Nancy Hanrahan Appointed Dr. Lenore H. Kurlowicz Memorial Term Assistant Professor in Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing

Nancy P. Hanrahan, PhD, RN, CS, Assistant Professor of Nursing, has been appointed as the Dr. Lenore H. Kurlowicz Memorial Term Assistant Professor in Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing effective July 1, 2009. The Chair was founded earlier this year by a gift from the Kurlowicz Family in memory of Dr. Lenore H. Kurlowicz, a former faculty member in the School of Nursing. Dr. Kurlowicz, Associate Professor of Gero-psychiatric Nursing, died in 2007 following a long illness.

Since beginning her appointment to the Standing Faculty in 2004, Dr. Hanrahan has been an integral member of a multidisciplinary research team focusing on health workforce and outcomes research. She developed an independent program of research, designed to investigate individual and organizational-level factors that promote improved function and recovery among people with serious mental illness. Dr. Hanrahan is a national leader in psychiatric mental health nursing and known for her work in system-level mental health services research. Dr. Hanrahan is involved with state and national policy initiatives such as parity, quality indicators, creating a web-based advanced practice psychiatric nurse employment guide, and reviewing RUC codes for reimbursement.
Dr. Hanrahan teaches graduate level courses on the pathogenesis of mental disorders and psychopharmacology using a discovery based learning method. Her teaching is informed by her extensive clinical and administrative experience providing mental health care to individuals with serious psychological problems. She is a content expert in the assessment and application of brain and behavior neuroscience and psychopharmacology. In 2006, Dr. Hanrahan received the School of Nursing Teacher of the Year Award. In addition, with her undergraduate mentee, Dr. Hanrahan received the first Annual Undergraduate Mentored Research Award.

Dr. Hanrahan is a member of the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research, and is also a Senior Fellow of the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at the University of Pennsylvania.

As part of her professional activities, Dr. Hanrahan is Co-Chair of the Masters Curriculum Committee. She is also a member of the Behavioral Health Task Force for Living Independently For Elders (LIFE), a Penn Nursing practice. In prior years, she has served as Chair of the Nominations and Committee Appointments Committee, as a member of the Graduation and Awards Taskforce, and of the PhD Taskforce.