Penn Nursing: Claire M. Fagin Distinguished Researcher Awards

The 2013 Fagin Award recipient is Dr. Martha A. Q. Curley, PhD, RN, FAAN, the Ellen and Robert Kapito Professor in Nursing Science. Dr. Curley is nationally and internationally renowned for her work related to clinical management of critically ill infants and children and their families, and also for her contributions to the field of pediatric critical care nursing. For more than twenty years, Dr. Curley’s research has focused on multi-site clinical trials to advance knowledge in the care of critically-ill pediatric patients, to develop instruments that could provide clinicians with better tools to assess patient status and risk, and to experiment with different interventions to support parental needs and priorities in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). A major component of Dr. Curley’s research focuses on the interactions and crossing points between physicians and nurses who care for these critically ill children which is vital to improving health outcomes and in providing the needed support to families.

The 2013 Fagin Award recipient is Dr. Martha A. Q. Curley, PhD, RN, FAAN, the Ellen and Robert Kapito Professor in Nursing Science. Dr. Curley is nationally and internationally renowned for her work related to clinical management of critically ill infants and children and their families, and also for her contributions to the field of pediatric critical care nursing. For more than twenty years, Dr. Curley’s research has focused on multi-site clinical trials to advance knowledge in the care of critically-ill pediatric patients, to develop instruments that could provide clinicians with better tools to assess patient status and risk, and to experiment with different interventions to support parental needs and priorities in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). A major component of Dr. Curley’s research focuses on the interactions and crossing points between physicians and nurses who care for these critically ill children which is vital to improving health outcomes and in providing the needed support to families.

Barbara Riegel, DNSc, RN, FAAN, FAHA, has been selected as the 10th recipient of the Claire M. Fagin Distinguished Researcher Award at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. Dr. Riegel will present the Fagin Lecture about her research journey on April 5, 2012, at Penn Nursing. Dr. Riegel, the Edith Clemmer Steinbright Chair of Gerontology and director of the Center for Biobehavioral Research at Penn Nursing, is internationally recognized for her research in heart failure. Through her interdisciplinary research, Dr. Riegel has advanced knowledge about the management of patients with heart failure and has contributed to guidelines that have changed the care provided to those with acute myocardial infarction. Her articles have been published in Heart & Lung, the American Heart Journal, the Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, and the European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing. Dr. Riegel is editor of The Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing and a fellow in both the American Academy of Nursing and the American Heart Association.

Barbara Riegel, DNSc, RN, FAAN, FAHA, has been selected as the 10th recipient of the Claire M. Fagin Distinguished Researcher Award at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. Dr. Riegel will present the Fagin Lecture about her research journey on April 5, 2012, at Penn Nursing. Dr. Riegel, the Edith Clemmer Steinbright Chair of Gerontology and director of the Center for Biobehavioral Research at Penn Nursing, is internationally recognized for her research in heart failure. Through her interdisciplinary research, Dr. Riegel has advanced knowledge about the management of patients with heart failure and has contributed to guidelines that have changed the care provided to those with acute myocardial infarction. Her articles have been published in Heart & Lung, the American Heart Journal, the Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, and the European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing. Dr. Riegel is editor of The Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing and a fellow in both the American Academy of Nursing and the American Heart Association.

Lois K. Evans, PhD, FAAN will recieved the Claire M. Fagin Distinguished Researcher Lecture & Award, April 7, 2011. Dr. Evans has been at Penn since 1984, distinguishing herself as a teacher, researcher, scholar, practitioner, and administrator. She is one of the nation's foremost researchers in care of the elderly and she has developed ground-breaking research lessening the use of restraints on frail elders in the nation's nusring homes and hospitals. Drawing from her extensive background in aging, mental health, long term care and healthcare systems, Dr. Evans most recently provided leadership for the development and implementation of the School's model netowrk of academic nursing practices that offer a broad range of community-based and focused services, including a geriatric day hospital and a Program of All-inclusive Care for Elders [PACE}.

Lois K. Evans, PhD, FAAN will recieved the Claire M. Fagin Distinguished Researcher Lecture & Award, April 7, 2011. Dr. Evans has been at Penn since 1984, distinguishing herself as a teacher, researcher, scholar, practitioner, and administrator. She is one of the nation's foremost researchers in care of the elderly and she has developed ground-breaking research lessening the use of restraints on frail elders in the nation's nusring homes and hospitals. Drawing from her extensive background in aging, mental health, long term care and healthcare systems, Dr. Evans most recently provided leadership for the development and implementation of the School's model netowrk of academic nursing practices that offer a broad range of community-based and focused services, including a geriatric day hospital and a Program of All-inclusive Care for Elders [PACE}.

Mary Naylor has a national and international reputation as a scholar for her program of research in the areas of transitional care and quality of life of vulnerable older adults. For more than a decade, Dr. Naylor has led an interdisciplinary team of scholars in the testing of an innovative, multidisciplinary model of care designed to improve health outcomes for high-risk elders and their caregivers. Findings from numerous studies conducted under her leadership have significantly advanced the quality of care and influenced health care policy for a growing population of older adults living with multiple health problems. Currently, Dr. Naylor is Director of the RAND/Hartford Center for Interdisciplinary Geriatric Health Care Research and Associate Director of the Center for Gerontologic Nursing Science and the John A. Hartford Center of Geriatric Nursing Excellence. In addition, she is Faculty Co-Director of the School of Nursing’s PACE program, Living Independently for Elders (LIFE) and a Senior Fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics.

Julie A Fairman, PhD, FAAN, RN is a Professor of Nursing, and Director of the Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. Dr. Fairman’s scholarship has focused on historical research in the nurse practitioner movement, critical care, and technology. Her highly regarded work has earned her the rare distinction of being a well funded historic researcher with grants from the National Library of Medicine, the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Dr. Fairman has been highly successful in her publication record with two books, twenty-five peer-reviewed articles, five data-based book chapters, and eight editorials and book reviews. There is no question that Dr. Fairman’s findings have contributed to the national health care debate in patient access to primary care and strategies to reduce health care costs, as well as in many other areas. Dr. Fairman presented "Making Room for Clio: Nursing History for a Practice Discipline" and accepted the 2010 Claire M. Fagin Distinquished Researcher Award on April 21, 2010.

Julie A Fairman, PhD, FAAN, RN is a Professor of Nursing, and Director of the Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. Dr. Fairman’s scholarship has focused on historical research in the nurse practitioner movement, critical care, and technology. Her highly regarded work has earned her the rare distinction of being a well funded historic researcher with grants from the National Library of Medicine, the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Dr. Fairman has been highly successful in her publication record with two books, twenty-five peer-reviewed articles, five data-based book chapters, and eight editorials and book reviews. There is no question that Dr. Fairman’s findings have contributed to the national health care debate in patient access to primary care and strategies to reduce health care costs, as well as in many other areas. Dr. Fairman presented "Making Room for Clio: Nursing History for a Practice Discipline" and accepted the 2010 Claire M. Fagin Distinquished Researcher Award on April 21, 2010.

Jennifer Pinto-Martin, PhD, MPH, is an internationally renowned scholar in perinatal epidemiology. Dr. Pinto-Martin began her career as an epidemiologist as the Project Director for the Neonatal Brain Hemorrhage (NBH) Study, a longitudinal study of neonatal brain injury in low birthweight infants, and has had continuous NIH support since 1984. Dr. Pinto-Martin expanded her research focus to the epidemiology of Autism Spectrum Disorder and is currently the Director and Principal Investigator of the Pennsylvania Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities Research and Epidemiology (PA-CADDRE), one of six such centers funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to study the etiology of ASD. Enrollment in this multi-site study began last year and will ultimately include 2,700 children. Additionally she has received funding for an investigator initiated project (R01) to assess the prevalence of ASD in the NBH cohort, thereby bringing her two major lines of research inquiry together in one project. Another area of research include: the screening and early identification of ASD and the vital role of nurses in pediatric primary care in this process. Dr. Pinto-Martin is funded by NIH-Fogarty as part of a research team with the International clinical Epidemiology Network to study the prevalence of autism and other childhood disabilities India. Screening and diagnostic instruments are being field tested now and the study will ultimately screen children from 45,000 households across India. Dr. Pinto-Martin is now the Director of Penn’s cross-school Masters of Public Health program. She is particularly well known for her rigorous research methods, her interdisciplinary collaboration, and her mentorship of the next generation of scientists. She is the first recipient of this award who is not a nurse and yet has made major contributions to the Science of Nursing.

Marilyn S. Sommers, PhD, RN, FAAN, is the Lillian S. Brunner Professor of Medical-Surgical Nursing, and Associate Director, Center for Health Disparities Research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. Dr. Sommers has developed a program of research focused on human response to injury in general, with particular emphasis on risk-taking behaviors that lead to injury, as well as on the physical consequences of injury. She has systematically built the science of injury through a number of productive research programs that have led to sustained funding from federal agencies. Through a series of randomized controlled trials she has tested the effectiveness of screening and brief intervention to reduce health-compromising behaviors such as problem drinking and risky driving. The overall scientific significance of this work is the insight that injury risk comes from a cluster of risk-taking behaviors that need to be addressed by health care providers, and that these behaviors are amenable to interventions that promote health and safety. She has forged a new area of inquiry by developing innovative techniques for the forensic rape exam that will quantify injury by digital image analysis. This important work has the potential to reduce health disparities by providing sensitive and specific techniques to detect injury regardless of the skin color of rape survivors. Through systemic inquiry and extensive publications, Dr. Sommers has raised important questions about risk-taking, the consequences physical injury, and strategies to reduce injury. Her work has enhanced injury science and led to promoting health. Dr. Sommers is a superb disseminator of findings, with more than 80 published articles, abstracts, reviews, and reports; 10 books or editorships; and 12 chapters in books. She has an extraordinary publication record in clinical as well as research journals. She has consulted nationally and internationally and has been on numerous review panels and study sections for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and Ireland’s Health Research Board. In addition, Dr. Sommers serves as Chair of the Steering Committee for the Council for the Advancement of Nursing Sciences (CANS) and serves as Chair of the Research Committee of the Society of Critical Care Medicine, the first nurse scientist to do so.

Jennifer Pinto-Martin, PhD, MPH, is an internationally renowned scholar in perinatal epidemiology. Dr. Pinto-Martin began her career as an epidemiologist as the Project Director for the Neonatal Brain Hemorrhage (NBH) Study, a longitudinal study of neonatal brain injury in low birthweight infants, and has had continuous NIH support since 1984. Dr. Pinto-Martin expanded her research focus to the epidemiology of Autism Spectrum Disorder and is currently the Director and Principal Investigator of the Pennsylvania Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities Research and Epidemiology (PA-CADDRE), one of six such centers funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to study the etiology of ASD. Enrollment in this multi-site study began last year and will ultimately include 2,700 children. Additionally she has received funding for an investigator initiated project (R01) to assess the prevalence of ASD in the NBH cohort, thereby bringing her two major lines of research inquiry together in one project. Another area of research include: the screening and early identification of ASD and the vital role of nurses in pediatric primary care in this process. Dr. Pinto-Martin is funded by NIH-Fogarty as part of a research team with the International clinical Epidemiology Network to study the prevalence of autism and other childhood disabilities India. Screening and diagnostic instruments are being field tested now and the study will ultimately screen children from 45,000 households across India. Dr. Pinto-Martin is now the Director of Penn’s cross-school Masters of Public Health program. She is particularly well known for her rigorous research methods, her interdisciplinary collaboration, and her mentorship of the next generation of scientists. She is the first recipient of this award who is not a nurse and yet has made major contributions to the Science of Nursing.

Marilyn S. Sommers, PhD, RN, FAAN, is the Lillian S. Brunner Professor of Medical-Surgical Nursing, and Associate Director, Center for Health Disparities Research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. Dr. Sommers has developed a program of research focused on human response to injury in general, with particular emphasis on risk-taking behaviors that lead to injury, as well as on the physical consequences of injury. She has systematically built the science of injury through a number of productive research programs that have led to sustained funding from federal agencies. Through a series of randomized controlled trials she has tested the effectiveness of screening and brief intervention to reduce health-compromising behaviors such as problem drinking and risky driving. The overall scientific significance of this work is the insight that injury risk comes from a cluster of risk-taking behaviors that need to be addressed by health care providers, and that these behaviors are amenable to interventions that promote health and safety. She has forged a new area of inquiry by developing innovative techniques for the forensic rape exam that will quantify injury by digital image analysis. This important work has the potential to reduce health disparities by providing sensitive and specific techniques to detect injury regardless of the skin color of rape survivors. Through systemic inquiry and extensive publications, Dr. Sommers has raised important questions about risk-taking, the consequences physical injury, and strategies to reduce injury. Her work has enhanced injury science and led to promoting health. Dr. Sommers is a superb disseminator of findings, with more than 80 published articles, abstracts, reviews, and reports; 10 books or editorships; and 12 chapters in books. She has an extraordinary publication record in clinical as well as research journals. She has consulted nationally and internationally and has been on numerous review panels and study sections for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and Ireland’s Health Research Board. In addition, Dr. Sommers serves as Chair of the Steering Committee for the Council for the Advancement of Nursing Sciences (CANS) and serves as Chair of the Research Committee of the Society of Critical Care Medicine, the first nurse scientist to do so.

Dr. Aiken is director of the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research, and is The Claire M. Fagin Leadership Professor of Nursing, Professor of Sociology, and Senior Fellow of the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Aiken is an authority on causes, consequences, and solutions for nurse shortages in the United States and around the world. Dr. Aiken leads the International Hospital Outcomes Consortium studying the impact of nursing on patient outcomes in 8 countries, and directed the Nursing Quality Improvement Program in Russia and Armenia demonstrating the successful application of twinning initiatives in nursing to improve hospital quality. She is a member of the Expert Advisory Panel guiding the World Alliance for Patient Safety. She is a leading expert on global nurse migration, its consequences, and solutions in developing and developed countries. Dr. Aiken is winner of the 2006 Baxter International Foundation’s William B. Graham Prize for Health Services Research, the 2006 Raymond and Beverly Sackler Award from Research! America for Sustained National Leadership in Health Research, and the 2005AcademyHealth Distinguished Investigator Award in Health Services Research. She won the 2003 Individual Earnest A. Codman Award from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) for her leadership utilizing performance measures to demonstrate relationships between nursing care and patient outcomes. Her research is frequently cited by the press, and she is winner of 3 American Academy of Nursing Media Awards. She is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Academy of Political and Social Science, the National Academy of Social Insurance, and she is a former president of the American Academy of Nursing, and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing in the United Kingdom.

Dr. Aiken is director of the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research, and is The Claire M. Fagin Leadership Professor of Nursing, Professor of Sociology, and Senior Fellow of the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Aiken is an authority on causes, consequences, and solutions for nurse shortages in the United States and around the world. Dr. Aiken leads the International Hospital Outcomes Consortium studying the impact of nursing on patient outcomes in 8 countries, and directed the Nursing Quality Improvement Program in Russia and Armenia demonstrating the successful application of twinning initiatives in nursing to improve hospital quality. She is a member of the Expert Advisory Panel guiding the World Alliance for Patient Safety. She is a leading expert on global nurse migration, its consequences, and solutions in developing and developed countries. Dr. Aiken is winner of the 2006 Baxter International Foundation’s William B. Graham Prize for Health Services Research, the 2006 Raymond and Beverly Sackler Award from Research! America for Sustained National Leadership in Health Research, and the 2005AcademyHealth Distinguished Investigator Award in Health Services Research. She won the 2003 Individual Earnest A. Codman Award from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) for her leadership utilizing performance measures to demonstrate relationships between nursing care and patient outcomes. Her research is frequently cited by the press, and she is winner of 3 American Academy of Nursing Media Awards. She is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Academy of Political and Social Science, the National Academy of Social Insurance, and she is a former president of the American Academy of Nursing, and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing in the United Kingdom.

r. Loretta Sweet Jemmott is the van Ameringen Chair in Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing and Director of the Center for Health Disparities Research at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Nursing. Dr. Jemmott also holds secondary appointments in the University’s School of Medicine and Graduate School of Education. In 2004 Dr. Jemmott was named Assistant Provost for Minority & Gender Equity Issues for the University. Dr. Jemmott has been involved in a number of research projects focusing on designing and testing theory-based, culturally sensitive, and developmentally appropriate strategies to reduce HIV risk-associated sexual behaviors among African Americans, the Latino-population and South African youth. She, along with her husband, Dr. John B. Jemmott, III, have been funded by the American Foundation for AIDS Research (AmFAR), The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, The National Institute of Mental Health, and the National Institute for Nursing Research, for a total of about 86 million research dollars. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention selected her HIV risk-reduction curriculum entitled, “Be Proud! Be Responsible! Strategies to Empower Youth to Reduce Their Risk for AIDS” as a model curriculum which is being disseminated nationally as part of CDC’s program entitled, “Research to Classrooms, Programs That Work!” Dr. Jemmott has received many awards for her research and community efforts, including the Congressional Merit Recognition Award, The Red Ribbon Award for outstanding service in the field of HIV/AIDS, and the Governor of New Jersey’s Nurse Merit Award in Advanced Nurse Practice. She is a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing, a member of the CDC Division of HIV, STD, & TB Advisory Council, and a member of the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Jemmott has published extensively in the area of HIV/AIDS prevention and adolescent sexual behavior.

Dr. Loretta Sweet Jemmott is the van Ameringen Chair in Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing and Director of the Center for Health Disparities Research at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Nursing. Dr. Jemmott also holds secondary appointments in the University’s School of Medicine and Graduate School of Education. In 2004 Dr. Jemmott was named Assistant Provost for Minority & Gender Equity Issues for the University. Dr. Jemmott has been involved in a number of research projects focusing on designing and testing theory-based, culturally sensitive, and developmentally appropriate strategies to reduce HIV risk-associated sexual behaviors among African Americans, the Latino-population and South African youth. She, along with her husband, Dr. John B. Jemmott, III, have been funded by the American Foundation for AIDS Research (AmFAR), The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, The National Institute of Mental Health, and the National Institute for Nursing Research, for a total of about 86 million research dollars. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention selected her HIV risk-reduction curriculum entitled, “Be Proud! Be Responsible! Strategies to Empower Youth to Reduce Their Risk for AIDS” as a model curriculum which is being disseminated nationally as part of CDC’s program entitled, “Research to Classrooms, Programs That Work!” Dr. Jemmott has received many awards for her research and community efforts, including the Congressional Merit Recognition Award, The Red Ribbon Award for outstanding service in the field of HIV/AIDS, and the Governor of New Jersey’s Nurse Merit Award in Advanced Nurse Practice. She is a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing, a member of the CDC Division of HIV, STD, & TB Advisory Council, and a member of the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Jemmott has published extensively in the area of HIV/AIDS prevention and adolescent sexual behavior.

Dr. Strumpf is widely recognized for her outstanding contributions to the field of gerontology. Best known for her work on the elimination of physical restraints in nursing homes and hospitals with Dr. Lois Evans, she has also had a remarkable career as ground-breaking researcher, innovative teacher, caring mentor, as well as top administrator. Currently Dr. Strumpf is Director of the Center for Gerontologic Nursing Science and the Hartford Center of Geriatric Nursing Excellence, where she continues to develop new models of care that enhance the quality of life for frail elders. Dr. Strumpf is the Chair Elect, University of Pennsylvania Senate. Dr. Strumpf has received numerous honors for her contributions to gerontology and education, including the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching, the Doris Schwartz Gerontological Nursing Research Award and the Baxter Foundation Episteme Award. She is the author or co-author of more than 100 articles, book chapters and books. Dr. Strumpf has been the recipient of $12 million dollars of federal and foundation grants to support research in aging and programmatic activities in geriatric education. Along with her many colleagues, Dr. Strumpf is celebrating 25 years of gerontology at the School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania.

r. Strumpf is widely recognized for her outstanding contributions to the field of gerontology. Best known for her work on the elimination of physical restraints in nursing homes and hospitals with Dr. Lois Evans, she has also had a remarkable career as ground-breaking researcher, innovative teacher, caring mentor, as well as top administrator. Currently Dr. Strumpf is Director of the Center for Gerontologic Nursing Science and the Hartford Center of Geriatric Nursing Excellence, where she continues to develop new models of care that enhance the quality of life for frail elders. Dr. Strumpf is the Chair Elect, University of Pennsylvania Senate. Dr. Strumpf has received numerous honors for her contributions to gerontology and education, including the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching, the Doris Schwartz Gerontological Nursing Research Award and the Baxter Foundation Episteme Award. She is the author or co-author of more than 100 articles, book chapters and books. Dr. Strumpf has been the recipient of $12 million dollars of federal and foundation grants to support research in aging and programmatic activities in geriatric education. Along with her many colleagues, Dr. Strumpf is celebrating 25 years of gerontology at the School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania.