Congratulations to Eun-Ok Im, PhD, MPH, RN, CNS, FAAN and Paula Tanabe, PhD, MSN, MPH, RN, FAEN, FAAN who were recently named associate deans who will lead DUSON’s research efforts. Im will serve as the Associate Dean for Research Development and Regulatory Affairs and Tanabe will serve as the Associate Dean for Research Development and Data Science. Together, they will lead the Center for Nursing Research (CNR).
“Drs. Im and Tanabe bring a wealth of complementary expertise in research, both serve on study sections at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and both have funded NIH grants in process,” says Marion E. Broome, PhD, RN, FAAN, dean and Ruby Wilson Professor of Nursing, vice chancellor for Nursing Affairs, Duke University and associate vice president for Academic Affairs for Nursing, Duke University Health System. “They are both exceptional leaders in their respective areas of science and will significantly advance our research initiatives and the development of our research-intensive faculty here at Duke.”
Under the leadership of Drs. Im and Tanabe, DUSON will have a greater focus on post-doctoral training and an increase in research productivity and collaborations across the Duke University and Duke Health Systems. There have been major initiatives adopted by Duke related to research and translation of knowledge and data science. The data science initiative involves participation from all Duke schools and serve as a point of this collaboration. “Being an active researcher with many NIH funded grants for over two decades; I’ve had so much support from senior researchers. Without their assistance and mentoring, my research program would not be as established as it is today,” says Im. “Being named Associate Dean for Research Development and Regulatory Affairs gives me a chance to mentor others in developing and sustaining their own research programs.”
Im focuses her efforts to individually mentor more than 40 doctoral and post-doctoral scholars, 90 undergraduate students and 50 research assistants. Her national and international invited lectures, presentations, book chapters and service activities represent her efforts to raise a next generation of nurses to make advances in nursing science.
“It’s an honor to be named the Associate Dean for Research Development and Data Science at such a prestigious institution as Duke,” says Tanabe. “DUSON has a strong faculty conducting important research that will help improve the health of patients and families as well as help transform the health system.”
Tanabe’s research focuses on investigations aimed at improving pain management in the emergency department, with a strong focus on patients with sickle cell disease. She developed the Emergency Department Sickle Cell Assessment of Needs and Strengths, a decision support tool aimed at improving the quality of care provided to adults with sickle cell disease in the Emergency Department setting.
Tanabe says that support from a strong infrastructure and leadership, and working with Im as Co-Associate Dean for Research Development and Regulatory Affairs, DUSON and the Center for Nursing Research is well-positioned to continue to be a role model for research programs in other nursing schools across the nation.