Research and Scholarly Interests

Breakthroughs Can’t Wait

A scientist examines a sample under a microscope, with the text

At UMSON and at UMB, groundbreaking discoveries happen every day — transforming care, improving health, and shaping the future. Our researchers are tackling real-world challenges and making a lasting impact on lives everywhere. Dive into inspiring stories of innovation from across UMB’s seven schools, including the School of Nursing. See how we’re addressing today’s most pressing issues — fueled by the critical support of government funding that drives progress forward.

 

Learn More
Research and Scholarly Interests
Faculty Member(s)Research and Scholarly InterestsOrganized Research Center

Akintola, Titilola

Cognitive and affective mechanisms of chronic pain and addiction

PBO, CACPR, BBAL

Breman, Rachel Blankstein

Shared decision-making, maternity care, implementation science, reproductive justice, patient centered care, surveys

 

CHEOR, BBAL

Burch, Brittany

Interventions to improve the independence of older adults; physical activity; technology; community-based research; cognitive impairment

 

 

Carpenter, Joan

Gerontology and palliative care focused on: older adults living with serious illness in post-acute skilled care and long-term residential care in nursing homes; implementation of evidence-based practices; pragmatic clinical trials; non-pharmacological interventions for people living with dementia

BBAL

Chuang, Pei-Ying

The mechanisms of molecular neuroprotective biomarkers associated with acute brain injury, especially cerebral ischemia (traumatic brain injury and stroke) in translational science (bench evidence and bedside practice), including the neuro-functional and psychosocial behaviors relevant to the cerebral ischemia, and establishing strong ties with short-term critical/acute care to long-term neurological recovery

BBAL

Colloca, Luana

Pain modulatory systems; neurophysiological mechanisms of placebo and nocebo effects; brain and learning mechanisms; expectations and computational models; genetic approaches to chronic pain; sex, race, and age influences on pain modulation; ethical and translational aspects of placebo and nocebo effects

CHEOR

Costa, Linda

Care transitions in adults with chronic diseases, medication reconciliation

CHEOR

Doran, Kelly

Worksite health promotion with healthcare workers; behavioral health interventions for cardiovascular health; mindfulness and other stress/burnout prevention interventions; health disparities; RN-led community focused programs to improve health inequalities as well as public and population health

BBAL

Dorsey, Susan

Translational research aimed at elucidating the molecular, cellular and genetic mechanisms underlying chronic pain to identify new therapeutic targets

BBAL

Friedmann, Erika

Integration of biological social and psychological factors into health and health related behaviors; stress and alleviation of stress; animal companions/pets and human health; research methods and multivariate approaches to analyses of health-related data

BBAL

Galik, Elizabeth

Care of older adults with dementia, specifically optimizing function and physical activity and utilizing non-pharmacological approaches to managing behavioral symptoms

BBAL

Holmes, Sarah

Improving the care of older adults and persons with dementia; non-pharmacological approaches to managing behavioral symptoms of dementia; optimizing meaningful activity engagement for residents in long-term care settings

BBAL

Kelemen, Arpad

Biomedical informatics; health care database development, optimization, and evaluation; health care software and game development; game theory; human-computer interaction; intelligent patient care technologies; artificial intelligence; data mining

BBAL

Kleckner, Amber

Nutritional interventions (e.g., Mediterranean diet, time-restricted eating) to address cancer-related fatigue and other symptom science outcomes, mitochondrial and circadian mechanisms underlying cancer-related fatigue.

 

 

Kleckner, Ian

Studying how cancer chemotherapy causes side-effects such as neuropathy and distress using psychophysiology (measuring heartbeats, skin conductance), neuroimaging (fMRI), epidemiology, behavioral science, and computational methods; conducting clinical trials to prevent or treat these symptoms using exercise and healthy eating

SYNAPSE

Klinedinst, N. Jennifer

Reducing symptoms associated with chronic disease (e.g. depression, fatigue) among older adults in the community and assisted living settings; studying the impact of engagement of meaningful activity (e.g. volunteering) on depression, loneliness, behavioral and psychological symptoms in dementia, and sedentary behavior among older adults; elucidating health impact of delivering an interdisciplinary wellness clinic in low-income senior housing settings for older adults in these communities

BBAL

Lee, Mei Ching

Palliative and end-of-life care, minority population, culturally competent care, and interprofessional education

CHEOR

Liang, Yulan

Biostatistics, statistical genomics, bioinformatics; methodological research in biomedical, public health and healthcare data; risk assessments and predictions for common complex diseases and health conditions; data mining and machine learning for high dimensional big data; longitudinal mixed model, multi-level/hierarchical model, causal inference, Bayesian approaches

CHEOR

McElroy, Katie

Maternal/newborn outcomes; health disparities in maternal/child health; environmental exposures during pregnancy; vaginal microbiota in pregnancy; health promotion in early childhood education settings, academic-community partnerships, and nursing education

 

 

McPherson, Rachel

Care of older adults living with dementia, specifically improving staff-resident care interactions in long-term care settings; quality of life of older adults living with dementia; staff-resident communication

BBAL

Moen, Marik

Community-patient centered innovations to address social drivers of health (SDOH), social isolation, loneliness, guaranteed income, nurse-community health worker (CHW) interventions in populations with substance use, mental health, HIV, homelessness, older adults; global health nursing & education

BBAL, CHEOR

Nahm, Eun-Shim

Use of digital technologies to manage chronic conditions in middle-aged and older adults; application of pragmatic research incorporating real-world data and EHR to improve patient outcomes and clinical workflows; implementing and evaluation of health/clinical information systems

BBAL

Njie-Carr, Veronica P.S.

Socio-cultural and behavioral factors of HIV prevention intervention, women's health and HIV-related disparities, smart phone technology intervention, cross-cultural research

BBAL

Nwogwugwu, Charlotte

HIV/AIDS, mental health, sexual health, global behavioral health, Integration of mental health into HIV services, health equity, implementation science, community based participatory research

CHEOR, BBAL

Ogbolu, Yolanda

Health inequities in maternal child health outcomes; cultural competency; global health nursing & education, nurse migration, neonatal outcomes; and dissemination and implementation science research

CHEOR

Rawlett, Kristen

Adolescent health; integrative health; health promotion; school based interventions to increase coping, mindfulness and decrease stress; community engagement/community-based participatory research; vulnerable and underserved populations; Nurse Practitioner education 

BBAL

Regan, Mary

Translational research aimed at building understanding about the complex care process and physiologic systems that influence maternal and neonatal childbirth outcomes

CHEOR

Renn, Cynthia

Physiological mechanisms and psychophysical characteristics of chronic pain in clinical populations and preclinical models trauma, cancer, and chemotherapy-induced pain

BBAL

Resnick, Barbara

Care of older adults particularly with regard to motivation to engage in healthy behaviors with a major focus on function and physical activity; measurement; dissemination research

BBAL

Robinson, Keisha

Maternal child health occupational trauma exposure; maternal child health occupational resilience; maternal child health occupational burnout; environmental impact on postpartum depression; postpartum depression and perceived social support; postpartum depression and suicidal ideation

BBAL

Titus-Glover, Doris

Women’s health; maternal opioid use disorder (pregnant, postpartum and parenting women); health disparities; maternal obesity and community-based participatory research

BBAL

Trinkoff, Alison M.

Nursing work schedule, working conditions, and impact on care outcomes; injuries to health care workers; patient care outcomes- acute and long term care; substance use problems, obesity 

CHEOR

Tseng, Pang-Yen

Using advanced transcriptomic, transgenic, and molecular tools to understand pathogenesis of debilitating symptoms such as itch, pain, inflammatory and allergic conditions

CACPR

Wang, Yang

Interplay between sleep and pain to identify cost-effective, scalable interventions to improve health outcomes in individuals with chronic pain; the role of open-label placebo (OLP) and expectancy-based interventions in modulating pain and sleep disturbances; using mixed-methods and experimental designs to explore mechanisms of affective and behavioral change; aiming to inform precision behavioral strategies that enhance self-regulation and resilience in the context of chronic pain

CACPR, PBO

Zhu, Shijun

Biostatistical methods and applications in biomedical, public health, and health care research; joint modeling of longitudinal observations and recurrent events; latent class and growth analyses; semiparametric and nonparametric methods

BBAL