Grant Recipients
With the number of people living with Parkinson's increasing and the shortage of neurologists specializing in the disease, the Parkinson’s Foundation supports the training of more nurses through professional education and now supports their research through the new Nurse Faculty Award.
The following Edmond J. Safra Nurse Faculty Scholars have received $7,500 in grant funding from the Parkinson’s Foundation to launch individual projects to help make life better for people with Parkinson’s disease (PD). The four Scholar awardees for 2018 include:
Margaret McCormick, RN, MS, CNE
Edmond J. Safra Nurse Faculty Scholar, John’s Hopkins 2010
Margaret’s project will study the impact of a seminar course on neurodegenerative diseases on undergraduate nursing students. After her 30-year nursing career, she is now training nurses as the clinical associate professor in the Department of Nursing at Towson University in Maryland. She received the Safra Foundation’s Distinguished Faculty Scholar Award for her case study enhancing student learning.
Stephanie De Santiago, MS, RN, CNRN
Edmond J. Safra Nurse Faculty Scholar, Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center 2017
Stephani’s project will launch a program at a community wellness center and evaluate its effect on quality of life for people living with PD. As an adult-geriatric Doctor of Nursing student at Arizona State University, a clinical research nurse at Banner Health and a Grand Canyon University professor, she is passionate about caring for seniors and plans to become a neurology nurse practitioner specializing in PD management.
Edmond J. Safra Nurse Faculty Scholar, University of Alabama 2018
Donna’s project will develop a PD resource center for the underserved communities in rural Louisiana and South Arkansas that will utilize university resources and nursing students. After 30 years as a registered nurse, she is now a professor and director of the Division of Nursing at Louisiana Tech University and conducts research on chronic illnesses.
Diane M. Ellis MSN, RN, CCRN
Edmond J. Safra Nurse Faculty Scholar, University of Pennsylvania 2009
Diane’s study aims to improve quality and safety for hospitalized PD patients through a case study assessing Parkinson’s medication administration in the hospital. As clinical assistant professor at Villanova University’s M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing, she practiced as a neurological clinical nurse specialist. Her ongoing research is funded by the Parkinson’s Foundation.
Learn more about the Edmond J. Safra Visiting Nurse Faculty Program at the Parkinson’s Foundation.
