Even through the virtual setting, research from the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing faculty continues to receive national recognition. At the North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference on October 21, the top three abstracts in nursing were all from the UAB School of Nursing.
All also came from the research team of Associate Professor of Nursing Sigrid Ladores, PhD, RN, PNP, CNE, including mentees Assistant Professor of Nursing Leigh Bray, PhD, RN, CNL; UAB School of Nursing PhD students Caitlin Campbell, BSN, RN, and Janet Brown, MSN, RN, CPN; University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine Associate Professor Sandra Sufian, MA, MPH, PhD; and University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Assistant Professor Traci Kazmerski, MD, MS.
“This recognition means that our nurse-led research team at the UAB School of Nursing is making great strides in the area of cystic fibrosis reproductive health and fertility research,” Ladores said. “I am not aware of any other team of nurse scientists based in an academic health center that has a dedicated focus on cystic fibrosis. This is a very exciting accomplishment and recognition of our collective work.”
Their research on cystic fibrosis and fertility is important because individuals with cystic fibrosis are living longer thanks to health care discoveries, and many want to start families.
“Recent drug discoveries and advances in clinical care have made it possible so that men and women with are now fully engaging in adult developmental milestones, like establishing careers, going to college, and becoming parents,” Ladores said. “Cystic fibrosis is no longer a ‘disease of childhood’ so the work that we are doing at the UAB School of Nursing is meeting this new frontier of reproductive needs by a patient population who used to not live past adolescence.”
The top three abstracts included:
Fertility and Fertility Preservation in Women with Cystic Fibrosis Pre-Lung Transplantation
Ladores, S., Campbell, C., Sufian, S., & Bray, L.A.
Exploration of Paths to Motherhood in Cystic Fibrosis
Bray, L.A., Campbell, C., Brown, J., & Ladores, S.
Exploring the Interplay Between Self-Efficacy and Sexual and Reproductive Health in Women with Cystic Fibrosis
Brown, J., Bray, L.A., Kazmerski, T. M., & Ladores, S.
“The next steps to move this work forward is to write the manuscripts for publication to share our study findings with a global audience and prepare the next grant proposals to support future projects,” Ladores said.