Meet the 2024 Winner: Joanna L. Morris PhD, RN 

The primary goal of Dr. Morris' research program is to generate knowledge to improve the care and clinical outcomes of women with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Her projects have focused on the multifactorial influences of gender and sex-specific differences that affect women's OSA symptom presentation and success with CPAP adherence. She is also interested in sex differences in night-to-night variability in sleep and respiratory parameters in untreated OSA and its impact on next-day function and mood. Her publications have addressed sex differences in symptom clusters and the psychometric properties of sleep and OSA screening questionnaires. She is currently funded by the American Academy of Medicine to test a patient-to-patient peer support intervention to promote CPAP adherence in women. Dr. Morris earned her PhD at the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing and conducted her postdoctoral training at the University of Pittsburgh Center for Sleep and Circadian Science, Department of Psychiatry.

Description:

The award will be given to a Nursing Assembly member who has made outstanding contributions relevant to nursing in the area(s) of research, clinical care, teaching, and/or service. Additionally, this person shows commitment and support of the Nursing Assembly and ATS. The award recognizes individuals who have made valuable contributions focused on patient and family responses related to pulmonary conditions, critical illness, or sleep disorders early in his or her career. The awardee will be presented with a framed certificate at the annual Nursing Assembly meeting during the ATS International Conference. We encourage applications from nominees with diverse backgrounds (e.g. by gender, race/ethnicity, country, area of focus and primary occupation).

Criteria:

• Registered Nurse
• Must be no more than Assistant Professor level, and either less than 10 years after earning a doctoral degree, or less than 10 years since initially becoming a full member of ATS, whichever is earliest.
• Member of the Nursing Assembly (preference is given to a primary member)
• Shows commitment and support of the Nursing Assembly, and to the ATS, including description of participation in ATS Nursing assembly or ATS activities
• Letter of nomination from a member of the Nursing Assembly documenting how the applicant meets the scoring criteria, on a scale from 1 to 5
  • teaching/mentoring contributions – evaluated by feedback on teaching and mentoring from current or past mentees. Those with examples of successful mentoring and teaching (e.g., student-led abstracts, papers, or other products) will be scored higher (5/5) than those with without these described products (1/5).
  • participation in assembly or ATS activities – evaluated by described participation in past ATS or Nursing assembly activities. Those with leadership roles, multiple activities or substantial impact to ATS through service roles will be scored higher (5/5) than those with few service activities and no leadership roles (1/5).
  • Scientific/scholarly and clinical contributions – evaluated by impact of scientific work, such as number of publications and/or grants, quality of research and/or uptake of findings and/or impact to clinical practice. Those with substantial number of publications, external funding, and/or robust evidence of the impact of their scholarship on patients and the health care community will be scored higher (5/5) than those with fewer publications, no external grant funding or limited clinical impact of their work. Notably, scholarship or clinical contributions with a specific scientific focus on creating a diverse, inclusive and equitable healthcare system is preferred.
• Additional letters of support from peers, mentors, and colleagues may be submitted with the nomination but are not required.
• A CV from the candidate, not to exceed 4 pages, that addresses research, clinical care, teaching, and/or service.
• A copy of at least one publication, consisting of either a published abstract, dissertation abstract, or short summary of the capstone project if no published manuscript is available.

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