Nursing Research Faculty Tacoma
| Faculty | Position | Interests | |
| Basia Belza, PhD, RN, FAAN, FGSA | The de Tornyay Endowed Professor in Healthy Aging, BNHI; Director, de Tornyay Center for Healthy Aging | Healthy brain, healthy aging, evidence-based health promotion programs, physical activity, public health interventions and policy. | basiab@uw.edu |
| Donna Berry PhD, RN, AOCN, FAAN | Professor BNHI | Human response to cancer; specifically, but not exclusively, in genitourinary (GU) malignancies. Multi-method investigator. Led a large interdisciplinary team to develop and test the Personal Patient Profile-Prostate (P3P). | donnalb@uw.edu |
| Eeeseung Byun, PhD, RN | Assistant Professor, BNHI | Symptom Management, specifically sleep disturbance, fatigue and impaired cognition, and underlying mechanisms of these symptoms in persons with chronic illness. | ebyun@uw.edu |
| Chieh (Sunny) Cheng, RN, PhD | Assistant Professor, UW Tacoma | Early identification and intervention for mental health conditions, Mental health promotion for school youth, Technology based intervention for supporting family caregivers | ccsunny@uw.edu |
| Kristen Childress, DNP, ARNP, FNP-BC, CWCN-AP | Associate Teaching Professor, CFPHN | Geriatrics/internal medicine, wound care, dialysis rounding, home care, and urgent care/emergency medicine. | kmchild@uw.edu |
| Barbara Cochrane, PhD, RN, FAAN, FGSA | Professor Emeritus, CFPHN | Older women’s health, healthy aging, symptoms and symptom management, menopausal hormone therapy, living with chronic illness. | barbc@uw.edu |
| Paula Cox-North PhD, ARNP
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Teaching Associate Professor | Research interests are in liver related diseases, chronic illness symptom management and vulnerable populations. I am clinically active working in an outpatient Gastroenterology/
Hepatology clinic that primarily cares for underserved and vulnerable patients. |
paulac@uw.edu |
| Cynthia Dougherty, ARNP, PhD, FAHA, FAAN | Professor, BNHI | Development of knowledge related to human responses to sudden cardiac arrest and cardiac arrhythmias, both for survivors and their family members. | cindyd@uw.edu |
| Maya Elías, PhD, MA, RN | Assistant Professor, BNHI | Healthy aging research, including serving as the PI on the project, “Sleep Quality and Cognitive Function in Hospitalized Older Adult Survivors of Critical Illness.” | mnelias@uw.edu |
| Margaret Heitkemper, PhD, RN, FAAN | Professor, BNHI | Gastrointestinal physiology, enteral nutrition, geriatrics. Leads an interdisciplinary team focused on the study of the pathophysiology and non-pharmacological management of individuals with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). | heit@uw.edu |
| Frances Lewis RN, MN, PhD, FAAN | Professor, CFPHN, The UW Medical Center Endowed Professor in Nursing | Behavioral interventions to enhance the well-being of patients, caregivers, and the dependent children in families. | fmlewis@uw.edu |
| Jingyi Li, PhD, RN | Assistant Professor, UW Tacoma | evaluating and translating evidence-based, non-pharmacological interventions designed to improve the care and quality of life for older adults with dementia and their family caregivers. | jingyi89@uw.edu |
| Susan McCurry, PhD | Research Professor Emeritus, CFPHN
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Sleep disturbances in Alzheimer’s disease; behavioral treatments for dementia patients and caregivers; cross-cultural differences in dementia onset and progression; successful aging | smcurry@uw.edu |
| Janet Primomo, PhD, RN | Associate Professor Emeritus, UW Tacoma | One of the three founding faculty members of UW Tacoma Nursing. Scholarly work focuses on community/public health, environmental health, and chronic illness care. | jprimomo@uw.edu |
| Kerry Reding PhD, MPH, RN | Associate Professor, BNHI
Interim PhD Program Director
|
Biobehavioral and health disparities research, focus on health promotion and breast cancer survival. In the context of health promotion, impact of lifestyle interventions (primarily focused on improving nutrition and physical activity habits) on obesity-related biomarkers relevant to cardiovascular disease and cancer prevention, with a particular focus on underserved communities. | kreding@uw.edu |
| David Reyes, DNP, MN/MPH, RN, PHNA-BC
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Dean, UW Tacoma | Primary interests are in addressing the root causes of health inequity and disparities, building community capacity to improve health, and population health systems. His research uses community-based participatory approaches that focus on equitable relationships with diverse communities to improve health outcomes. | djreyes@uw.edu |
| Anita Souza, PhD | Clinical Professor / PMHNP-DNP Clinical Placement Coordinator
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Care and support of older adults across the cognitive continuum, including those in the early stages of memory loss, focusing on the psychosocial and health care needs of those with cognitive decline who live alone and reside in the community. Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) methods. Study of cognitively impaired individuals who have experienced homelessness, aiming to better understand the needs and challenges of providing care to homeless older adults with cognitive impairment by examining social network factors (mobility, housing, family and friend networks) that contribute to health care access in older homeless adults, and the associations with chronic disease and cognitive health. | asouza@uw.edu |
| Megan Streur PhD, RN, FNP-C | Assistant Professor, BNHI | Understanding the biological and behavioral mechanisms underlying inter- and intra-individual variability in symptoms and patient centered outcomes in adults with cardiovascular disease, with a primary focus on atrial fibrillation. | mstreur@uw.edu |
| Hsin-Yi (Jean) Tang, PhD, RN, PMHNP-BC, APRN | Associate Professor, BNHI | Brainwave entrainment for the management of hyper-arousal related health conditions such as insomnia and hypertension. Non-pharmacological approaches that empower self-regulation for health promotion. | jeantang@uw.edu |
| Hilaire Thompson, PhD, RN, ARNP, CNRN, AGACNP-BC, FAAN | Robert G. and Jean A. Reid Executive Dean, Professor, BNHI | Traumatic brain injury; geriatric trauma; biomarkers; gerontechnology; health services research; evidence-based practice | hilairet@uw.edu |
| Alexi Vasbinder, PhD, RN | Assistant Professor, BNHI | Research utilizing precision health approaches, incorporating assessments of biological, clinical, lifestyle, and sociocultural factors, to predict and mitigate adverse effects of cancer treatments | avasbind@uw.edu |
| Allison Webel, RN, PhD, FAAN
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Professor, CFPHN
Aljoya Endowed Professor in Aging
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Dr. Webel’s clinical research laboratory focuses on generating high-quality evidence to help people with HIV live and age well, with an emphasis on diet and exercise. | awebel@uw.edu |
| Nancy Fugate Woods, PhD, RN, FAAN | Professor and Dean Emerita, BNHI | Women’s health, menstrual cycle, menopause transition, healthy aging in women | nfwoods@uw.edu |
| Weichao Yuwen, Ph.D., RN | Associate Professor, UW Tacoma | Research in developing, testing, and disseminating technology-enabled health solutions for people with chronic conditions and their family caregivers | wyuwen@uw.edu |
| Oleg Zaslavsky, PhD, MHA, RN | Associate Professor, BNHI
Aljoya Endowed Associate Professor in Aging Director of the Digital Health Innovation Hub |
Prevention and improving clinical outcomes in older persons with frailty, specifically to identify factors that are associated with individuals’ transitions between levels of health along a positive-normative-frail continuum of aging. | ozasl@uw.edu |
| Brenda Zierler, PhD, RN, FAAN | Professor and Chair BNHI | Health systems and patient outcomes; interprofessional education, practice and research; prevention and management of deep vein thrombosis. Improving collaborative practice in an accountable care organization so that health care teams can co-produce health services with patients and families to meet their goals/needs. | brendaz@uw.edu
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