Denise A Kent, PhD, APRN
Assistant Professor
Department of Biobehavioral Nursing Science
Contact
Building & Room:
722 NURS
Address:
845 S. Damen Ave., MC 802, Chicago, IL 60612
Office Phone:
Email:
CV Link:
Related Sites:
About
Denise A. Kent, PhD, APRN, FNP-BC, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biobehavioral Health Science at the University of Illinois Chicago College of Nursing, with a joint appointment in the Department of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Sleep and Allergy at the UIC College of Medicine. She is also a Faculty Affiliate in the Office of Population Health Sciences.
Dr. Kent's research focuses on two interconnected areas: the ethical and equitable return of individual research results to study participants, and early detection and prevention in lung cancer screening. Her work is grounded in a commitment to participant-centered care, health equity, and building trust between research institutions and the communities they serve — particularly Black and Latinx populations.
She is the Principal Investigator of the TRUST-CT study, funded by the Coleman Foundation, which is developing a patient-centered toolkit to improve how lung cancer screening results are communicated to patients. She also leads the RECEIVE study, funded by the American Lung Association, which establishes standards for returning research results across multi-site cohort studies. As a Co-Investigator, she contributes to several NIH- and industry-funded studies examining AI-guided lung cancer risk stratification and COPD treatment, including the CREST-AI initiative and a NIAID-funded clinical trial of Omalizumab in individuals with COPD.
A clinician-scientist with more than two decades of advanced practice experience, Dr. Kent has practiced as a Family Nurse Practitioner and most recently as an Advanced Practice Nurse at Breathe Chicago Center–UI Health Miles Square. Earlier in her career, she served as a critical care staff nurse and co-founded Med Staff On-Call, LLC, a healthcare technology company whose proprietary staffing software was acquired by Shiftwise, a national healthcare software firm.
Dr. Kent earned her PhD in Nursing from the University of Illinois Chicago, where her dissertation examined Type 1 diabetes in young adults. She holds a Master of Science as a Family Nurse Practitioner and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Northern Illinois University.
An engaged teacher and mentor, Dr. Kent has taught across undergraduate and graduate nursing programs and has served as advisor and committee member for DNP and PhD students. She has been recognized with numerous awards for her teaching and research, including the 2026 Janet A. Deatrick Research Award, the 2025 Midwest Clinical & Translational Research Top Abstract Award, and the 2022 Barbara Berger Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Dr. Kent is an elected member of the American Thoracic Society Health Policy Committee, co-chair of the ATS Nursing Assembly Symposium, and an Ambassador for the Friends of the National Institute of Nursing Research. She is an active member of the Midwest Nursing Research Society, the American Lung Association Airway Clinical Research Center, and Sigma Theta Tau International.
Selected Grants
Executive Leadership ILLInet consortium, My ILLInet RECOVER Return Of Results (MIRROR), Principal Investigator
American Lung Association, REturning Computed tomography rEsults to actIVE Lung Health Cohort participants (RECEIVE), Principal Investigator
NHLBI, Researching COVID to Advance Recovery (RECOVER), Co-Investigator
American Lung Association, Lung Health Cohort, Co-Investigator
Selected Publications
Kent, D. A, Villegas-Downs, M., Del-Rios, M., Freedman, M., Krishnan, J., Menchaca, M., Patil, C., Sculley, J., Tintle, N., & Gerald, L. Returning individual research results to participants: Values, preferences, and expectations. Journal of Clinical and Translational Science, 2024. Link to Pub
Schutlz, C., Burke, L., and Kent, D. A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of the Initial Literature regarding COVID-19 Symptoms in Children in the United States Journal of Pediatric Health Care, 2023. Link to Pub
Vanderzwan, K., Hiller, A., Carlucci, M.,Amusina, O.,Ryan, C., Krassa, T., McPherson, S., Tozer, C., Quinn,L., Kent, D. Mentoring Workgroup for Academic Role Transition Among Clinical Track Nursing Faculty, Journal of Nursing Education, 2023. Link to Pub
Ortiz, L. Kent, D., Ricca, P., Carlucci, M., Vanderzwan, K., Zeiher, W., Kilroy, S. Bloom’s Taxonomy: Framing virtual simulations during the COVID-19 pandemic, Journal for Nurses in Professional Development, 2022. Link to Pub
Kilroy, S. Kent, D., Vanderzwan, K., McPherson, S. Development of a Multisite Nursing Simulation Work Group Focusing on INACSL Standards, Journal of Nursing Education -131R2, Educational Innovation, Vol. 60 No.3, 2021.Link to Pub
Kent, D. A., Fritschi, C., Park, C., & Quinn, L., Young Adults with T1DM: Is Fear a Mediator between Self-Efficacy and Quality of Life? Diabetes, June 2020.Link to Pub
Kent, D.A., & Quinn, L. Factors that Impact Quality of Life in Young Adults with Type 1 Diabetes. Diabetes Educator (Volume 44, Number 6), December 2018.*Link to Pub
MEDIA Coverage
UIC Today- September 18, 2024
Research-study-participants-are-more-engaged-when-they-see-their-test-results/
UIC Today- September 15, 2022
UIC Nursing study seeks to improve the return of research results to the participant
UIC College of Nursing Website- September 6, 2022
UIC Nursing Researcher Dr. Kent: Improving how researchers share results with participants
UIC Newsletter- January 2021
Innovations in Online Teaching Link to Pub
Notable Honors
2012, Entrepreneurial Winning Women-Semi- Finalist, Ernst & Young
2010, Seth Rosen Award, Seth Rosen Family
2000-Present, Sigma Theta Tau Honor Society Member, Sigma Theta Tau
2021, Barb Berger Award for Teaching Excellence, College of Nursing- BNS Department
Education
Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing
University of Illinois at Chicago May 2011
Masters in Nursing, Family Nurse Practitioner
University of Illinois at Chicago May 2004
Bachelor of Science in Nursing
Northern Illinois University May 2000
Licensures and Certifications
Registered Advance Practice Nurse in Illinois, 2004-Present
Registered Nurse in Illinois, 2000- Present
Professional Memberships
American Thoracic Society
Central Society for Clinical and Translational Research
Midwest Nursing Research Society
Sigma Theta Tau International
Selected Presentations
Kent, D. A, Patil, C., Calhoun, B., Freedman, M., Fritschi, C., Tintle, N., & Krishnan, J. My ILLInet Recover Return of Results (MIRROR): A pilot study about participant preferences in a longitudinal COVID study. Central Society for Clinical and Translational Research, Chicago, IL, April 25, 2023.
Kent, D. A, Patil, C., Calhoun, E., Tintle, N., Collins, E., Villegas-Downs, M., & Krishnan, J. My ILLInet Recover Return of Results (MIRROR): Needs of Research Participants. Poster and Presentation at National Academy of Nursing Annual Health Policy Conference, Washington DC, October 6, 2023.
Kent, D., & Quinn, L. Young Adults with Type I Diabetes: A Web-based Approach to Support Research. Nursing Research Day. UIC. Chicago, IL March, 2019
Shin, H., Kent, D., Martyn-Nemeth, P., Park, C., and Quinn, L. Quality of Life in Young Adults with Newly Diagnosed T1DM, American Diabetes Association, June 2014.
Kent, D., Berger, B., Collins, E., Gallo, A., Penckofer, S., and Quinn, L. Psychosocial Factors in Young Adults with T1DM. Poster Presentation University of Illinois Diabetes Research Symposium, October 2013.
Kent, D., Berger, B., Collins, E., Gallo, A., Penckofer, S., and Quinn, L. Leveraging Technology in Young Adults with T1DM. Poster Presentation MNRS Annual Meeting, March 2013.
Kent, D., Berger, B., Collins, E., Gallo, A., Penckofer, S., and Quinn, L. Factors that Impact Quality of Life in Young Adults with T1DM. Poster Presentation American Diabetes Association, June 2012.
Research Currently in Progress
Learn more about the RECEIVE Study by visiting our website https://receive.uic.edu/