Symposium Speakers
The Loyola University Chicago Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing is pleased to host the following speakers for the 2023 Ruth K. Palmer Research Symposium:
Keynote: A Community-Engaged Research Agenda to Advance Health Equity
Bridgette M. (Brawner) Rice, PhD, MDiv, APRN
Richard and Marianne Kreider Endowed Professor in Nursing for Vulnerable Populations
M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing, Villanova University
Dr. (Brawner) Rice is a staunch justice advocate who believes that research can be leveraged as an advocacy tool to ensure all individuals have an opportunity to achieve their full health potential. Cognizant of the role of geography in health, her spatially-based research explicates and intervenes in factors such as neighborhood disadvantage to prevent disease and promote health equity. As the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Dr. Bridgette Executive Consulting, LLC she works with individuals and organizations to promote the engagement and retention of racial and ethnic minoritized groups in health-related fields. Join us for her keynote presentation: A Community-Engaged Research Agenda to Advance Health Equity.
Symposium Speakers
Allergy Education and Awareness for Nonmedical Personnel
Mary C. Heinz, DNP, RN, CCM
Clinical Assistant Professor
Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing, Loyola University Chicago
Dr. Heinz is an advocate for community members and especially those that are most vulnerable. She has committed herself to serving and educating nursing students regarding population health, introducing and promoting support for the marginalized. After several decades of experience in the acute care setting, Dr. Heinz has found an effective role in primary prevention. She has worked to develop health wellness programs that have improved population health. Her work today will showcase improved knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs in nonmedical personnel responsible for the allergic school-aged child.
I'm Not Going There
Mary McNamara, DNP, APRN, FNP, FAANP
Clinical Associate Professor
Associate Dean Innovative Partnerships and Faculty Practice
Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing, Loyola University Chicago
Dr. McNamara is an advocate for nurses as agents of healthcare improvement. She feels that her role as an educator is to assure that nurses are practice-ready to meet the complex needs of underserved communities. Dr. McNamara creates and supports innovative models of care through lenses of mutualism, respect, and health equity. She is a family nurse practitioner whose direct-care practice includes primary care, urgent, and emergency care. Her research focuses on mitigating the impact of intimate partner violence. She studies the intersection of violence, chronic disease, and health inequity.
Work2Prevent: Leveraging Community Feedback to Inform an Efficacious HIV Intervention
Darnell N. Motley, PhD
Research Assistant Professor
Department of Medicine, University of Chicago
Director of Structural Interventions for the Chicago Center for HIV Elimination
Dr. Motley is a clinical community psychologist committed to promoting sexual and relationship health in queer communities of color. Dr. Motley’s research examines and challenges the ways that structural factors (like racism, homophobia, and health stigma) function to limit the experiences of racial, sexual, and gender minorities, as well as individuals living with HIV. More specifically, Dr. Motley uses qualitative research to inform the development and adaptation of interventions intended to impact social determinants of sexual health.
Implementing a Nurse-to-Nurse Handoff Education Bundle: Don’t Forget Your Partners
Jenny O’Rourke, PhD, APN-BC, CHSE
Associate Professor
Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing, Loyola University Chicago
Dr. O’Rourke received her BSN from Villanova University and her MS and PhD in Nursing from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She began her work in simulation in 2008 and became the inaugural director of the Center for Simulation at the University of Illinois-Chicago in 2013. At Loyola, she served as the Associate Dean for Graduate Programs from 2016-2020. Her scholarship is focused primarily on nursing education and simulation, and she currently serves as a mentor for two faculty investigating disruptions in nursing care.
Kathryn J. VanderZwan DNP, APRN-BC, CHSE
Clinical Assistant Professor
College of Nursing, University of Illinois-Chicago
Dr. VanderZwan has practiced as an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner primarily in Cardiology and Hospital Medicine since 2006. She joined the UIC College of Nursing as a Clinical Instructor in 2012 and completed her DNP in May 2017. She is a Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator and an active member of the International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning and the Society for Simulation in Healthcare. Her current area of research includes Validation of a Hand-off Curriculum for Prelicensure Nursing Students & Handoff Training Using Simulation with Embedded Distractors.
Recognizing the Health Care Needs and Preferences of Vulnerable populations: Looking through a different lens in addressing and expanding health care services
Barbara Preib Lannon, PhD, PMHNP - BC, SANE
Assistant Professor
Director of Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner Program
Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing, Loyola University Chicago
Dr. Preib-Lannon is an Advanced Practice Nurse with a primary focus on forensics and sexual assault cases. She has broken down barriers to health care by developing a model of mental health services to children, adolescents and families experiencing unending episodes of social injustice. She has worked in underserved neighborhoods for over twenty years and has pioneered the development of school based mental health services for children experiencing trauma. Dr. Preib-Lannon strives to prepare nurses to understand their patients’ cultural needs, beliefs and receptivity to health care, and to educate all her students in Loyola’s Jesuit philosophies which focus on the development of ‘the whole person.’
Working with Community to Address the Health Disparity of Lack of Access to Advance Healthcare Planning
Margaret C. Delaney, Ed.D., APRN, PNP-BC
Clinical Assistant Professor
Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing, Loyola University Chicago
Dr. Delaney completed her EdD in Higher Education and Organizational Change at Benedictine University. Her research interests center on nursing student success, health promotion, and nursing ethics. Course specialties are Population-Based Health, Nursing Ethics, Nursing Leadership, Health Assessment, Family Health, Pediatrics, and Graduate-level Practicum. Dr. Delaney maintains certification as a pediatric nurse practitioner. She is an active member of Sigma Theta Tau, a member of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, and the American Nurses Association.
Mary B. Donnelly, DBe, JD, HCEC-C, RN
Clinical Assistant Professor
Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing, Loyola University Chicago
Dr. Donnelly is doctorally prepared in Bioethics and Healthcare Policy and is a clinical ethics consultant at Loyola University Medical Center. As such, she works extensively on the ethical dilemmas that are encountered in the absence of advance healthcare planning and the impact that this lack of access has on patients, families, and healthcare providers.
Use of Air Quality Information as a Health Risk Reduction Strategy
Mary Eileen (Meg) Kloster, Ph.D., RN, CNE, CCRN-K
Clinical Assistant Professor
Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing, Loyola University Chicago
After many years as a critical care nurse caring for postoperative cardiac surgical patients, Dr. Kloster began teaching at Lewis University. In 2015, she began her doctoral studies at Villanova University, focusing on the effect of air pollution on health and the effect of an educational module on preventing exposure to air pollution, specifically fine particulate matter. Dr. Kloster graduated from Villanova in May 2022 and began teaching at Loyola University Chicago in August.