Nursing science makes first appearance in NIH research rankings

UC Irvine’s Program in Nursing Science has landed on the National Institutes of Health research funding list for the first time, rating 54^th among U.S. nursing schools. Program researchers brought in $455,000: Ruth Mulnard uses NIH funding to conduct clinical trials on promising Alzheimer’s disease treatments, and Lorraine Evangelista leads the multicampus Pro-Heart study. This amount does not include a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Health Resources & Services Administration for UC Irvine’s nurse-practitioner-led clinic at El Sol Science & Arts Academy in downtown Santa Ana. The NIH funding ranking marks the latest achievement for the 6-year-old program, which in 2013 will start enrolling students into its new Ph.D. program. “Having a strong research infrastructure is necessary for our research-based doctoral program, as it allows our students to work as graduate assistants on projects,” says Ellen Olshansky, professor and director of nursing science at UC Irvine. “Becoming a ranked program is an important step in this direction.”