Quin Denfeld, Ph.D., RN, FAHA

  • Associate Professor, School of Nursing
  • Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, School of Medicine

Biography

My main research interest involves studying the biological mechanisms that give rise to symptoms and physical frailty among adults with heart failure (“symptom biology”) that, in turn, affect outcomes such as quality of life and clinical events. In my prior research (F31NR015936), I demonstrated that physical frailty is highly prevalent in heart failure and reflects worse functional, hemodynamic, cognitive, and symptomatic parameters. My post-doctoral area of research (T32HL094294) focused on studying dysregulation of the sympathetic nervous system in heart failure, specifically centered on changes surrounding beta-adrenergic receptors (i.e. beta-adrenergic receptor kinase-1) and catecholamines, and how this relates to quality-of-life. A parallel research interest involves examining novel biomarkers (i.e. sST2) and undiscovered biomarkers using proteomics to identify patients with heart failure who will have better or worse patient-oriented and clinical outcomes. The focus of my career development award (K12HD043488) was to study gender differences in physical frailty in heart failure, including gender differences in the mechanisms underlying physical frailty in heart failure and in the resultant outcomes. I'm currently funded by the National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Nursing Research (R01NR019054) to identify how and why symptoms change after a heart failure hospitalization. The goal of my research is to identify, and eventually target, specific markers in guiding the clinical management of heart failure patients as a means to improving overall quality of life. As a former critical care nurse at OHSU, I am also passionate about leveraging the knowledge and skillsets of nurses to research innovative questions and accelerate the translation of findings from bench-to-bedside-to-community. 

Education and training

    • B.S.N., 2005, Linfield College
    • Ph.D., 2016, Oregon Health & Science University
  • Fellowship

    • Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Habecker Lab, OHSU Knight Cardiovascular Institute (2016-2017)

Memberships and associations:

  • American Heart Association
  • Heart Failure Society of America
  • American Physiological Society
  • The International Society for Heart & Lung Transplantation
  • Associate Editor, European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing
  • Editorial Board, Journal of Cardiac Failure

Areas of interest

  • Heart Failure
  • Frailty
  • Symptoms
  • Biomarkers

Honors and awards

  • Linfield University Distinguished Nursing Alumni Award
  • Fellow of the American Heart Association
  • AHA CVSN Martha Hill New Investigator Award Finalist
  • AHA CVSN Marie Cowan Promising Early Career Investigator Award
  • Fellow of the Heart Failure Society of America
  • Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing

Publications

Publications

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