UK's Nursing’s Stanifer chosen as scholar in Environmental Health Research Institute for Nurse and Clinician Scientists

(Press-News.org) LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 8, 2024) — A researcher in the University of Kentucky College of Nursing has been selected as a scholar for the Environmental Health Research Institute for Nurse and Clinician Scientists (EHRI-NCS).

EHRI-NCS is a year-long flipped classroom, train-the-trainer and mentorship program aimed at developing a new era of environmental health nursing science. It’s led by Castner Incorporated, a health research company, in partnership with Emory University, Washington State University and University of Alabama in Huntsville.

Stacy Stanifer, Ph.D., an advanced practice registered nurse and an assistant professor of nursing, was selected to participate. She is one of 144 faculty, scientists and educators chosen for the training.

“Environmental health nursing science is crucial for Kentuckians, where we know there’s a complex relationship with our people and the environment,” said Stanifer. “My goal with this opportunity is to learn more ways to help prevent diseases, promote health and advocate for communities while employing an evidence-based approach to health care to ultimately help better the Commonwealth.”

Stanifer’s research focuses on furthering the science related to reducing co-exposure to two environmental carcinogens — radon and secondhand smoke — as a means of lung cancer prevention.

She is a member of the Bridging Research Efforts and Advocacy Toward Healthy Environments (BREATHE) team in the College of Nursing, as well as a member of the Cancer Prevention and Control Research Program and Lung Cancer Translational Research Group at the UK Markey Cancer Center.

Stanifer also co-leads the UK Center for Appalachian Research in Environmental Science (UK-CARES) Community Engagement Core (CEC). The core’s goal is to foster and maintain multidirectional community-academic partnerships in Appalachia Kentucky.

This cohort of EHRI-NCS scholars will learn from top Environmental Health Nurse Scholars covering topics related to populations, study design, measures, data analysis, and theories. The program then shifts to focus on supporting the participant’s goal.

Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R25ES033452. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

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