Undergraduate, pre-licensure faculty are faced with the challenges of preparing a nursing workforce that is well equipped to navigate a dynamic, complex, stressful, healthcare environment. Cognitive overload, poor interpersonal skills, differences in training and education among the healthcare team and constant distraction contribute to poor communication practices for nurses (Noland, 2014). The Joint Commission has reported that 80% of all medical errors in the healthcare setting is attributed to “miscommunication” (“Joint Commission Center,” 2012).
Brenna Renn
Dr. Renn is a clinical geropsychologist and mental health services researcher. She is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at UNLV and the Director/Principal Invesigator of the TREATment Lab (Translational Research on Effectiveness and Accessibility of Treatment in Mental and Behavioral Health). Our team is passionate about overcoming obstacles that prevent effective behavioral health treatments from reaching underserved communities. We specialize in the behavioral health of older adults and work across adult populations broadly. Areas of clinical research tend to focus on common mental health conditions (depression and anxiety) as well as cooccurring disorder. Our work engages patients, providers, and community stakeholders to focus on:
• Translational research, which moves scientific discoveries more quickly into practice to produce meaningful, applicable results to directly benefit mental and behavioral health.
• Effectiveness research, which identifies which clinical and public health interventions work best for improving behavioral health. We focus on evidence-based interventions for depression and health promotion.
• Accessibility of treatment, in order to overcome barriers to care and improve the receipt and utilization of evidence-based interventions. We focus on improving access through primary care behavioral health integration and leveraging digital tools, like apps.
Our lab develops future scientist-practitioners through mentored training of doctoral students in clinical psychology, as well as select opportunities for undergraduate or post-baccalaureate research assistants.
Dr. Renn has over 45 peer-reviewed publications and has written 10 book chapters spanning topics in depression, geriatric mental health, mental health services, and other topics related to behavioral aspects of health. She collaborates with colleagues across UNLV as well as at the University of Washington and the Southern Nevada VA Medical Center.
Jason Flatt
I have experience conducting research with diverse Sexual and Gender Minorities (SGM) or lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual and another identity (LGBTQIA+) persons living with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) and their caregivers. My research involving SGM older adults and caregivers has helped to enhance understanding of ADRD risk and disparities, long-term care and related healthcare needs, workforce challenges, and potential solutions. I am currently Co-PI (Anderson, Flatt, Wharton; NIA R24AG066599 ) on The RISE (Research Inclusion Supports Equity) Registry. This registry is the first effort to recruit, engage, and retain SGM older adults with ADRD and SGM ADRD caregivers. I am also lead PI of a new 5-year grant to develop more inclusive measures of caregiving for SGM older adults living with ADRD. I am also in the final year of my Career Award (NIA K01AG056669), “The Epidemiology of Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias in Sexual and Gender Minority Older Adults: Identifying Risk and Protective Factors.” I also received the 2020 Early-Stage Investigator Award from the NIH Sexual and Gender Minority Research Office for this research. My research research has also been funded by American Federation for Aging Research, the Alzheimer’s Association, and The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.
Steve Frese
Dr. Frese’s research is centered on the human gut microbiome and its inhabitants. Our work at the University of Nevada, Reno examines how diet, food science, and biotechnology can be leveraged to meaningfully improve human health and nutrition.
Gabriela Buccini
Gabriela Buccini, Ph.D., MSc, IBCLC, is an Assistant Professor of Social and Behavioral Health. Trained in Epidemiology, Public Health Maternal Child Nutrition, and Implementation Science. She applies mixed-methods research guided through the lens of Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS), Socioecological Model, and the Nurturing Care framework to investigate maternal and child health and nutrition, including breastfeeding & infant feeding, food insecurity, and early childhood development inequities. Dr. Buccini’s academic training is focused on epidemiology, mixed methods, and implementation science methods. Her research experience spans the fields of maternal-child health and nutrition focusing on vulnerable populations in low-income settings. She has an ongoing NIH/NICHD grant to understand the pathways for scaling up evidence-based early childhood and nutrition programs.
Tim Grigsby
Dr. Tim Grigsby is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social and Behavioral Health. He completed his PhD in Preventive Medicine (Health Behavior Research) from the University of Southern California in 2016. His primary research interests are on the health effects of childhood trauma, the conceptualization, measurement, screening, and prevention of substance misuse, and identifying sources of health disparities in Hispanic/Latinx communities. His secondary interests are in the dissemination of novel research and analytic methods in public health research. His work explores the role of family- and community-based trauma exposure as risk factors for substance use, misuse, and related health outcomes in minority populations. Specifically, his work has identified adverse childhood experiences and perceived discrimination as important risk-factors of substance use, violence, and adverse health outcomes in minority populations.
Li Li
Dr. Li’s research is focused on developing and applying computational models to assess how human-made chemical substances reside, travel, and change in the human socioeconomic system, the environment, and food webs, and how they enter our bodies and cause potential environmental and health concerns. These chemicals include notorious examples like flame retardants, plasticizers, pesticides, personal care products, and disinfectants, which are frequently detected in homes, food items, and tap water across the U.S. and other countries.
Manoj Sharma
Manoj Sharma, MBBS, Ph.D., MCHES® is a public health physician and educator with a medical degree from the University of Delhi and a doctorate in Preventive Medicine (Public Health) from The Ohio State University. He is also a Master Certified Health Education Specialist certified by the National Commission on Health Education Credentialing. He is currently a tenured Full Professor & Chair of the Social & Behavioral Health Department at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in the School of Public Health. He is a prolific researcher and as of June 2023 had published 15 books, over 375 peer-reviewed research articles, and over 500 other publications (h-index 51, i-10 index over 200, and over 13,000 citations) and secured funding for over $10 million. He is ranked in the top one percentile of global scientists from 176 subfields by Elsevier.His research interests are in developing and evaluating theory-based health behavior change interventions, obesity prevention, stress-coping, community-based participatory research/evaluation, and integrative mind-body-spirit interventions.
Evette Fuerniss
Patient education and readmission rates in the acute care setting
Hon-Vu Q. Duong
I am currently not conducting any research. I focus on teaching and mentoring students.