Sheila Gephart, Ph.D., R.N.

Sheila M. Gephart, Ph.D., R.N., earned her Ph.D. in 2012, focusing on high quality and safe care for fragile and infants in neonatal intensive care using electronic tools and registries. In her current role as Assistant Professor at the University of Arizona College of Nursing, she studies approaches to improve early recognition of neonatal complications, particularly the devastating problem of necrotizing enterocolitis. With the support of a pre-doctoral fellowship from the National Institute of Nursing Research, her dissertation research focused on validating and testing an early warning score for necrotizing enterocolitis called GutCheckNEC.  That research continues in the refinement and automation of GutCheckNEC with careful attention to avoiding the unintended consequences that automated tools can illicit. She serves neonatal nursing as editor for the Evidence Based Practice Brief section of Advances in Neonatal Care and writes regularly about best practice approaches to improve quality of care by implementing research evidence. Passionate about the parent’s role in NICU care, Dr. Gephart also serves on the Scientific Advisory Council of the NEC Society, aiming to support the spread of prevention practices for necrotizing enterocolitis. In addition to her research, she teaches doctoral students informatics, research methods, and evidence based practice.