Funded Research and Projects
The KU School of Nursing drives research that contributes to the advancement of healthcare practices and outcomes. We are actively expanding our research portfolio with funding from various sources.
Externally Funded Awards and Collaborations
KU nurse scientists discover answers and expand understanding to help patients, families, and communities. Our current work includes:
Effects of A Prenatal Mental Health Support Intervention on Maternal and Fetal Physiologic Response
Geneva Foundation
n/a
9/26/22-9/25/26
$105,325
Goals and Contributors
The proposed multidisciplinary effort will expand the on-going M-O-M-S™ program in support of active-duty women, and explore the relationships between mental health in pregnancy and the associated physiological effects on placental tissue with and without an early prenatal support intervention.
Primary Investigator: Karen Weis; Internal Collaborators: Biostatistics and Data Science; External Collaborators: The Geneva Foundation, Henry M. Jackson Foundation, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS).
SeeInMe: Digital Profiles Facilitating Person-centered Coordinated Care for People with Dementia
NIH SBIR
R43AG090142
9/22/25-12/31/26
$60,425
Goals and Contributors
Create a comprehensive HIPAA-compliant digital profile to support person centered care for AD/ADRD patients and families, and providers and seek to create a comprehensive HIPAA-compliant digital profile
Primary Investigator: Kristi Williams; External Collaborators: SeeInMe.
Changing Talk Online Training (CHATO): A National Trial to Reduce Behavioral Symptoms in Long Term Care Residents with Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias
NIH
R01AG069171
9/15/20-5/31/27
$3,884,943
Goals and Contributors
The goal of this study is to test the effects of online communication training for nursing home staff on resident behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia and use of psychotropic medications. Identify strategies that nursing homes can use to improve staff engagement and implementation of training skills. Evaluate cost and sustainability.
Primary Investigator: Kristi Williams; Key Personnel: Frances Yang; Internal Collaborators: Alzheimer Disease Research Center (ADRC), KU Center for Telehealth and Telemedicine, The Heartland Telehealth Resource Center; External Collaborators: The University of Iowa.
Advanced Nursing Education Workforce
HRSA
T94HP49359
7/1/23-6/30/27
$2,581,532
Goals and Contributors
The purpose of this project is to (1) Nurture and develop new academic-clinical partnerships that will generate sustainable programs after HRSA funding; (2) Provide immersive clinical experiences for APRN students in rural, urban, and/or tribal underserved areas; (3) Develop enhanced educational content including interprofessional simulation and skills training to improve clinical acumen regarding health equity and social determinants of health; and (4) Support our partners by providing professional development and interprofessional group work between academic programs.
Primary Investigator: Colleen Paramesh; Key Personnel: Michelle Cochran; Internal Collaborators: KUMC Rural Health Education and Services, Project ECHO.
Women with Criminal-Legal System Involvement Leading Healthy Aging Research (WISHA)
Betty Irene Moore Fellowship
n/a
7/1/24-6/30/27
$500,000
Goals and Contributors
To increase healthy aging in women with CLSI, in part by establishing capacity for them to play an integral role in the conduct of research to achieve improved outcomes. The difference the project makes will be to establish a network of older women with CLSI who are empowered to participate in, collaborate on, or lead or co-lead aging-related health intervention research. Such involvement will improve the value and relevance of health interventions and programs by better aligning with women’s needs and preferences and by increasing community trust, awareness, and investment in research.
Primary Investigator: Amanda Emerson; Key Personnel: Jill Peltzer; Internal Collaborators: KU Center for Health Communication (CEHCUP).
Advanced Nursing Education‐ Nurse Practitioner Residency Fellowship Program (ANE-NPRF)
HRSA
T59HP49662
8/1/23-7/31/27
$2,199,750
Goals and Contributors
The purpose of this project is to prepare new primary care FNPs for the complexities of practice and to improve access to care in a rural, urban, and/or tribal underserved community-based settings through an enhanced post-graduate fellowship program with both clinical and didactic components.
Primary Investigator: Kelly Bosak; Key Personnel: JoAnn Peterson; Internal Collaborators: University of Kansas Center for Telemedicine & Telehealth (KUCTT), KUMC Rural Health Education and Services (RHES), Project ECHO; External Collaborators: Community Care Network of Kansas (CCNK).
Maternity Care Nursing Workforce Expansion (MATCARE) Training Program
HRSA
T68HP52011
9/30/23-9/29/27
$1,237,032
Goals and Contributors
The purpose of this project is to prepare new Certified Nurse-Midwives for the complexities of practice and to improve access to care in rural, urban, and/or tribal underserved community-based settings through a robust traineeship opportunity with student scholarships & stipends, curriculum enhancement, and support for community-based training sites and preceptors. The project aims to grow and diversify the maternal nursing care workforce.
Primary Investigator: Kesa Herlihy; Internal Collaborators: KUMC Rural Health Education and Services (RHES).
Enhancing Treatment Adherence in mBC Through Community Navigation and Financial Assistance
Pfizer
99173387
11/3/25-10/29/27
$165,842
Goals and Contributors
Phase 1: To quantify the rate and drivers of nonadherence among mBC patients and analyze patterns and variation across race, income, insurance, and geography. To evaluate KUCC workflows and social work capacity and map social work referral flows and identify internal and external gaps.
Phase 2: To utilize weekly C3OD notifications to alert University of Kansas Cancer Center social workers to patients newly diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer who are covered by Medicare or Medicaid. Social worker initiation of GTH referral for community-based navigation and financial assistance. To evaluate impacts on KUCC capacity, treatment adherence missed appointments, and patient-reported quality of life standard of care data collected for patients referred to GTH.
Primary Investigator: Jamie Myers Internal Collaborators: KU Cancer Center; External Collaborators: Gateway to Hope.
Sunflower-MOMS: A Coordinated Network for Refining and Sustaining Risk-Appropriate Obstetrical Care to Rural Kansas
HRSA
UK9RH53156
9/30/24-9/29/28
$3,836,138
Goals and Contributors
Refine rural obstetrical (OB) care through training, expert consultations/referrals, community nurse navigators, and leveraging technology for a sustained model of risk-appropriate care.
Primary Investigator: Karen Weis; Internal Collaborators: Biostatistics and Data Science, University of Kansas Health System Maternal Fetal Medicine, KU Center for Health Informatics, KU Area Health Education Center (AHEC); External Collaborators: Sunflower Health Network, Kansas Department of Health & Environment – Division of Health Care Finance (Medicaid).
Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP) Kansas 4M
HRSA
U1QHP53058
7/1/24-6/30/29
$5,001,742
Goals and Contributors
University of Kansas School of Nursing in collaboration with the Schools of Pharmacy, Medicine, Health Professions, and Social Welfare proposes Age-Friendly Kansas Forum (Kansas 4M), a statewide Age-Friendly Health Systems Action Community and reciprocal partnership between academia and primary care sites/delivery systems (including nursing homes), and community organizations serving older adults in rural and/or underserved Kansas, guided by an advisory committee representing older adults/patients, family members, and statewide networks representing sites, delivery systems, and community organizations serving older adults. The project will improve health equity, access, and care for Kansans by educating and training students, residents, fellows, faculty, preceptors, and the health, social, and supportive care workforce serving older adults across Kansas.
Primary Investigator: Teri Kennedy; Key Personnel: Barbara McArthur, Frances Yang; Internal Collaborators: KU Area Health Education Center (AHEC), Kansas Nursing Workforce Center; External Collaborators: Kansas Recruitment and Retention Center (KRRC), McPherson College, Washburn, The University of Kansas, Lawrence Campus.
Adapting the CHATO Communication Intervention for Diverse Nursing Home Communities
NIH
R01AG085177
8/15/24-7/31/29
$3,562,955
Goals and Contributors
Tailor recruitment, implementation support and intervention content and format for NHs serving diverse residents. Test feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effects of CHATO-I in 40 NHs serving diverse residents in a cluster-randomized waitlist-controlled trial. Validate the mechanism of action of CHATO-I.
Primary Investigator: Kristi Williams; Key Personnel: Frances Yang; Internal Collaborators: JUNTOS, KUMC Alzheimer Disease Research Center (ADRC), Landon Center on Aging, Frontiers Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI), KU Center for Telehealth and Telemedicine, Institute for Community Engagement, KU Area Health Education Center (AHEC), KU Cancer Center, Zamierowski Institute for Experiential Learning (ZIEL); External Collaborators: University of Iowa, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.
Aging-Related Health and Aging Acceleration in Older Women with Criminal Legal System Involvement (AGELIS)
NIH
R01NR021186
2/18/26-12/31/30
$2,105,095
Goals and Contributors
Establish relationships between functional ability, life course factors, and CLSI in a racially diverse, age-stratified sample of community-dwelling women with CLSI, compared with a no-CLSI control. Characterize healthy aging attitudes, goals, self-efficacy, and lived experience in women with CLSI using semi-structured interviews.
Primary Investigator: Amanda Emerson; Key Personnel: Jill Peltzer; Internal Collaborators: Landon Center on Aging, KU Cancer Center, Frontiers Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI), KUMC Teaching & Learning Technologies (TLT), Alzheimer Disease Research Center (ADRC); External Collaborators: Research Triangle Institute (RTI), Texas Tech University.
Recently Completed, Externally Funded Projects
Older Women Leading Healthy-Aging Research Together (OWLHART)
PCORI
EACB-34382
7/1/24-6/30/26
$245,510
Goals and Contributors
To increase healthy aging in women with CLSI, in part by establishing capacity for them to play an integral role in the conduct of research to achieve improved outcomes. The difference the project makes will be to establish a network of older women with CLSI who are empowered to participate in, collaborate on, or lead or co-lead aging-related health intervention research. Such involvement will improve the value and relevance of health interventions and programs by better aligning with women’s needs and preferences and by increasing community trust, awareness, and investment in research.
Primary Investigator: Amanda Emerson; Key Personnel: Jill Peltzer; External Collaborators: Communities of Creating Opportunities.
Internal Funding Opportunities
We believe in early research support. Learn about these internal funding opportunities for faculty and students like you.
- Jean Johnson Nursing Research Development Award
- This award enhances the research efforts of faculty members in the School of Nursing. The purpose is to (a) support pilot projects, instrument development, or other initial research efforts; or (b) cover research expenses that exceed the funding for an ongoing study. The principal investigator must be a School of Nursing assistant, associate, or full professor (tenure or non-tenure track) who holds a doctoral degree.
- MacArthur Interprofessional Collaboration Award
- This award provides funding to a nurse researcher that is leading or co-leading an interdisciplinary or interprofessional team at the University of Kansas Medical Center. The award will be for interprofessional research, education, or practice evaluation among nurses, health professionals, and/or physicians that address outcomes and impact on patient/family/community care.
- Barb and Steven Geiger Nursing Alumni Fund
- This fund empowers KU School of Nursing students and faculty to think freely and creatively outside the traditional research restrictions and explore innovation within the nursing discipline in practice, teaching, or other areas.
- SON Faculty Pilot Grant
- The SON Faculty Pilot Grant provides funding for pilot/feasibility projects with the goal of seeking external funding. The principal investigator must be a School of Nursing assistant, associate, or full professor (tenure or non-tenure track) who holds a doctoral degree.
- Taunton Scholar Award Criteria (Taunton Nursing Student Research Fund)
- The Taunton Award is for a PhD or DNP (enrolled in the Leadership program) student who is nearing the completion of their dissertation research or their DNP project, whose project is in Clinical and Organizational Systems Research, and who has demonstrated vision, innovation, and leadership throughout their doctoral studies.
- Ruth O. McKibben Alumni Award (PhD & DNP)
- The Ruth O. McKibben Alumni Award was established through the KU SON alumni association for doctoral nursing students for support of their research, quality improvement or evidence-based practice project.
- Hoffart Nursing PhD Dissertation Grant
- This fund provides an annual grant to support the dissertation research of a PhD student in the University of Kansas School of Nursing.
- Crighton Award
- The Crighton Award was established for a PhD student conducting research on cancer symptom management, with a preference for prostate cancer patients. Priority will be given to students who are conducting research in cancer symptom management. However, PhD students who are conducting research with vulnerable populations also may apply.
- Sousa Award of Excellence
- Awarded to a PhD student whose dissertation research is in the field of diabetes. If there is not a student focusing on diabetes for their dissertation, consideration will be given to a student whose dissertation focus is in another area of nursing research, and who has demonstrated vision, innovation, and leadership throughout their doctoral studies.
- New Birth Award
- The New Birth Company Award was established as a monetary award for a DNP or PhD student conducting research or evidence-based project (practice change) in care of the childbearing woman/family and/or midwifery care.
- Frontiers Clinical and Translational Science Institute
- Assists clinical and translational researchers through support services that include research services, clinical research facilities, education and training, and funding opportunities
- Provides funding for early- and mid-career investigators to complete one (1) year-long, impactful, innovative, collaborative clinical and translational project that will support applications for subsequent externally funded larger studies.
- Kansas Institute for Precision Medicine COBRE
- Provides a training program for biomedical researchers entrenched in a precision medicine theme across different disease states by providing mentoring and research infrastructure.
- Funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), cores include biomedical engineering, biobanking and biomarker validation, and quantitative omics.