MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Taura Barr, Ph.D., R.N., an assistant professor in the West Virginia University School of Nursing, Department of Emergency Medicine and Prevention Research Center, is one of 12 nursing educators to win a competitive grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Nurse Faculty Scholars program this year. Dr. Barr will receive a three-year, $350,000 award to promote her academic career and support her research.
The Nurse Faculty Scholar award is given to junior faculty who show outstanding promise as future leaders in academic nursing. To receive this prestigious award, scholars must be registered nurses who have completed a research doctorate in nursing or a related discipline and who have held a tenure-eligible faculty position at an accredited nursing school for at least two and no more than five years.
“As a nurse researcher, I seek to understand the integrated responses of biological and psychological systems within the context of the environment to change the way human brain injuries are studied and ultimately treated,” Barr said.
Barr’s research centers on the use of genomics to identify biological markers of cardiovascular disease, understand their relationship with post-stroke inflammation and define environmental factors that contribute to cardiovascular health disparities in underserved populations.
Barr is a research scholar in the West Virginia Clinical and Translational Science Institute, and actively works to put her research into action in communities throughout West Virginia. In addition to her lab studies, Barr has been facilitating gatherings of rural community members around the state, gauging their awareness of genetics and genomic medicine through discussion of their family histories. As a result, WVU has become the first institution to study genetic and genomic literacy in a rural population.
The Nurse Faculty Scholars program is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and administered through the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. To learn more about the program, visit www.nursefacultyscholars.org.
