Denise A Kent, PhD, APRN, FNP-BC
Assistant Professor
Department of Biobehavioral Nursing Science
Contact
- Building & Room:
- 722 NURS
- Address:
- 845 S. Damen Ave., MC 802, Chicago, IL 60612
- Office Phone:
- 312.996.9616
Email:
Related Sites:
About
Denise A. Kent, PhD, APRN, FNP-BC, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biobehavioral Nursing 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.
Dr. Kent is a clinician-scientist whose research focuses on improving how health and research information is communicated to patients and research participants. Her scholarship centers on two interconnected areas: the ethical and equitable return of individual research results to study participants and the early detection and prevention of lung cancer. Across this work, she uses patient-centered and implementation-focused approaches to improve understanding, promote health equity, and strengthen trust between research institutions and the communities they serve.
Dr. Kent is Principal Investigator of the Coleman Foundation-funded TRUST-CT study, which is developing and evaluating a patient-centered communication toolkit to improve how lung cancer screening results are communicated to patients. She also leads RECEIVE, an American Lung Association-funded study examining approaches to returning individual research results across multisite clinical research. As a Co-Investigator, she contributes to NIH- and industry-funded research focused on lung cancer screening, artificial intelligence-guided risk stratification, biomarkers, and COPD, including the CREST-AI initiative and a NIAID-funded clinical trial evaluating omalizumab in individuals with COPD.
With more than two decades of clinical experience as a critical care nurse and family nurse practitioner, Dr. Kent brings a strong clinical perspective to her research. She cares for patients through the UI Health Lung Screening Program, integrating her interests in prevention, early detection, patient communication, and research into clinical practice. She also co-founded Med Staff On-Call, LLC, a healthcare technology company that developed proprietary staffing software later acquired by ShiftWise, a national healthcare software company.
Dr. Kent earned her PhD in Nursing from the University of Illinois Chicago, where her doctoral research examined Type 1 diabetes in young adults. She earned both her Master of Science as a Family Nurse Practitioner and Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Northern Illinois University.
An engaged educator and mentor, Dr. Kent has taught across undergraduate and graduate nursing programs and has served as an advisor and committee member for DNP and PhD students. Her teaching and scholarship have been recognized with honors 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 and serves in leadership roles within the ATS Nursing Assembly. She is also an Ambassador for the Friends of the National Institute of Nursing Research and is active in professional organizations including the Midwest Nursing Research Society, the American Lung Association Airways Clinical Research Centers Network, and Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing.
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., Naiditch, H., Worsham, C., Herrin, A., Gurubhagavatula, I. Artificial Intelligence in Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine: A Perspective on Augmentation, Accountability, and Policy. Annals of the American Thoracic Society (AnnalsATS), July 27, 2026 Link to Pub
Mussio, I., Chilton, S., Kent, D.A., Gerald, L.B., Wilson, A.M. Applying a Risk‐Risk Tradeoff Economics Approach to the Occupational Health of Nurses: Economic and Microbial Risk Analysis. International Journal of Risk Analysis, 2025. Link to Pub
Kent, D.A., Villegas-Downs, M., Wilson, A., Krishnan, J., & Gerald, L.B. Navigating the Challenges of NT-proBNP Result Disclosure in Clinical Research. Journal of Clinical and Translational Science, 2025. Link to Pub
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
Maffucci, J., Kent, D., & Vanderzwan, K. Integrating a Competency-Based Curriculum through the Modernization of Teaching Strategies. Journal of Nursing Education, 2024. 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
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
2026, Janet Deatrick Research Award, University of Illinois at Chicago College of Nursing
2021, Barb Berger Award for Teaching Excellence, College of Nursing- BNS Department
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
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
International Association of Lung Cancer Screening
American Thoracic Society
Central Society for Clinical and Translational Research
Midwest Nursing Research Society
Sigma Theta Tau International
Selected Presentations
Kent D. A. Lung Screening and What You Need to Know Compassionate Baptist Church Chicago, IL September 25, 2026
Kent, D.A. Leading Clinical Research and Translating Evidence into Practice Yonsei University Seoul, Republic of South Korea September 15, 2026
Garrad, E.,# Liu, L., Ouyang, H., Duncevic, A., Zeng, Q., Durnet, C., Hill, T., Kent, D., Nguyen, R., Kovitz, K., Feldman, J., Potter, A., Yang, C.F., Fintlemann, F., Warner, E., Chang, A., Osarogiagbon, R., Sequist, L., Pasquinelli, M. Socioenvironmental Determinants of Health and Associations with Sybil AI Risk Scores, International Society for Lung Cancer Screening, Seoul, Republic of South Korea September 13, 2026 (Oral Abstract)
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/