Recently released National Institutes of Health rankings reported that in 2005 8 graduate students at the University's School of Nursing received National Research Service Award fellowships, more winners than any other nursing school in the nation.
The NRSA fellowships are federal grants to be used by the recipients for their doctoral work. Students have a mentor to aid them with the application process for the NRSA.
The 2005 recipients and their mentors were Sarah Anderson (mentor Barbara Parker), Cheryl Dumont (Arlene Keeling), Elizabeth Epstein (Ann Hamric), Nancy Jallo (Ann Taylor), Irma Mahone (Elizabeth Merwin), Mary O'Laughlen (Patricia Hollen), Melissa Sutherland (Barbara Parker) and Deidre Thornlow (Elizabeth Merwin).
"Our students have been doing very well in recent years and we are continually being more and more successful in our grant writings," said Associate Dean for Research Elizabeth Merwin. "It was a pleasant surprise."
The NRSA is not a "one-time competition award," according to Merwin. Rather, it is "achieving federal funding to support their dissertation research."
Students have this federal funding from the time they are awarded the grant to the time they finish their doctoral program. Throughout this time, students receive partial tuition, a monthly stipend, and a small amount is given to the school to offset research expenses, Merwin said.
Students also receive specific funds such as funds to hire a research assistant as well as funds to present their research at a national conference, Keeling said.
The application process begins one year before students' dissertation. Students write an extensive proposal that is competitively reviewed, according to Merwin. The student writes the proposal under the guidance of a professor or faculty sponsor and it is not unusual for the student to spend a year working with the faculty sponsor.
"What they look for at NIH is a close match between the professors' interests and the students'," Keeling said.
The proposal presents the problem the student wishes to study and the tentative design of what the student proposes to do, Merwin said.
"It's quite an honor and it was really important for me being able to complete my doctoral studies financially," Anderson said, who had the funding for two years for her research with genital injury patterns after non-consensual intercourse.
The other fellowships awarded cover the topics of end of life issues, the relationship of patient safety on patient outcomes, the effect of relaxation tapes on maternal stress, sexual abuse and assault, the relationship between blood pressure and risks of heart catheterization, medication decision-making by the seriously mentally ill and improving asthma outcomes.
"It puts our students in a good position to have a very prestigious accomplishment," Merwin said. "When they go out and take their first positions, they have already demonstrated ability to compete with their research and receive external funding."
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