Shannon N. Zenk: Finding the link between living conditions and health
body Heading link
Shannon Zenk, PhD, MS ’99, MPH, RN, FAAN, brought national attention to the problem of “food deserts” with her research on the lack of healthy foods in low-income, segregated neighborhoods.
Her interest in neighborhoods—which she continues to examine via “big data” studies of millions of people nationally—stems from her experience as a practicing nurse, providing care for people in their homes after hospital stays.
“What struck me was how people’s living conditions made such a powerful impact on their health, both in terms of the privilege some people had, as well as the deprivation or poverty that other people faced,” she says.
Zenk was named a Nursing Collegiate Professor in 2017. Nursing Collegiate Professorships are made possible by unrestricted donations to the college’s Annual Fund. Created in fall 2016, the honor is meant to reward and retain outstanding faculty.
Having authored more than 90 refereed papers and seven book chapters, Zenk is now working on 10 active extramural grants, worth some $16 million in total funding. She received the 2018 President’s Award from the Friends of the National Institute of Nursing Research, and she was named to the Sigma Theta Tau International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame in 2019.
“It’s really a privilege to be part of the UIC community that values social justice, that sees diversity as essential, and that seeks transformative change,” Zenk says.