USF Nursing’s Dr. Meredeth Rowe to Mentor USF Public Health Student During NIH Diversity Supplement R01 Project

University of South Florida College of Nursing Professor and Endowed Chair, Meredeth A. Rowe, RN, PhD, FGSA, FAAN, will mentor undergraduate USF College Public Health student, Milora Morley, during her National Institute of Health (NIH) Diversity Supplement R01 project. Morley received a total of $10,000 in funds to complete the project for two semesters, spring and summer 2013.

Dr. Rowe, who is a leading nurse scientist in dementia and Alzheimer’s research, will mentor Morley in two different research projects including the effects of dementia on caregivers and biomarkers for heart disease, and missing incidents in children with autism.

“In order to solve the problems that informal caregivers will face over the next generation (older adults, less relative caregivers available, greater distances between them, poorer health when becoming a caregiver), we need many young talented researchers,” Dr. Rowe said. “This was an opportunity to expose a budding scientist to these issues and recruit her as a future researcher in the field.”

Morley found out about Dr. Rowe and her research projects through a NIH Reporter research database that she discovered during an internship at John Hopkins University and the Kennedy Krieger Institute in summer 2012. She said she saw Dr. Rowe’s name while researching topics she was interested in at USF.

“Dr. Rowe was listed as the Principal Investigator of various dementia and autism research, so I contacted her in June of 2012 and scheduled an appointment to meet when I would return to Tampa in August 2012,” Morley said.  “From the time that we met, I was beyond interested in her projects and felt that I would be able to learn so much from her. I was excited to take this opportunity and it was at that time she suggested applying for the NIH diversity supplement and I gladly accepted.”

According to Dr. Rowe, Morley will help the USF Nursing caregiver lab team understand more about the genetics of stress, and present studies that she finds to the bi-weekly team meetings. These projects will be completed in the College’s caregiving lab.

“On a daily basis, there are high levels of depression, poor sleep and high levels of stress,” Dr. Rowe said. “With the gray tsunami on our doorstep, we must find solutions to these issues.  Training new young researchers is a critical linchpin in devising these solutions and I am very pleased to work with undergraduate students with the brightest minds and clever intellects that USF attracts. Hopefully undergraduate nursing students will become interested in these opportunities as well. Congratulations to Ms. Morley as she has overcome amazing challenges and odds to chart her path with incredible potential to succeed.”

Dr. Rowe is nationally known for her work with people with cognitive impairment including Alzheimer’s disease or autism, and their caregivers. Her work about the caregiving challenges has led to the development of the AlzAlert™ monitoring system, which can be used to manage nighttime activity, reducing injuries and giving the caregiver peace of mind. Law enforcement agencies across the United States guide their searches for lost persons with Alzheimer’s disease based on her research in this area.

Morley said she is extremely excited about this opportunity, and cannot wait to start researching in the Nursing lab under Dr. Rowe’s mentorship.

“This award is of more than monetary value to me,” Morley said. “Right now, it is an open door leading to many opportunities for me. These opportunities include showing graduate schools that I am a deserving candidate and hard worker. I am also hoping that this will lead to gaining more research funding for the future.”