GW Nursing Magazine Fall 2016

NEW SHOES ON THE
GROUND IN GW NURSING
RESEARCH
“And given the stature of
the SON in the forefront of
distance learning, we have a
perfect petri dish for testing
when, where and what aspects
of nursing education can take
place most effectively in a
‘virtual’ classroom.”
—angela mcnelis
The blueprint of a robust research capacity at the GW School of
Nursing is taking shape. Two assistant professors who joined the faculty
in July are bringing added depth and direction to the SON’s research
capacity-building initiative. And their respective areas of research
concentration have significant implications for future health care
programs, policies and education.
Dana Hines, whose research focuses on community health, HIV/
AIDS and population studies, earned her MSN and PhD from Indiana
University. Her groundbreaking dissertation on discrimination in health
care among trans women (born male) living with HIV earned her a Ruth
L. Kirschstein National Research Fellow Award from the National
Institute of Nursing Research. She is also a Center for Population
Health Research fellow, working with its lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender (LGBT) health predoctoral mentoring program.
She has devoted the majority of her career to public health,
directing her energies and expertise to community public health
interventions among those with or at risk for HIV/AIDS. For nearly
a decade, Dr. Hines worked with the Department of Public Health in
Marion County, Ind., to improve community standards of care
and patient outcomes for local, marginalized individuals living
with HIV/AIDS.
Professor and Associate Dean for Scholarship,
Innovation and Clinical Science Angela
McNelis will contribute to the launch of a SON
PhD program through her ongoing research,
collaboration and scholarship.
Ashley Darcy-Mahoney, the 2014 March of Dimes Nurse of the Year
and a Robert Wood Johnson Nurse Faculty Scholar, has dedicated her
research career to studying infant health. Formerly on faculty at Emory
University’s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, she earned
her neonatal nurse practitioner MSN and PhD from the University
of Pennsylvania and works in developmental outcomes for high-risk
infants, including those born preterm or diagnosed with an autism
spectrum disorder.
In addition to her SON duties, she is a Children’s National Medical
Center (CNMC) Conway Fellow, working with Pamela Hinds, director
of the CNMC Department of Nursing Research. This fall, she will join
GW’s Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders Institute headed by
Kevin Pelphrey and created in partnership with CNMC. As the director
of infant research, she will help boost cross-departmental initiatives.
In welcoming the new faculty, Dean Pamela Jeffries noted that
each brings a valued research perspective and portfolio to GW. She
added, “Each will demonstrate the impact nurse researchers have on
advancing science and health care practice. And they will contribute to
GW Nursing’s unique history of excellence in nursing education, policy,
clinical care and the spirit of inquiry.”
nursing.gwu.edu / 15