This week, a Swoopy Award recognizes Giving Day success, faculty and students participate in an emergency preparedness drill, and the College welcomes incoming nursing students at the Lamp of Learning ceremony.
Professional Recognition:
Mary Wheeler received the 2025 Giving Day Swoopy Award in recognition of her exceptional dedication and achievements in fundraising. The College of Nursing’s Advancement Team nominated Mary, writing: “Through her tireless efforts on Giving Day, Mary helped the College of Nursing secure the highest amount of funding among all U of U Health academic units. Her remarkable skills and dedication also led to an increase in student Philanthropy Cord donations, with participation growing to over 20 students and contributing to a total of 155 donors. Thanks to her leadership, faculty and staff giving also saw a meaningful rise, further amplifying her lasting impact. Mary's unwavering commitment and exceptional performance have made a clear difference—when she is involved, success is assured.”
Events:
Faculty and prelicensure nursing students were well represented during the Mass Casualty Incident Drill sponsored by the University of Utah Health Emergency Department. Nels Nichols planned and coordinated the drill. Thank you to all who participated from CON:
- Maren Busath
- Elizabeth Farmer
- Madilyn Farmer
- Emma Gillbank
- Camila González
- Olivia Higgins
- Adrianne Hill
- Grace Ho
- Sefakor Kassah
- Dr. Amanda Keddington
- Loi Lam
- Grace Lennartson
- Mandy Mclay
- Shelby McDonald
- Nels Nichols
- Emma Plute
- Lanie Romprey
- Melody Sanjinez
- Priscilla Santos
- Kayla Siebeneck
- Haylie Tidwell
- Kayli Tucker
The College of Nursing Lamp of Learning ceremony was held on May 22. The ceremony is a tradition in which the College recognizes incoming prelicensure students and acknowledges their decision to enter the profession of nursing. Erica Fearnley planned and directed the ceremony. The Summer 2025 prelicensure cohort and their invited family and friends gathered in the A. Ray Olpin Student Union Ballroom for a meaningful evening that included hearing from Dr. Sharifa Al-Qaaydeh, Dean Marla De Jong, Dr. Kirsten Schmutz, Sarah Robertson, and Dr. Melody Krahulec. Dr. Valerie Flattes and Dr. Lisa Barry read the names of the students as they each received a pin from the College’s Advancement team. Staff members Kristen Tunks, Carrie Radmall, Miriam Lovin, and Minhvan Thach also supported the event.
University Engagement:
Dr. Cynthia Garbett and Dr. Rebekah Perkins will serve as University of Utah Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) mentors for summer 2025. UROP provides a $1,200 stipend and educational programming for students who assist with a faculty member’s research or creative project or who carry out a project of their own under the supervision of a faculty member.
- Dr. Cynthia Garbett will mentor nursing student Laura Beckstrand (Menlove) for a project titled Knowing, Doing, Being: Building a Simulation-Based Curriculum in Psychiatric Mental Health.
- Dr. Rebekah Perkins will mentor nursing student Erin Goodwyn for a project titled Knowing, Doing, Being: Building a Simulation-Based Curriculum in the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) Doctoral Program.
Presentations:
Jenna Hoff spoke at the Utah Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) Conference hosted by Westminster University. She and Jenna Goodman, co-founder of Generous Change, co-presented Rediscover Discovery: How to Get in the Door with New Donors. The session explored the challenges and opportunities of donor discovery, offering a practical refresher and five actionable steps to make the process more effective and less daunting. The conversation emphasized how consistent, ambitious discovery work is critical to both institutional success and individual growth in fundraising.
Dr. Kara Dassel delivered two invited presentations:
- Alzheimer’s Awareness to staff and guests at the Hurricane Senior Center in Hurricane, Utah.
- Golden Years and Rainbow Realities: Research in LGBTQIA+ Geriatrics at the Mountain West Transforming Care Conference in Springdale, Utah.
University of Utah Health, the Osher Center for Integrative Health, and the Driving Out Diabetes Initiative hosted a day-long symposium titled Extending Return on Investment: A Multi-Sector Approach to Whole-Person Health. During the symposium, speakers and participants discussed the Collective Return on Investment (ROI), a new paradigm for economic evaluation. The goal of the symposium was to develop recommendations for a model for shared impact and a collective ROI for whole person health/prevention across the urban-rural continuum.
- Dr. Paul Estabrooks (moderator), Dr. Samantha Harden, Courtney Buys, Dr. Jeri Bullock, and Dr. Linda Edelman delivered a panel discussion titled Serving Communities Across the Rural-Urban Continuum.
- Dr. Andrea Wallace presented a panel wrap-up of three panel discussions: Whole Person Health and Prevention, Defining a Shared Model for Collective ROI, and Serving Communities Across the Rural-Urban Continuum.
- Dr. Andrea Wallace was a member of the planning committee.
Faculty, staff, and students presented at the Society Acupuncture Research 2025 Conference in Newport Beach. The theme of the conference was Cultivating Interconnections of Acupuncture and Traditional East Asian Medicine Research.
- Maria Chao, Evelyn Ho, Afua Bromley, and Dr.Lisa Taylor-Swanson delivered a main symposium titled Improving Chronic Diseases for All Through TEAM Research and Clinical Care.
- Kate Levett, Beau Anderson, Lisa Conboy, Rosa Schnyer, Kathleen Lumiere, Sandro Graca, Claudia Citkovitz, Debra Betts, and Dr. Lisa Taylor-Swanson hosted a post-conference workshop titled Measuring Patient-Centered Care: Common Data Sets for Acupuncture Trials in Women’s Health, A Consensus Method.
- Kathleen Lumiere, David Riley, Lisa Conboy, Dr. Lisa Taylor-Swanson, Beau Anderson, Sandro Graca, and Nick Lowe presented a member symposium titled Real-World Evidence: Analyzing Pragmatic Data from Case Reports and Clinical Registries.
- Dr. Lisa Taylor-Swanson, Jeannette Villalta, Dr. Ana Sanchez-Birkhead, Anna Camille Moreno, Isabel Dulfano, and Dr. Joe DeLannoy presented a poster titled Mujeres en Menopausia: A Community Health Worker-Delivered Multi-Component Intervention for Hispanic Midlife Women.
- Dr. Lisa Taylor-Swanson, Anna Camille Moreno, Micaela Besser, Tammy Dunklebarger, Dr. Xiaoming Sheng, Susan Smaellie, Wen Tu, and Dr. Bob Wong presented a poster titled Feasibility and Acceptability of MENOGAP: An Integrative Group Medical Visit with Group Acupuncture for Menopause Management.
Captured Moments:
Dr. Heidi Favero and nursing student Nestor Chavez participated in a photoshoot focused on acute care nursing. Their involvement enabled Jenna Hoff, Mindy Francis, and Gabriel Mayberry to capture meaningful images that genuinely reflect the educational experience in an acute care setting. The photos will be used to enhance the College’s communication with partners, donors, and other interest parties. Jen Pilgreen, Multimedia Manager for University of Utah Health advised regarding protocols, and College of Nursing alumnus Dr. Scott Patterson, nurse manager of the medical intensive care unit, coordinated the location, contributing to the success of the photoshoot.
Academic Achievement:
Malek Alnajar successfully passed his oral and written exams and defended his dissertation proposal titled Palliative and End-of-Life Care Utilization Among Persons with Serious Mental Illness and Multimorbidity: A Population-Based Analysis of Decedents and their Families. Committee members are Dr. Caroline Stephens (Chair), Dr. Djin Tay, Dr. Eli Iacob, Dr. Lynn Reinke, and Dr. Katherine Ornstein.
Publications:
Conboy L, Lisa Taylor-Swanson L, Conboy I, Conboy M. Designing a decentralized randomized controlled trial of acupuncture to capture whole person health. Glob Adv Integr Med Health (2025 International Congress Abstract Supplement). 2025;14;45-46. https://doi.org/10.1177/27536130251324543
Franklin BE, Meulenberg BL, Beaulieu EZ, Cisneros-Macias J, Cao Y, Carbajal-Salisbury S, Villalta J, Flores N, Fuentes V, Hernandez MC, Parry-Alba D, Rodriguez C, Rodriguez Y, Zavala Orozco VS, Asnaani A, Sanchez-Birkhead A, Baucom KJW. “PrevenganT2,” culturally-responsive family-based diabetes prevention intervention for Hispanic/Latino adults at high risk for type 2 diabetes: Protocol for a proof-of-concept evaluation. JMIR Res Protoc. In press. https://preprints.jmir.org/preprint/66317
Hart SE, Sexson K, Perkins C, Zhao H, Cowen N, Seward T, Davis A, Mongoven J. Family caregiving competencies for level one nursing education. J Prof Nurs. 2025;59:138-147.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.profnurs.2025.05.006. Dr. Sara Hart acknowledges that this work was made possible by the Family Caregiving Collaborative, and guided by the expertise and insights of her colleagues across the College of Nursing who already are working to integrate the competencies into their courses.
Sharareh N, Simonsen S, Wallace AS, Kim J, Hill JL, Wilson FA. Associations between length of US residency and participation in child nutrition assistance programs among immigrant families. J Acad Nutr Diet. Epub ahead of print. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2025.04.007
Tay DL, Dubose K, Chipman J, Ellington L, Alnajar M, Iacob E, Stephens C, Ornstein KA. Risk of mental health conditions in bereavement: A population-based analysis of lung cancer spouses. Front Public Health. 2025;13:1539180. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1539180
Taylor-Swanson L. Menopause is a whole-person developmental transition: An overview of menopause information and acupuncture therapy approaches to symptom management. Med Acupunct. Epub ahead of print. https://doi.org/10.1089/acu.2024.0149
Taylor-Swanson L, Armstrong C, Johnson J, Iacob E, Citkovitz C, Kocher Z, Madsen K, Flynn E, Nelson A, Garcia K. Pretest posttest with Guatemalan lay midwives about acupressure use for preeclampsia. Glob Adv Integr Med Health (2025 International Congress Abstract Supplement). 2025;14:53-54. https://doi.org/10.1177/27536130251324543
Taylor-Swanson L, Besser M, Dunklebarger T, Dalseth M, Tu W, Sheng X, Moreno C. Feasibility and acceptability of MENOGAP: Conventional and integrative menopause care with group acupuncture. Glob Adv Integr Med Health (2025 International Congress Abstract Supplement). 2025;14:12. https://doi.org/10.1177/27536130251324543