CONnections - University of Kentucky

Research and scholarshipAttacking a killerThe RICH Heart Program has moved cardiovascular research to a new levelDebra Moser, D.N.Sc., R.N., F.A.A.N., and Terry Lennie,Ph.D., R.N. are co-directors of the RICH (Research andInterventions for Cardiovascular Health) Heart Program ofthe University of Kentucky College of Nursing. With morethan twenty members, this growing team of interdisciplinaryresearchers has moved cardiovascular research at the Collegeof Nursing to a new level.Moser, professor and Linda C. Gill Chair in Nursing, thefirst endowed chair in the College, joined the faculty in 2001.She received her doctorate from the University of California,Los Angeles in 1992.She is conducting studies involving morethan 1,500 patients with heart failure orcoronary artery disease. Her program ofresearch focuses on testing interventions toimprove clinical outcomes such as quality of life,morbidity, and mortality in these patients.Moser’s collaborative research has resultedin clinically useful information for: (1)identifying cardiac patients and family members at high riskfor poor physical or psychosocial recovery after acute cardiacevents or during adaptation to heart failure; (2) interveningwith such patients to decrease poor physical and psychosocialoutcomes; and (3) understanding treatment-seeking behavioramong patients with symptoms of acute myocardial infarction.Moser was awarded the 2004 Excellence in Research Awardfrom the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses inrecognition of the important findings from her program ofresearch.Moser is co-editor of The Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing,the official journal of the Preventive Cardiovascular NursesAssociation, which is affiliated with, and endorsed by, theAmerican Heart Association Council on CardiovascularNursing.Moser is also a founding member of the AmericanAssociation of Heart Failure Nurses, established in the fall of2004. The organization focuses on uniting health careprofessionals, patients, and families in the advancement ofheart failure practice, education, and research.Terry A. Lennie, Ph.D., R.N., associate professor of nursing,joined the faculty in 2003. He holds a joint Ph.D. in nursingand psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madisonand completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship inneurobehavior at the University of Michigan.Lennie’s program of research focuses ondeveloping interventions to optimizenutritional intake in patients with heart failure.Sodium restriction has been a componentof heart failure management for more than 50years, yet little is known about the effects ofsodium restriction on the quality of patients’ diets.Lennie was a finalist for the Heart Failure Society NursingResearch Award in 2003 and received the 2004 AmericanHeart Association Council of Cardiovascular NursingAtherosclerosis/Heart Failure Research Prize.Lennie’s current research stems from recent findings thatobese patients with heart failure have better survival thannormal weight or underweight patients.“So little is known about the role of nutrition in preventionand treatment of heart failure that just about everything weare doing is generating new knowledge that should helpimprove future management of these patients,” Lennie says.More comprehensive information about theCollege of Nursing’s RICH Heart Program is onour Web site, www.mc.uky.edu/nursing.a20CONnections Spring 2005