USF Nursing Graduate Student, Glenna Brewster, To Attend National Institute on Aging (NIA) Grants Technical Assistance Workshop

University of South Florida College of Nursing graduate student and Graduate Research/Teaching Assistant, Glenna S. Brewster, MS, RN, FNP-BC, has been invited to attend the National Institute on Aging’s (NIA) Grants Technical Assistance Workshop (TAW) on November 13-14, 2012 at the San Diego Marriott Marquis in San Diego, California. Brewster is a BS to PhD student at USF Nursing, and plans to graduate by May 2014.

“I feel that it is a privilege to be selected for attendance to the workshop,” Brewster said. “The workshop will provide me with the insights on the grant application process and discuss how to tailor my grants so that they will be more likely to get funded. Also, it will discuss the focus of the NIA, and I will have the opportunity to network with experts and scholars in the field of aging.”

The workshop’s purpose is to help students and investigators in gerontology and related fields in different stages of their research careers. The two-day workshop sessions and presentations give participants substantial advice about preparing for a research career in aging and in taking the next step toward building an independent research career.

“I am excited to attend this workshop because of the knowledge that I can garner from experts about the grant writing and scientific review process,” Brewster said.

The workshop is being held in association with the Gerontological Society of America’s (GSA) 65th Annual Scientific Meeting. This event, which brings together more than 4,000 experts in the field of aging, will be held immediately after TAW on Nov. 14 through Nov. 18, 2012 in San Diego, California. Brewster will be accompanied at this conference by her mentor, Meredeth A. Rowe, RN, PhD, FGSA, FAAN, USF College of Nursing Professor and Endowed Chair.

Brewster’s goal for the future is to become a funded researcher attached to a level 1 university who still practices in an outpatient setting as a Nurse Practitioner. Her research interest focuses on cognitive function in caregivers of persons with dementia and examining whether sleep and depressive symptoms have an effect on this outcome.