Research Newsletter

1. Recent Grant Awards

During fiscal year 2005, 14 new sponsored projects totaling over $8.5 million were awarded to School of Nursing faculty members. This is a milestone in CUSON’s funding history.

Recent grants funded (March 2005 - October 2005) include:
Dr. Joyce Anastasi is principal investigator on the largest research grant in Columbia University School of Nursing’s history: a 4-year award in the amount of $2.57 million from the National Institute of Nursing Research for an R01 entitled, “Acupuncture for Chronic Nausea in Pts with HIV: A RCT.” This project is testing the use of a Traditional Chinese Medicine ( TCM ) approach, acupuncture, to reduce the severity of chronic nausea among HIV positive individuals. Acupuncture shows promise in serving as an adjunctive therapy with conventional medical interventions to manage chronic nausea in these individuals.

• Dr. Anastasi is also principal investigator on a newly funded project by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, “Acu/Moxa for Peripheral Neuropathy in Pts with HIV.” This 3-year R21 exploratory grant is testing the use of a TCM approach, acupuncture/moxibustion, to reduce the severity of pain associated with distal symmetric peripheral neuropathy among persons with HIV/AIDS. This proposal will establish the feasibility and provide foundation for designing a larger clinical trial.

• Dr. Suzanne Bakken is principal investigator of a 3-year R01 recently funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research, “Mobile Decision Support for Advanced Practice Nursing.” The overall goal of this project is to determine if mobile decision support improves adherence to selected clinical practice guidelines (CPG) recommendations. Informatics tools, including an existing personal digital assistant-based advanced practice nursing student clinical log and a web-based CPG resources site, which integrate CPGs into point of care documentation, are being utilized. These tools have the potential to increase CPG adherence, enhance evidence-based practice, promote patient safety, and improve patient outcomes.

• The Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation has awarded Columbia University School of Nursing (CUSON) $948,000 to develop national standards for the clinical doctorate in nursing. The Macy Foundation, with a sustaining legacy of support for innovative interdisciplinary health care education, is an ideal partner for this endeavor. CUSON’s Doctor of Nursing Practice (DrNP) degree is the first clinical doctoral program in the country preparing nurses for complex advanced practice. Built on evidence derived from other ten years of independent practice and scientific inquiry, School of Nursing faculty developed the degree to educate nurses for the highest level of clinical expertise, including sophisticated diagnostic and treatment competencies. Establishing standards for DrNP competencies nationwide is fundamental to the safe and successful expansion of this new degree.

• Dr. Kristine Gebbie is principal investigator on a $3.6 million, 3-year competitive renewal of a training grant funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), “Bioterrorism Training and Curriculum Development Program.” The renewal expands the current project to form The New York Consortium for Emergency Preparedness Continuing Education (NYCEPCE), which is a cooperative agreement between Columbia University School of Nursing, Adelphi University , University of Albany School of Public Health, and University of Kansas ( Wichita ) School of Medicine . The mission of the NYCEPCE is to extend and strengthen the competency of health professionals in New York State and New York City to respond effectively to emergency events of all kinds.

• Dr. Mary Byrne was awarded an administrative supplement for underrepresented minorities to her funded R01, “Maternal and Child Outcomes of a Prison Nursery Program.” This supplement is funding a pre-doctoral student in the Doctor of Nursing Science program at Columbia University School of Nursing.  As a Graduate Research Assistant the student will use the community phase of the parent longitudinal study as a learning laboratory where her doctoral studies and career goals will be enhanced by specific additional training in research design, procedures, ethical considerations, analyses, and dissemination as well as access to experts and networks that include attachment theorists, criminal justice experts, the media, and international health of developing countries.

Dr. Susan Ledlie, a new investigator, was awarded an R21 by the National Institute of Nursing Research for her project entitled, “Self-care in Youth with Perinatally-acquired HIV.” This 2-year exploratory grant aims to develop an understanding of factors that create barriers to or promote health-related self-care in youth with perinatally-acquired HIV disease (YPAHD) and discover how family caregivers manage transitioning aspects of self-care to YPAHD. This study will further the ability to develop evidence-based interventions that focus on critical junctures in the trajectory of self-care to insure successful self-care transitions within families that will improve the health outcomes for YPAHD.