New faculty endowed professorship and fellowship appointments

University of Washington Board of Regents announces faculty endowed professorship and fellowship appointments

February 2023

Basia Belza, PhD, RN, FAAN, FGSA, has been appointed to the de Tornyay Endowed Professorship for Healthy Aging. Dr. Belza is a professor in the Department of Biobehavioral Nursing and Health Informatics and adjunct professor in the School of Public Health.

Dr. Belza’s scholarship is community-driven and focuses on the evaluation and dissemination of innovative programs to improve older adult physical and cognitive health.

Her contributions to nursing science include the development and dissemination of the Multidimensional Assessment of Fatigue scale in 45 languages, building the evidence to support a community-based exercise program called EnhanceFitness, writing and publishing the first Mall Walking: A Program Resource Guide, co-authoring publications that were recognized with APEX Awards for Publication Excellence, teaching a philosophy course that is both useful and fun for PhD in Nursing Science students, and co-authoring 126 data-based publications, among other contributions to the field.

As the de Tornay Endowed Professor for Healthy Aging, Dr. Belza envisions using the endowment funds to support her scholarship and the next generation of nurse leaders in gerontology and nursing science.

 

Eeeseung Byun, PhD, RN, has been appointed to the Harborview Medical Center Endowed Professorship in Critical Care. Dr. Byun is an assistant professor in the Department of Biobehavioral Nursing and Health Informatics.

Dr. Byun’s research has delineated symptoms (sleep disturbance, fatigue, depression, and impaired cognition) experienced by critically ill stroke patients, probed mechanisms evoking these symptoms, and identified symptom experiences of caregivers of older adults with stroke. She is also building a program of research on interventions to foster symptom self-management by these patients.

As the Harborview Medical Center Endowed Professor in Critical Care, she will continue to grow her program of research in critical care and symptom science. She will further enhance her expertise as an educator and develop curriculum and learning materials on critical care. She will also provide professional services at the national and international levels including the American Heart/Stroke Association.

 

Ira Kantrowitz-Gordon, PhD, CNM, ARNP, FACNM, FAAN, has been awarded the Lucia S. & Herbert L. Pruzan Endowed Faculty Fellowship in Nursing. Dr. Kantrowitz-Gordon is an associate professor with the Department of Child, Family, and Population Health Nursing, as well as a certified nurse-midwife with the Providence Medical Group, Everett. He serves on the maternal mortality review committee for Washington state, is a deputy editor for the Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health, and is co-editor for the upcoming 7th edition of Varney’s Midwifery.

Kantrowitz-Gordon provides reproductive health care to women at Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett, Washington. He is committed to research that investigates stress in pregnant and postpartum individuals.

As the Lucia S. & Herbert L. Pruzan Endowed Faculty Fellow in Nursing, he plans to support the development and testing of mindfulness-based interventions to reduce stress and symptoms in perinatal populations.

 

Allison Webel, RN, PhD, FAAN has been appointed to an Aljoya Endowed Professorship in Aging.  Dr. Webel is a professor in the Department of Child, Family, and Population Health Nursing and the associate dean for research.

Webel’s program of research focuses on helping adults living with HIV age well. She leads multiple NIH-funded studies investigating physical activity and diet intake, nurse-led interventions to improve blood pressure and cholesterol, and testing how exercise can reduce fatigue and improve physical function among older adults with HIV.

As an Aljoya Endowed Professor in Aging, Dr. Webel will expand her research and examine how to improve sexual health for older adults living with chronic conditions.

 

 

 

Oleg Zaslavsky, PhD, MHA, RN, FAAN, has been appointed to an Aljoya Endowed Professorship in Aging. Dr. Zaslavsky is an associate professor in the Department of Biobehavioral Nursing and Health Informatics.

Zaslavsky has a clinical background in gerontological nursing, focusing on digital interventions for older and vulnerable populations. He has developed and deployed digital tools for both patients and their caregivers, including wearables, mobile, and web-based interventions, with the aim to detect changes in health and prevent medical emergencies.

As an Aljoya Endowed Professor in Aging, Dr. Zaslavsky envisions utilizing the endowment funds for extending and deepening his work in developing innovative technological solutions to support healthy aging among older adults with changes in memory and thinking.