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Columbia Nursing Welcomes Two New Research Faculty

Jacquelyn Taylor, PhD, RN, PNP-BC, FAHA, FAAN

On March 1, Columbia Nursing welcomed Jacquelyn Taylor, PhD, RN, PNP-BC, FAHA, FAAN as Professor of Nursing.

Taylor joins Columbia from New York University Rory Meyers College of Nursing where she was a professor of nursing, medicine, and population health and the inaugural Vernice D. Ferguson Professor in Health Equity.  Her research focuses on the interaction of omics and social factors that contribute to health disparities for common chronic conditions among underrepresented minority populations in the United States and vulnerable populations abroad. Her R01 "Intergenerational Impact of Genetic and Psychological Factors on Blood Pressure" examined the gene-environment and DNAm-environment interactions of perceived racism and discrimination, parenting stress, and maternal mental health on blood pressure on African American mothers and their young children.

Taylor was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2019, with new members being elected based on the recognition that these scientists have made major contributions to the advancement of the medical sciences, health care, and public health. Taylor was also honored with the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) by President Barack Obama in 2017, the highest honor awarded by the federal government to scientists and engineers.  With her PECASE project she is examining next-generation sequencing-environment interactions on blood pressure among African Americans.  Additionally, Taylor is co-PI and co-director of the administrative core of a NINR-funded P20 Exploratory Center on Precision Health in Diverse Populations. Her long-term goals are to develop nursing interventions to reduce and prevent omic-environment risks associated with health disparities in diverse populations across the lifespan.

Prior to joining the faculty at NYU, Taylor was an associate professor and associate dean of diversity and inclusion at the Yale School of Nursing.

Gregory Alexander, PhD, RN, FAAN, FACMI

Also on March 1, Columbia Nursing welcomed Gregory Alexander, PhD, RN, FAAN, FACMI as Professor of Nursing.  He joins us from the University of Missouri Sinclair School of Nursing, where he served as Associate Dean for Research and held the Potter-Brinton Endowed Professorship.

Alexander is an internationally recognized nursing informaticist and clinical expert with more than 25 years of research and clinical practice leadership.  His program of research is focused on technologies used to support patient care delivery, with an emphasis on aging populations.  He leads an AHRQ-funded R01 to benchmark national trends in information technology adoption and the impact on quality measures in nursing homes.  As a Fulbright U.S. Scholar in 2017, he worked with an Australian research team to investigate IT use as it related to resident care, clinical support, and quality measures in a sample of nursing homes in New South Wales.

Alexander’s book, An Introduction to Clinical Health Information Technology for Long Term/Post-Acute Care (LTPAC) Settings, shows how research identifies and promotes evidence toward new models of care, including technology implementation trends and safety and quality impacts for long-term and post-acute settings.