A continuing NIH T32 training grant awarded to The Ohio State University College of Nursing from the National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Nursing Research (NIH/NINR) will support the training of pre-doctoral students studying health development across the life course. PhD students in nursing will conduct research while working closely with 24 faculty from nursing, sociology, emergency medicine and pediatric medicine. Each year for the next five years, two or three newly admitted nursing PhD students will be supported over two or three years. Our first trainees will start in the 2020–2021 academic year. This novel training program has four goals to address fundamental challenges in nursing research today:
- recruit and retain diverse and qualified pre-doctoral trainees to conduct rigorous research in the science of health development
- prepare trainees to develop and implement ethical health research in the science of health development
- provide scientific grounding and research experiences with highly qualified faculty and using extensively available resources to prepare trainees for research careers
- increase the number and strengthen the scientific foundation of early career nurse scientists
Central to the training plan is the broadening of our PhD program focus on health determinants, incorporating a modification of the ecodevelopmental and life course model. In light of how health develops across the life course, the research community is challenged to stimulate new research, to develop creative solutions for improving health and wellness and to translate research findings into social policy that will optimize health. This renewal includes attention to sensitive periods of health development from preconception to old age. Trainees will be prepared to lead research teams based upon a life course health development framework that considers the intersection of determinants of health with human biological, psychological, and epigenetic processes, and explains the mechanisms and wellness outcomes of this interaction. The program will further NINR’s goal to support research on the science of health and wellness, which is integral to NINR’s mission as well as across the NIH and the entire federal government, all of whom have recognized that improving health and well-being is critical to reducing the burden of illness now and in the future.
Co-Directors: Rita Pickler, PhD, RN, FAAN and Mary Beth Happ, PhD, RN, FGSA, FAAN
Class of 2020–2021 trainees (advisors): Nicole Cistone (Pickler, Fortney), Emika Miller (Happ), Lindsay Smith (Harrison)
The first T32 was funded in 2013. Nine trainees have or will complete the program: Lisa Blair (2018), Colleen McGovern (2018), Randi Bates (2019), Marliese Nist (2019), Elizabeth Hutson (2020), Emma Schlegel, Alexandra Nowak, Stephanie Sealschott, and Laura Beth Kalvas.
Application for The Nursing PhD program for fall 2021 will open in August 2020. The deadline for the submission of all application materials is January 4, 2021. To learn more about our PhD program, please visit our website.
