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Jing Wang, Ph.D., M.P.H., R.N. Selected as 2013 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Nurse Faculty Scholar
NEWS RELEASE Contact: Gretchen Wright September 12, 2012 202/371-1999
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Nursing’s Wang Named a 2013 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation ‘Nurse Faculty Scholar’
Diabetes Researcher Selected for Prestigious Program that Advances Careers of Talented Junior Nurse Faculty
Jing Wang, PhD, MPH, RN, an assistant professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Nursing, is one of just 12 nursing educators from across the United States to win a highly competitive grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Nurse Faculty Scholars program this year. Wang will receive a three-year, $350,000 award to promote her academic career and support her research. The Nurse Faculty Scholar award is given to junior faculty who show outstanding promise as future leaders in academic nursing.
“This award from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation provides a wonderful opportunity to develop and test an interface to connect smart-phone collected diet and physical activity self-monitoring information to Chronicle Diabetes, an existing electronic health record system,” Wang said. “We are aiming to provide a better tool to not only support patient self-management behaviors but also facilitate patient-provider communication, thus creating a true patient-centered medical home for those with chronic illnesses.”
During her research project, Wang plans to conduct a multi-site randomized clinical trial to examine the efficacy of this interface. If found effective, the user-centered interface in Chronicle Diabetes will be used to support patient self-management education and support, and can be implemented in all diabetes education programs recognized by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) to potentially benefit millions of patients with diabetes and obesity requiring complex self-management regimen.
Her mentors for the work will be: Nancy Bergstrom, PhD, FAAN, associate dean for research at UTHealth School of Nursing; Jiajie Zhang, PhD, dean at UTHealth School of Biomedical Informatics; and Linda Siminerio, PhD, FAAN, CDE, professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. The RWJF Nurse Faculty Scholars program is strengthening the academic productivity and overall excellence of nursing schools by developing the next generation of leaders in academic nursing. Wang is part of the program’s sixth cohort. Supporting junior nurse faculty will help curb a shortage of nurse educators that could undermine the health and health care of all Americans. The Affordable Care Act is vastly increasing the number of people who can access health care in the United States. As the number of patients increases, there will be greater demand for skilled nurses as well as faculty to educate them.
Right now, many schools of nursing are turning away qualified applicants because they do not have the faculty to teach them. The RWJF Nurse Faculty Scholars program is helping more junior faculty succeed in, and commit to, academic careers. The program also enhances the stature of the scholars’ academic institutions, which will benefit fellow nurse educators seeking professional development opportunities.
To receive the award, scholars must be registered nurses who have completed a research doctorate in nursing or a related discipline and who have held a tenure-eligible faculty position at an accredited nursing school for at least two and no more than five years.
The Nurse Faculty Scholars also support the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action, which is engaging nurses and nurse champions in a nationwide effort to improve health care by implementing recommendations from the groundbreaking Institute of Medicine report, The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. The Campaign for Action is backed by RWJF and AARP, and has Action Coalitions working in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
The Nurse Faculty Scholars program is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and administered through the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. It is directed by Jacquelyn Campbell, PhD, RN, FAAN, who is the Anna D. Wolf chair and professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing.
To learn more about the program, visit www.nursefacultyscholars.org.
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About the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation 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 health and health care, the Foundation works with a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, measurable, and timely change. For more than 40 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. Follow the Foundation on Twitter at www.rwjf.org/twitter or on Facebook at www.rwjf.org/facebook. About UTHealth School of Nursing Part of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), the School of Nursing is the highest-ranked nursing graduate school in Texas by U.S. News & World Report and among the top five percent in the nation. Within a diverse interdisciplinary environment, this pacesetting school produces an average of 185 new nurses and 130 nurses with graduate degrees each year. More than 9,170 nurses have graduated from the UTHealth School of Nursing since 1972. For information, visit: https://nursing.uth.edu/