Our Team
There are eight distinguished faculty members, two staff members and four student graduate assistants working on the Inter-Professional Collaboration for Vulnerable Acute Care Patients: An Academic Service Partnership grant.
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Faculty
Joanna Duffy
Principal Investigator
Dr. Joanne Duffy has over 40 years of nursing experiencing encompassing clinical, administrative, and academic roles. She is currently an Adjunct Professor at the Indiana University School of Nursing in Indianapolis, IN, and the West Virginia University Hospitals Endowed Evidence-based Practice and Research Professor, Interim Associate Dean for Research, and Director of Scholarly Development at West Virginia University in Morgantown, WV. She is also a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing.
Dr. Duffy was the Principal Investigator on the national demonstration project, Relationship-Centered Caring in Acute Care, where the Quality-Caring Model© was evaluated in terms of patient, nurse, and system outcomes and the PI for the Telehomecare and Heart Failure Outcomes project. She has been PI or consultant on numerous additional studies. Currently, Dr. Duffy leads the Leveraging Academic-Service Integration Project and the Jonas Scholar Program at West Virginia University. She was a consultant to the American Nurses Association in the development and implementation of the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators (NDNQI), and the chair of the National League for Nursing’s Nursing Educational Research Advisory Council. She is the recipient of several nursing awards, a frequent guest speaker, and a former Magnet Appraiser.
Aletha Rowlands
Co-Investigator
Dr. Aletha Rowlands is an Assistant Professor at WVU’s School of Nursing. She is a recognized expert in perioperative nursing with publications and presentations. Her research interests include advancing evidence-based care and patient safety in hospital clinical environments. Through her research, Dr. Rowlands has established relationships with hospital nurses where collaboratively they advance evidence-based care. Her current recent research has included identifying risk factors associated with surgical count inaccuracies for patients having surgery and barriers (themes/concepts) in preventing surgical count inaccuracies. Dr. Rowlands is using data to plan future intervention studies to improve surgical safety outcomes. Her recent work, to determine discharge-readiness among patients requiring a tonsillectomy, is an exemplar of her role as an academic scholar. Dr Rowlands teaches evidence-based practice and nursing research to nursing students in the traditional undergraduate program and in the RN to BSN program.
Kari Sand-Jecklin
Co-Investigator
Dr. Kari Sand-Jecklin is the Director of Undergraduate Programs and the interim Associate Dean for Academics at West Virginia University School of Nursing. She earned a BSN from Illinois Wesleyan University, an MSN in Adult Health Nursing from the University of Illinois and an EdD in Educational Psychology from West Virginia University. She is certified in Advanced Holistic Nursing and also as a clinical acupressure practitioner.
Dr. Sand-Jecklin has conducted research in a number of areas, including teaching/learning, health literacy, translational science, and complementary/alternative therapies, publishing the results of the studies. She serves as the “embedded scientist” in the Medical-Surgical EBP team at WV University Hospital and as a research mentor/committee chair for graduate and undergraduate student projects.
Carl Grey
Co-Investigator
Carl Grey is from Culloden, WV. He attended West Virginia University for his Bachelor of Science degree, Medical degree, and residency in Internal Medicine. Upon graduation Dr. Grey moved to New York City where he completed fellowships in Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. He returned to WVU in 2012 as Assistant Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine. He is the Associate Director of the WVU Center for Health Ethics and Law, Co-Director of the WVU School of Medicine Ethics Course, and a member of the West Virginia Network of Ethics Advisory Committee. Dr. Grey spends most of his clinical duties doing Supportive Care inpatient consults, seeing patients in the Supportive Care Clinic in the Cancer Center, and in Geriatrics clinic.
Kevin Tveter
Co-Investigator
Dr. Kevin Tveter is a cardiothoracic surgeon at Ruby Memorial Hospital and an assistant professor at the Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center Clinic and West Virginia University Heart Institute in Morgantown, West Virginia. Dr. Tveter received his MD from the Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Tveter's medical specialties include thoracic and cardiothoracic surgery.
Jon Weltholter
Co-Investigator
Dr. Jon Wietholter is a 2007 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy. After graduation, Jon completed a PGY-1 residency at Pitt County Memorial Hospital (now Vidant Health) which is affiliated with East Carolina University in Greenville, NC. He is currently a Clinical Associate Professor at West Virginia University and an Internal Medicine Clinical Pharmacist at WVU-Healthcare Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, WV where he collaborates with the West Virginia University Internal Medicine department. Dr. Wietholter is involved in many aspects of the West Virginia University School of Pharmacy curriculum with >100 contact hours in courses ranging from Pharmacotherapeutics to Patient Health Education. Additionally, Dr. Wietholter developed and coordinates an International Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience (APPE) in South Africa completed by 4th year WVU pharmacy students. His practice interests cover a broad range of topics within the world of Internal Medicine with a specific interest in healthcare in underserved populations such as South Africa.
David Parker
Evaluator
Dr. David Parker is an associate professor dually appointed in the Department of Epidemiology at the School of Public Health and the Office of Research and Scholarly Activity in the School of Nursing at West Virginia University. He earned a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Epidemiology with a cognate in bio-statics from the Arnold School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina.
Beginning in 1999 at the University of South Carolina, he served in multiple roles, both in administration and in direct services. In 2004, he started the Office of Supportive Housing Services which was an office providing public health based case management services to persons with HIV and other disabling conditions who were homeless or at increased risk of homelessness. In 2008, he became a Research Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the School of Medicine; 2009 the Director of Research for the Department of Internal Medicine; Director of the Office of Supportive Housing Services; and in 2010, a Research Associate with the William Jennings Bryan Down VA Medical Center in Columbia, South Carolina.
Dr. Parker's primary research areas include: Risk engagement related to acquisition of HIV, STIs, TB, and viral hepatitis; inter/national defense and health security; surveillance systems; and access to care by vulnerable populations.
Scott Reeves
Project Consultant
Scott Reeves is a social scientist who has been undertaking health professions education and health services research for over 20 years. He is currently Professor in Interprofessional Research, Centre for Health and Social Care Research, Faculty of Health, Social Care & Education, Kingston and St George’s, University of London. His current academic portfolio also includes working as Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Interprofessional Care and working as the Research Advisor for the Centre for the Advancement of Interprofessional Education.
Originally from the UK, he has spent the last decade in North America, initially in Canada where he was the inaugural Director of Research, Centre for Faculty Development, St Michael’s Hospital. In Canada he also held positions as Senior Scientist, Wilson Centre for Research in Education and was Professor of Psychiatry, University of Toronto. In addition, he was appointed the inaugural Evaluation Director, Canadian Interprofessional Health Collaborative. Moving then to the USA, he was appointed as the Founding Director, Center for Innovation in Interprofessional Education as well as Professor of Social & Behavioral Sciences and Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.
His main interests are focused on developing conceptual, empirical and theoretical knowledge to inform the design and implementation of interprofessional education and practice activities. To date, he has received over $20m in grant capture from a range of funding bodies across the world. He has published over 250 peer-reviewed papers, book chapters, textbooks, editorials and monographs. Many of his publications have been translated from English into other languages including French, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Norwegian and Russian.
He has made a number of editorial contributions, editing for the BMJ, Journal of Continuing Education for the Health Professions and BMC Medical Education. He is working as a co-editor for a series of interprofessional textbooks exploring different elements of interprofessional education and practice for Taylor and Francis. He is also an editorial adviser for a series of interprofessional education books for Kyodo Isho Publishers, Japan.
He also holds/has held honorary faculty positions in a number of institutions around the world, including, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden; Dalhousie University, Canada; Tokyo Metropolitan University, Japan; Queen Mary University of London, UK and Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, Canada.
He has a long history of national and international committee work, including appointments to the Advisory Committee, National US Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education, Board of Directors, American Interprofessional Health Collaborative and Global Health Professions Education Forum, Institute of Medicine. He also previously worked on committees for the American Association of Colleges of Nursing and Association of American Medical Colleges, Canadian Health Services Research Foundation; Ministry of Health and Long Term Care, Canada and the Department of Health, UK.
He has also received a number of awards for his interprofessional teaching and mentorship, including the Interprofessional Education Mentorship Award from the National Health Sciences Student Association, the Ted Freedman Innovation in Education Award from the Ontario Hospital Association, and the Mentorship Award from the Wilson Centre for Research in Education, University of Toronto, Canada.
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Staff
Amanda Backus
Project Manager
Amanda Backus assumed the role of Project Manager at the West Virginia University Research Corporation supporting the West Virginia University School of Nursing’s HRSA (Health Resources and Services Administration) grant: “Inter-professional Collaboration for Vulnerable Acute Care Patients: An Academic-Service Partnership” in August, 2015. She has over 5 years of project management experience encompassing hospital, multi-specialty clinic, academic and research environments. Amanda received her Master in Health Administration from the Medical University of South Carolina, where she is an Inter-professional Education Fellow; and her Bachelor of Science in Athletic Training from Marquette University. She is also a Certified Associate in Project Management from the Project Management Institute.
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Graduate Assistants
Catessa Howard
Research
Catessa Howard is from Peterstown, WV and a current third year pharmacy student at the West Virginia University School of Pharmacy. Ms. Howard obtained a bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Sciences from Marshall University in 2013.
Brynn Johnson
Research
Brynn Johnson is from Hopewell, West Virginia and a current third year pharmacy student at the West Virginia University School of Pharmacy. Ms. Johnson obtained a bachelor's degree in Pre-Professional Biology from Concord University in 2009. Brynn currently holds a leadership position in the American Pharmacists Association- Academy of Student Pharmacists as Operation Heart Co-Chair and is a member of the Phi Lambda Sigma Leadership Society.
Racheal Sween
Research
Racheal Sween is from Martinsburg, WV and a current graduate student studying to become a family nurse practitioner. Ms. Sween obtained a bachelor's degree in Nursing from West Virginia University in 2013. Ms. Sween has worked as a registered nurse at United Hospital Center in Bridgeport, West Virginia specializing in oncology and currently works at Monongalia General Hospital specializing in oncology and wound care.
Jack DeVault
Technology and Communications
Jack DeVault is from Fairmont, West Virginia and is currently a senior at the West Virginia University Reed College of Media. Mr. DeVault has worked as an information technology assistant at Steptoe and Johnson PLLC as well as a communications intern for the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Morgantown. In addition to working as a technology and communications graduate assistant, Jack currently works as a disc-jockey for West Virginia University athletics and the West Virginia Black Bears baseball team.