This week, the College of Nursing celebrated a major jump in national NIH rankings, secured a groundbreaking $11.9M ARPA-H grant to expand rural cancer care, and advanced research in sleep, LGBTQ+ health, and forensic science. Faculty and students shared insights at state, national, and interdisciplinary forums, while new initiatives strengthened teaching assistant support and community health innovation. We also celebrated professional recognition, national service leadership, and impactful publications on environmental stewardship, age inclusivity, and cancer survivorship.
National Ranking
The College of Nursing is ranked #17 (#12 for public universities) in National Institutes of Health funding to colleges of nursing. $6,178,032 in new funding during 2024 moved the College from #32 in 2023 to #17 in 2024. We commend our hard-working and innovative scientists, their collaborators and team members, and the stellar Emma Eccles Jones Nursing Research Center staff who support them.
Grant Award
The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) Platform Accelerating Rural Access to Distributed & InteGrated Medical care (PARADIGM) program awarded a $11,925,283 5-year federal contract to the Huntsman Cancer Institute and the University of Utah to broaden access to specialized cancer care for patients who live in rural and frontier Utah. It will allow the expansion of the rural Huntsman at Home program with augmented hospital at home services through advanced diagnostic capabilities and the addition of selected cancer clinical trials. This is the first University of Utah-led ARPA-H award. Dr. Kathi Mooney is Principal Investigator and will lead the augmented hospital at home use case and the research core that will conduct three clinical effectiveness studies. Dr. Liz Sloss will lead the human centered design and financial sustainability cores.Christina Echeverria will be Program Manager, and Doctor of Nursing Practice alum Dr. Angie Fausett will be the Lead Nurse Practitioner. The PARADIGM program aims to create a multi-functional, rugged electric vehicle platform equipped with advanced medical devices to deliver hospital-level care in rural communities across the country. A press release titled Bringing Cancer Care Closer to Home: Federal Program Expands Treatment to Rural and Frontier Communities contains much more information.
Information Session
Teaching Assistants (TA) play a vital role in enhancing student learning and supporting course instructors at the College of Nursing. Student Affairs and Academic Operations staff Heather Clarkson, Shelley Kern, and Sally Matthews hosted the inaugural Teaching Assistant & Tuition Benefit Funding Information Session, via Zoom, for current and incoming Doctor of Nursing Practice and Doctor of Philosophy students who are interested in being a TA for academic year 2025-2026. The session focused on the application process and selection criteria, responsibilities and expectations of a TA, time commitment and scheduling, the Tuition Benefit Program and other benefits, available resources and support, and how the TA role can benefit students both professionally and academically. Fifty-two students attended the session, which also was recorded.
Professional Service
In 2024, Dr. Ana Alder Chaired the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses’ Progressive Scope and Standards Task Force. The first edition of AACN Scope and Standards for Progressive Care Nursing Practice was published online in January 2025. Historically, AACN Scope and Standardsaddressed both critical-care and progressive care. One goal of the task force was to determine if and how progressive care might be designated as a specialty with its own unique focus. AACN Scope and Standards for Progressive Care Nursing Practice is tailored to progressive care, and provides essential and evidenced-based guidance for registered nurses and advanced practice registered nurses who care for acutely ill patients in progressive care settings where patients require complex assessments and interventions.
Dr. Emily Winn was invited to serve as a member of the Utah Health Workforce Advisory Council's Clinical Preceptor Subcommittee. The subcommittee was established to develop policy recommendations that strengthen the availability, quality, and capacity of clinical preceptors for Utah's physician and advanced practice registered nurse students, and is expected to complete its work by June 2025. Their recommendations will be sent to the Utah Department of Health and Human Services and other relevant state entities.
Professional Development
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) awarded a scholarship to Dr. Clarisa Medina-Poeliniz, enabling her to participate in the AASM Foundation Young Investigators Research Forum, which will be held from March-May 2025. This unique training program allows participants to interact with senior sleep investigators, peers, and funding agency program officers; and provides guidance, tactics, and strategies to advance career development in sleep and circadian research.
Presentations
Dr. Sara Bybee will present Bridging the Gap: Cultivating Trust for Authentic Data in LGBTQ+ and Hispanic/Latino Research for Palliative Care Rounds at the University of Rochester Medicine Palliative Care Grant Rounds on February 26, 2025 at 10:00 AM MST. Click here to attend.
Undergraduate student Sofia Flowers presented a poster titled The Parent Caregiving Experience of School-Aged Children With Cancer at Research on Capitol Hill (ROCH), held in the State Capitol Rotunda. This year, ROCH celebrated 25 years of undergraduate students from the University of Utah and Utah State University sharing their research with lawmakers, emphasizing the importance of undergraduate research and creative work. In addition, Lara Jones interviewed Dr. Annie Fukushima and Sofia for KRCL’s RadioACTive. Dr. Lauri Linder is Sofia’s mentor.
Dr. Julie Valentine presented three podium presentations at the 77th Annual Scientific Conference of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences in Baltimore. The conference theme was TECHNOLOGY: A Tool for Transformation or Tyranny?
- Dr. Julie Valentine, Matthew Gamete, and Leslie Miles presented Variability in Uploaded CODIS Profiles from Sexual Assault Kits.
- Dr. Julie Valentine, Luke Johnson, Leslie Miles, Brian Brown, Connor Alder, and Andrew Criddle presented Lessons Learned from the Development of Sexual Assault Kit Evidence Machine-learning Models.
- Dr. Julie Valentine and Luke Johnson presented What about the Swabs? Retrospective Review of DNA Analysis Findings from Sexual Assault Kit Evidence.
Doctor of Nursing Practice student Kari Weiss will present about adoption at the Safe and Healthy Families Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO) session on February 27, 2025. Click here to register.
Faculty presented at the 1U4U Symposium, which featured projects funded in 2023 and was held at the Cleone Peterson Eccles Alumni House. 1U4U is designed to seed multidisciplinary faculty and/or student collaborations in areas of mutual research interest and opportunity. Funded projects cultivate partnerships across campus and within the community, enable innovative and collaborative education and training, address social and scientific problems too deep and complex to be solved by any single discipline, stimulate early and high-risk approaches that would not attract traditional funding support, engage young researchers and scholars in multidisciplinary partnerships, and facilitate discussion and collaboration among scholars interested in the same challenges who might not otherwise meet.
- Kaila Christini, Simon Brewer from the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Dr. Echo Warner, Naina Phadnis from the School of Biological Sciences, Stephen Gubler and Rebecca Slagle from the Huntsman Cancer Institute, and Dr. Deanna Kepkapresented Overcoming Vaccine Hesitancy and Preventing Cancer Through Adaptive Learning Artificial Intelligence and Refinement of Reminder Interventions and Campaigns.
- Zhaoxia Pu from Atmospheric Sciences, Paul Brooks from Geology and Geophysics, and Dr. Xiaoming Sheng presented Understand and Predict the Severe Drought Events in the Western United States and their Influence on Water Resources and Human Health.
- Dr. Lisa Taylor-Swanson, Dr. Ana Sanchez-Birkhead, Camille Moreno from the School of Medicine, Jeannette Villalta from Utah Area Health Education Centers, and Isabel Dulfano from World Languages and Cultures presented Addressing a GAP in MENOpausal Latinas’ Healthcare: Adapting MENOGAP for Community Health Worker Delivery in Hispanic/Latina Communities.
Professional Recognition
Holly Rapone, Family Nurse Practitioner, was recognized during the University of Utah Hospital leadership livestream on February 19 for the excellent care she provides to her patients in the University Hospital setting. Dr. Jen Clifton echoed the recognition writing, “Well done Holly!!”
Publications
Crispi M, Davis CM, Christensen AB, Chavez-England JL, Echeverria L,Fenton AA, Garrett T, Noss T, Sampson YB, Taylor-Swanson LJ, White H, Woodbury R, Adams K. Nurse leaders as stewards for responsible environmental healthcare practice. Am Nurs J. Epub ahead of print.
Friberg Felsted K, Cadiz A, Eaton J. Have you heard of House Bill 60? Promoting age inclusivity for older adults through higher education. Gerontol Geriatr Educ. Epub ahead of print. https://doi.org/10.1080/02701960.2025.2464124
Rogers KN, Kaddas HK, Ramsay JM, Waters AR, Vaca Lopez PL, van Thiel Berghuijs K, Linder L, Lewis MA, Warner EL, Gill D, Kirchhoff AC. Health insurance coverage among adolescent and young adult cancer survivors receiving health care before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. J Adolesc Young Adult Oncol. Epub ahead of print. https://doi.org/10.1089/jayao.2024.0115