Noteworthy

2024

Impact Award winner Dr. Gigi Smith, left, was praised for her collaboration and leadership. She was presented the award by Kathy Cole, President David Cole and nominator Barbara Bozarth.

• Congratulations to the undergrad faculty and to the Student Services team for helping CON to achieve 2023 NCLEX pass rates of 96 percent, which is considerably above the national average and contributes to SC’s top five national ranking.
• Patrick Coyne was honored with the Cunniff-Dixon Foundation Nursing Award.
• Julie Horton was named the winner of the Fall 2023 CON Staff Award.
• Dr. Emily Johnson has achieved tenure at MUSC College of Nursing.
• DNP student Rika Win Kemp has been appointed a 2023-2024 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Doctoral Fellow.
• Dr. Christina McDaniel has been named System Executive Director of Palliative Care for MUSC.
• Ph. D. student Stephanie Neary has received the PA Education Association’s Don Pederson’s Research Grant Award for her dissertation.
• Dr. Kristen Poston has been named the Assistant Dean of the Undergraduate Program.
• Amy Smith received the Golden Lamp Award during Winter Convocation.
• Dr. Gigi Smith was honored with the 2023 President’s Values in Action Impact Award.
• Melissa Stone received the Outstanding Clinical Faculty Award during Winter Convocation.
• Lauryn Ward won CON’s annual Faculty & Staff Bake-off.
• Congratulations to the following employees for 10 years of service to MUSC: Dr. Tatiana Davidson, Dr. Cathy Durham, Dr. Terri Fowler, Kathy Franks, Dr. Suparna Qanungo, Jessica Williams.

Recently Funded Grants

PI: Tatiana M. Davidson, PhD, Ken Ruggiero, PhD, & Ashley Hink, MD
The Duke Endowment
01/01/2024-12/31/2026 
Improving Access, Quality, and Equity of Mental Health Care for Trauma-Affected Youth and Young Adults in the Carolinas

December 2023

• Dr. Carrie Cormack and Dr. Kathleen Lindell discussed palliative care education at MUSC College of Nursing in the fall edition of Progressnotes: "MUSC offers rare post-master's doctoral degree in palliative care."
• Dr. Cathy Durham was the keynote speaker for MUSC's Veterans Day program and spoke about her experiences in the Navy Nurse Corps and on the frontlines of COVID-19 in NYC.
• Dr. Joy Lauerer and Dr. Hannah Robidoux have been awarded $1.2 million for the HRSA BHWET CAY grant to increase innovative academic-practice partnerships to prepare psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner (PMHNP) students to care for children, adolescents and young adults. Awarded to just 18 institutions nationwide, the competitive 2-year grant will provide stipends for PMHNPs and support for student tuition.
• Dr. Kathleen Lindell was an invited panelist during the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation Summit.
• Ph.D. student Dr. Jessica Madiraca successfully defended her dissertation “Exploring the Unmet Care Needs of Women with Advanced Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (COPD)."
• Dr. Sarah Miller discussed respiratory health equity and the need for increased funding for research and health access for rural and medically underserved communities during a "That's Healthful" podcast.
• Dr. Ken Ruggiero's 20 years as a MUSC faculty member and much-valued mentor were featured in the fall edition of Progressnotes: "Magnifying impact through mentorship and technology."
• Congratulations to the following students for receiving awards during Winter Convocation: Cristen Lydakis (Paula Theilen Award); Kris Bol (Kimberly Michelle Limbaker Memorial Award); Johari Johnson (SNA Leadership, Service, and Scholarship Award); Mekenzie Herring (Outstanding Bachelor of Science in Nursing Student Award); Jessica Madiraca (Stewart Doctoral Dissertation Award).

October 2023

• Congratulations to all our students who were recognized during the Dean’s Annual Scholarship Reception!
• Dr. Carrie Cormack, Dr. Susan Newman and Dr. Martha Sylvia were inducted into the American Academy of Nursing’s 2023 Class of Fellows during the Academy’s annual Health Policy Conference in Washington, D.C.
• Dr. Catherine Durham was profiled in the Catalyst story “Navy veteran, graduate nursing practice leader named MUSC nursing dean.”
• Dr. Joy Lauerer was recognized as the 2023 recipient of the APNA Award for Excellence in Practice – APRN during the annual American Psychiatric Nurses Association conference.
• DNP student Josh Moran attended the annual APNA conference as a American Psychiatric Nurses Association scholar.
• Ph.D. student Stephanie Neary was selected as the PA Foundation’s 2023 Breitman-Dorn Research Fellow, a prestigious award in the PA community honoring only one fellow per year.
• Dr. Shannon Phillips was featured in the Essential Insights article “National Sickle Cell Awareness Month: How MUSC Health Serves its Youngest Patients.” Her work was also highlighted in the winter edition of Progressnotes: "New app improves care for people with sickle cell disease."
• Dr. Amy Williams presented on “Home Visiting Programs” during the Department of Pediatrics Summer Advocacy Grand Rounds.

Recently Funded Grants

PI: Tatiana M. Davidson, PhD
South Carolina Dept. of Public Safety/Victims of Crime Act (VOCA)
10/01/2023 – 09/30/2024
Elder Abuse Assessment Training and Treatment Program

PI: Joy A. Lauerer DNP, APRN, PMHCNS-BC
Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
09/30/2023 – 09/29/2025
Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training- Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults (BHWET-CAY) Program for Professionals

September 2023

Recently Funded Grants

PI: Hannah C. Espeleta, Ph.D.
MUSC SCTR
08/01/2023 – 07/31/2025
Improving Reach, Quality, and Equity in Child Maltreatment Prevention

PI: Tracy Stecker, Ph.D.
The Warren Alpert Foundation
08/01/2023 – 07/31/2024
Investigations to Improve Treatment Seeking Among Those At-Risk for Suicide

PI: Tatiana M. Davidson, Ph.D.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
08/09/2023 – 08/08/2025
Technology Resources for Improving Sleep Among Firefighters

August 2023

• MUSC College of Nursing was featured on Live 5 News in relation to the SC Commission on Higher Education’s announcement of $10 million dollars of state funding for student-debt forgiveness for graduate-level nurses who go on to teach in the state. ABSN students Lily Frain and Polina O'Brien, PhD student Yulia Lopez and faculty member Dr. Cathy Durham were interviewed.
• DNP students Kiara Baylock (“Decreasing postpartum hemorrhage rates on a high-risk labor and delivery unit”) and Tricy Kosobud-Sossamon (“Implementing a caregiver burden screening in a veteran affairs amyotrophic lateral sclerosis clinic”) each received the Distinguished Doctor of Nursing Practice Award during summer Convocation.
• Dr. Carrie Cormack and Pat Coyne’s work with global palliative care initiatives was spotlighted in the Catalyst News story “The rewarding two-way street of international care.”
• Dr. Tatiana Davidson’s work as co-director of the MUSC Center for Firefighter Behavioral Health was featured in the summer edition of Progressnotes: “Center provides resources to both firefighters and mental health providers regionally, nationally.”
• Dr. Kasey Jordan recently graduated with her MA degree in Emergency Management and Homeland Security, with a focus area in Community Resilience, from Arizona State University. She also attained credentialing as Certified in Public Health (CPH) through the National Board of Public Health Examiners.
• Dr. Kathy Lindell serves as the nurse expert on an interdisciplinary, national team that recently received a CHEST Foundation Research Grant to investigate “Sex hormones in pulmonary fibrosis.”

July 2023

 American Academy of Nursing’s 2023 Class of Fellows

• Mandy Adams was named the winner of CON’s Spring 2023 Staff Award.
• Ph.D. student John Ambrose successfully defended his dissertation “Resilience Culture in Healthcare Teams During Covid-19.”
• Dr. Katherine Chike-Harris has been awarded the Maralynne D. Mitcham Interprofessional Fellowship.
• Dr. Carrie Cormack, Dr. Susan Newman and Dr. Martha Sylvia have been named inductees into the American Academy of Nursing’s 2023 Class of Fellows.
• Dr. Teresa Kelechi has been named a 2023 inductee into the International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame.
• Dr. Sharon Kozachik’s Journal of Emergency Nursing article “Recommendations for emergency departments care for persons with opioid use and opioid use disorders: An integrative review” has been selected to be included in the International Academy of Nurse Editors Virtual Journal 2023.
• Dr. Sarah Miller's work empowering patient self management in rural SC was featured in the spring edition of Progressnotes: “MUSC expands rural health care access in South Carolina through multiple complementary approaches.”
• PMHNP student Joshua Moran has been named an American Psychiatric Nurses Association scholar and will receive a scholarship to attend the annual APNA conference.
• Dr. Kristen Poston (president) and Jennifer Ciccone (education committee chair) have been elected to serve on the South Carolina Nursing Education Simulation Alliance (SCNESA) Board of Directors for 2023-2025.
• Dr. Donna Reinbeck was recognized for her service as director of the Presidential Scholars Program, one of MUSC’s premier interprofessional student initiatives. Her leadership has been instrumental in enhancing the program and helping students develop effective interprofessional teamwork skills.

Recently Funded Grants:

PI: Susan D. Newman, Ph.D., RN, CRRN
Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
07/01/2023 – 06/30/2024
Nurse Faculty Loan Program

PI: Carrie L. Cormack, DNP, APRN, CPNP
The David R. Clare and Margaret C. Clare Foundation
07/01/2023 – 06/30/2024
Palliative Care Advanced Practice Nursing

PI: Leigh Ridings, Ph.D.
South Carolina Research Authority (SCRA)
04/13/2023 – 06/30/2024
Patient-Facing Mental Health Resource for the Trauma Resilience and Recovery Program

PI: Katherine E. Chike-Harris, DNP, APRN, CPNP-PC, FNP-BC, CNE
Maralynne D. Mitcham Interprofessional Fellowship /MUSC Office of Interprofessional Initiatives (OII)
07/01/2023 – 12/30/2024
Simulated Interprofessional Telehealth Visits