research; behavioral biomarkers.

    Rana Najjar, Ph.D., RN, CPNP — OSCEs in nursing education; weight-based stigma and binge eating in low-income adolescents.

    Joanne Noone, Ph.D., RN, CNE — Health disparities; unintended pregnancy; parent-child communication; simulations in nursing education.

    Hector Olvera Alvarez, Ph.D., PE — The role of stress and the environment in the link between low SES and health disparity.

    David Oni, Ph.D., RN — Type 2 diabetes and diabetic foot care management in primary care.

    Linda Paul, Ph.D., RN, CMSRM — Preventing complications in adolescents with type 1 diabetes with use of online and mobile technology.

    Cynthia Perry, Ph.D., FNP-BC, FAHA  Physical activity promotion, particularly with rural communities and dissemination and implementation research.

    Megan Quinn, Ph.D., RN  Early palliative care supporting parent caregivers during pediatric hospitalization; neonatal intensive care.

    Mary Roberts-Davis, Ph.D., RN  Sex & Gender Differences in cardiovascular diseases with a focus on symptoms.

    Tamara Rose, Ph.D., RN — Interprofessional practice and education; leadership and professional values.

    Amy Miner Ross, Ph.D., RN, CNS — Immune responses to simulated forest immersion therapy (SFIT) with humidified forest oils (phytoncides).

    MinKyoung Song, Ph.D., RN, FNP-BC — Physical activity, health outcomes in the context of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

    Asma Taha, Ph.D., RN — Pediatric nursing, pediatric neurological/ neurosurgical population, global health.

    Ellen Tilden, Ph.D., CNM — Decreasing non-evidence-based cesarean delivery; establishing new evidence for labor dystocia; causal inference modeling; data mining; advanced statistical methods.

    Heather Voss, Ph.D., RN — Emancipatory knowledge in nursing education and service-learning pedagogy

    Kris Weymann, Ph.D., RN — Disrupted sleep and factors affecting outcomes and functional recovery.

    Gail Wolf, Ph.D., RN — Early proficient literacy skills impact on health and well-being.