Martyn-Nemeth named director of PhD program
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Associate professor Pamela Martyn-Nemeth, PhD, RN, FAHA, FAAN, was appointed as director of the UIC College of Nursing PhD program.
Martyn-Nemeth, who was inducted as a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing in 2020 and the American Heart Association in 2015, has focused her professional and scholarly work on reducing cardiovascular risk while improving self-management behavior and quality of life in persons with diabetes.
Catherine Vincent, RN, PhD, associate dean for Academic Affairs, says Martyn-Nemeth has also been a wonderful mentor to PhD students.
“[She’s] encouraging and supporting them in their educational program, as well as their development as nurse scientists,” Vincent says. “She has engaged her PhD students as well as other undergraduate and graduate students in her scholarly work on research studies, which resulted in scientific presentations by students at national conferences and publications in professional journals.”
Martyn-Nemeth is currently researching the role of sleep in improving glycemic control in adults with Type 1 diabetes – a study which last year received a $3 million grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
In a separate NIH-funded study, Martyn-Nemeth and colleagues are testing a novel cognitive behavioral therapy intervention to reduce fear of hypoglycemia and improve glycemic control. If successful, this program of research promises to reduce the development of diabetes complications and improve quality of life for persons with Type 1 diabetes.
In an extension of this work, sleep has emerged as a challenge for individuals with Type 1 diabetes, in part due to fear of hypoglycemia. This has led to the development of a sleep optimization intervention that is being tested through the current NIH-funded study to improve sleep and glucose control, while reducing diabetes distress in working-age adults with Type 1 diabetes.
Martyn-Nemeth and colleagues also have been successful in developing a community-based, culturally focused physical activity intervention using dance and translating it into clinical practice.