Joachim Voss, Ph.D., R.N. Selected as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Nurse Faculty Scholar

 

 

Seattle, WA (July 28, 2008) ─ Joachim Voss, Ph.D., R.N., an assistant professor in the School of Nursing at the University of Washington, is one of 15 junior faculty nationwide to receive an inaugural Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Nurse Faculty Scholar award. The three-year, $350,000 grant will begin Sept. 1.

 

The award will support Voss’sresearch into finding better methods to manage fatigue in HIV patients. He is working to develop a dipstick diagnostic test for detecting protein changes in energy production in HIV patients, with the goal of improving their diagnosis and prognosis of mitochondrial dysfunction. The award also will support Voss’s participation in a training program to help prepare him for academic leadership and translating evidence into policy and practice initiatives.

 

“I hope to use this generous support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to make significant contributions in the management of fatigue in HIV patients and ultimately contribute to more effective treatment strategies for patients with cancer and other diseases, impacting both health policy and nursing practice,” said Voss, who belongs to UW’s Department of Biobehavioral Nursing and Health Systems.

 

His faculty mentors for this research are: Margaret Heitkemper, R.N., Ph.D., F.A.A.N., the Elizabeth Sterling Soule Endowed Chair in Nursing and chair of the Department of Biobehavioral Nursing and Health Systems at the UW School of Nursing; and Professor David Goodlett, Ph.D., director of the Mass Spectrometry Core Facility in Medicinal Chemistry at the UW School of Pharmacy.

 

“Voss has extremely high potential to contribute to translational research during his tenure as a Robert Wood Johnson fellow and beyond,” said Nancy Fugate Woods, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N., the Robert G. and Jean A. Reid Endowed Dean of the UW School of Nursing. “Rising faculty stars like Voss will be part of nursing’s next generation of researchers and educators. As more and more nursing faculty retire, it is critical that we do all we can to encourage our top pre-tenure faculty members to be ready to take their places. The Nurse Faculty Scholar program is an innovative approach to this national challenge.”

 

Voss was a recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship and was a National Institutes of Health-funded pre-doctoral fellow at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Nursing. He also was a post-doctoral research fellow at the National Institutes of Health. In 2005, he received the U.S. Public Health Service’s Faye G. Abdella Nursing Research Publication Award as well as the agency’s Hasselmeyer Award for Research Initiatives.

 

The goal of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Nurse Faculty Scholars program is to develop the next generation of national leaders in academic nursing through career development awards for outstanding junior nursing faculty. The program aims to strengthen the academic productivity and overall excellence of nursing schools by providing mentorship, leadership training, salary and research support to young faculty.

 

Despite a rise in applicants, U.S. nursing schools turn away thousands of prospective students from baccalaureate and masters programs because of an acute shortage of faculty and clinical preceptors, training sites, space and funding constraints. Since the stature of nursing schools and the promotion of nursing faculty are dependent on the quality of the nursing faculty’s scholarly and/or research pursuits, the Nurse Faculty Scholars program seeks to strengthen the link between institutional reputation and faculty success by providing career development and other opportunities to junior faculty.

 

With a large number of faculty nurses set to retire soon, the Nurse Faculty Scholars program also aims to encourage junior nurse faculty to continue on in their roles as educators.

 

The program is run out of the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. Jacquelyn C. Campbell, the Anna D. Wolf Chair and professor in the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, directs the program. For more information, go to: www.nursefacultyscholars.org.

 

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The University of Washington School of Nursing, is consistently the nation’s No. 1-ranked nursing school, according to U.S. News & World Report. Ranked No. 2 in research funding from the National Institutes of Health, the UW School of Nursing is a national and international leader in improving the health and well-being of individuals, families and communities. The school addresses society’s most pressing challenges in health care through innovative teaching, award-winning research and community service. For more information, visit www.son.washington.edu.

 

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing our country. As the nation’s largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to improving the health and health care of all Americans, the Foundation works with a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, meaningful and timely change. For more than 35 years, the Foundation has brought experience, commitment, and a rigorous, balanced approach to the problems that affect the health and health care of those it serves. When it comes to helping Americans lead healthier lives and get the care they need, the Foundation expects to make a difference in your lifetime. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org.