Arlene Smaldone, PhD, MA, BS, PNP-PC, CDCES

  • Professor of Nursing (in Dental Behavioral Sciences) (in Dental Medicine) at CUMC
Profile Headshot

Overview

Dr. Smaldone is a nurse scientist whose research involves behavioral interventions to improve self-management of youth and adults with chronic health conditions. She is a pediatric nurse practitioner and certified diabetes educator. She received a bachelors degree in nursing from Hunter College-Bellevue School of Nursing, a masters degree in nursing education from New York University, a post masters pediatric nurse practitioner certificate from Stony Brook University and a PhD in nursing from Columbia University School of Nursing. She completed Postdoctoral training in behavioral research at the Joslin Diabetes Center and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Smaldone is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and the New York Academy of Medicine.

Academic Appointments

  • Professor of Nursing (in Dental Behavioral Sciences) (in Dental Medicine) at CUMC

Administrative Titles

  • Assistant Dean, Scholarship & Research
  • Director, PhD Program

Gender

  • Female

Credentials & Experience

Education & Training

  • BS, 1970 Nursing, Hunter Bellevue School of Nursing
  • MA, 1975 Nursing, New York University
  • PhD, 2003 Nursing, Columbia University
  • Fellowship: 2005 Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA

Committees, Societies, Councils

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2019-Present American Nurses Association

2015-Present Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science

2010-Present New York Academy of Medicine; Section on Evidence Based Health Care, co-Chair of section 2013-Present

2010: Scientific Sessions Meeting Planning Committee, American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions for 2011-2012 Scientific Sessions

2008-Present: Pediatric Nursing Certification Board Primary Care Self Assessment Examination Committee

2003-Present: American Diabetes Association

2002-Present: Eastern Nursing Research Society, 2007-2013 Treasurer and Board of Directors

2002-Present: Academy Health

1994-Present: American Association of Diabetes Educators

1970-Present: Sigma Theta Tau, Alpha Phi and Kappa Gamma chapters; Alpha Zeta chapter President 2011-2016; Treasurer 2016-Present

Honors & Awards

2019: Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing

2019: Hunter College Hall of Fame

2013: Dean's Distinguished Scholarship Award, Columbia University School of Nursing

2010: Elected Fellow, New York Academy of Medicine

2007: Elected Fellow, Glenda Garvey Teaching Academy, Columbia University Medical Center

2005: Julia Wright Grady Research Award, Joslin Diabetes Center, Boston, MA

2005: American Association of Diabetes Educators Sigma Theta Tau research award

2003: Dissertation Excellence Award, Columbia University School of Nursing

Research

Dr. Smaldone's research centers on self-management of youth and adults with chronic health conditions. Her current research projects are funded by NINR and NIDDK. A recently completed project was funded by NINR.

Her current research support is listed below:

R01 NR017206-01 Green, Smaldone (Multiple PIs) 09/26/2017-06/30/2021 NIH/NINR Hydroxyurea Adherence for Personal Best in Sickle Cell Treatment: HABIT. The goal of the proposed research is to test the efficacy of a community health worker intervention augmented by personalized, cue based text message reminders, compared to standard treatment to improve developmentally appropriate self-management of a daily hydroxyurea habit; Role: Co-Principal Investigator

P30 NR016587 Bakken, Smaldone (Multiple PIs) 1/16/2019 – 05/31/2021 NIH/NINR Precision in Symptom Self-Management (PriSSM) Center; The goal of the Precision in Symptom Self-Management (PriSSM) Center is to advance the science of symptom self-management for the Latino population through a social ecological lens that takes into account variability in individual, interpersonal, organizational, and environmental factors across the life course; Role: Co-Principal Investigator, Director, Pilot Core

1R01DK113189-01A1 Mamykina (PI) 04/01/19-03/31/24 NIH/NIDDK Dynamically tailoring interventions for problem -solving in diabetes self-management using self-monitoring data-a randomized controlled trial. In this project, we will evaluate the efficacy of a novel approach to tailoring behavioral interventions for self-management of type 2 diabetes to individuals’ behavioral and glycemic profiles discovered using computational learning and self-monitoring data; Role: Co-Investigator

1 F31 NR0187779 Zheng (PI) 09/01/19-08/31/20 NIH/NINR Developmental Assets in Adolescents with Chronic Illness and Co-morbid Depression; Role: Faculty Mentor

T32 NR007969-16 Bakken (PI) 7/1/17-6/30/22 NIH/NINR Reducing Health Disparities Through Informatics This Institutional training grant provides stipend and tuition support for 4 pre-doctoral and 3 post-doctoral fellows annually to receive expert training in the conduct of interdisciplinary research using informatics and precision medicine approaches to advance health equity and facilitate evidence-based practice in underserved populations. Role: Faculty mentor and dissertation sponsor of predoctoral fellow Elizabeth Heitkemper

G08 LM012689-01 Kukafka (PI) 9/1/17-8/31/20 NLM Conexion: A localized information resource for a low-income Hispanic community. The purpose of this project is to develop, disseminate, and evaluate two novel, contextualized “Conexion” health information resources for a low-income Hispanic population, building on an existing community-engaged health informatics platform GetHealthyHeights.org (GHH); Role: Diabetes expert

Robert Wood Johnson Future of Nursing Scholars Smaldone (PI) 2017-2020 $150,000

Robert Wood Johnson Future of Nursing Scholars Smaldone (PI) 2018-2021 $150,000

Jonas Center for Nursing and Veterans Healthcare Smaldone (PI) 2018-2020 $100,000

Research Interests

  • Chronic health conditions in childhood, particular emphasis on children and families with diabetes
  • Secondary analysis of large data sets to answer research questions
  • Use of technology in diabetes care and education

Selected Publications

Smaldone, A, Manwani, D, Aygun, B, Smith-Whitley, K, Jia, H, Bruzzese, JM, Findley, S, Massei, J, Green, NS. HABIT efficacy and sustainability trial, a multi-center randomized controlled trial to improve hydroxyurea adherence in youth with sickle cell disease: a study protocol, BMC Pediatrics, 2019 Oct 15; 19:354. doi: 10.1186/s12887-019-1746-6.

Zheng, K, Bruzzese, JM, Smaldone, A. Illness acceptance in adolescents with chronic health conditions: A concept analysis, Nursing Forum, 2019 Jul 16. doi: 10.1111/nuf.12368. [Epub ahead of print].

Smaldone, A, Heitkemper, E, Jackman, K, Woo, K, Kelson, J. Dissemination of PhD dissertation research by dissertation format: A retrospective cohort study, Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 2019 Jul 16. doi: 1111/jnu.12504 [Epub ahead of print].

Smaldone, A, Manwani, D, Green, NS. Greater number of perceived barriers to hydroxyurea associated with poorer health related quality of life in youth with sickle cell disease, Pediatric Blood & Cancer, 2019 2019 Jul;66(7):e27740. doi: 10.1002/pbc.27740. Epub 2019 Apr 2.

Kulage, KM, Goldberg, J, Usseglio, J, Romero, D, Bain, JM, Smaldone, AM. How has DSM-5 affected autism diagnosis? A five-year follow-up systematic literature review and meta-analysis, Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-03967-5.

LaCross, A, Angelson, A, Smaldone, A. Ambivalence toward pregnancy as an indicator for contraceptive nonuse: a systematic review and meta-analysis, Journal of Midwifery & Women's Health, 2019, 64:385-394. doi: 10.1111/jmwh.12969.

Witt, MA, McGaughan,K, Smaldone, A. Standardized patients improves students' mental health assessment and communication competencies, Clinical Simulation in Nursing, 2018; 23:16-20.¶

Handschuh, C, LaCross, A, Smaldone, A. Is sexting associated with sexual behaviors during adolescence? A systematic literature review and meta-analysis, Journal of Midwifery & Women's Health, 06 December 2018, https://doi.org/10.1111/jmwh.12923.

Shirazian, S, Smaldone, A, Rao, MK, Silberzweig, J, Jacobson, A, Fazzari, M, Weinger, K. A protocol for a pilot randomized controlled trial to assess the feasibility and effect of a cognitive behavioral intervention on quality of life for patients on hemodialysis, Contemporary Clinical Trials, 2018 Oct;73:51-60. doi: 10.1016/j.cct.2018.08.012. Epub 2018 Aug 29.

Feller, DJ, Levine, M, Burgermaster, M, Smaldone, A, Davidson, PG, Albers, DJ, Mamykina, L. A visual analytics approach for pattern-recognition in patient-generated data, Journal of the American Informatics Association, doi: 10.1093/jamia/ocy054. [Epub ahead of print].

Smaldone, A, Findley, S, Manwani, D, Jia, H, Green, NS. HABIT, a feasibility trial to improve hydroxyurea adherence, suggests improved health related quality of life in youth with sickle cell disease, The Journal of Pediatrics, 197:177-185.

Stonbraker, SL, Smaldone, A, Luft, HS, Cushman, LF, Lerebours Nadal, L, Halpern, M, Larson, E. Associations between health literacy, HIV-related knowledge, and information behavior among persons living with HIV in the Dominican Republic, Public Health Nursing, doi: 10.1111/phn.12382. [Epub ahead of print].

Choi, JY, Smaldone, A. Factors associated with medication adherence among older adults with diabetes: Systematic review and meta-analysis, The Diabetes Educator, 2018; 44:15-30.

Heitkemper, EM, Mamykina, L, Cassells, A, Tobin, J, Smaldone, A. Baseline Characteristics and Technology Training of Underserved Adults with Type 2 Diabetes in the Mobile Diabetes Detective (MoDD) Randomized Controlled Trial, The Diabetes Educator, 2017 doi: 10.1177/0145721717737367.

Mamykina, L, Heitkemper, EM, Smaldone, AM, Kukafka, R, Cole-Lewis, H, Davidson, P, Mynatt, ED, Tobin, JN, Cassells, A. Personal discovery in diabetes self-management: Discovering cause and effect using self-monitoring data, Journal of Biomedical Informatics, 2017 Sep 30. pii: S1532-0464(17)30217-4. doi: 10.1016/j.jbi.2017.09.013.

Green, NS, Manwani, D, MD, Matos, S, Hicks, A, Soto, L, Castillo, Y, Ireland, K, Stennett, Y, Findley, S, Jia, H, Smaldone, A. Randomized feasibility trial to improve hydroxyurea adherence in youth ages 10-18 years through community health workers: The HABIT study, Pediatric Blood & Cancer, 2017; doi: 10.1002/pbc.26689. Epub 2017 Jun 23.

Schroeder, K, Wang, CL, Jia, H., Smaldone, A. Implementation of a school nurse-led intervention for children with severe obesity in New York City schools, Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 2017; 35:16-22.

Heitkemper, E, Mamykina, L, Travers, J, Smaldone, A. Do health information technology self-management interventions improve glycemic control in medically underserved adults with diabetes? A systematic review and meta-analysis, Journal of the American Informatics Association, 2017 Mar 31. doi: 10.1093/jamia/ocx025. [Epub ahead of print].

Aliyu, S., Smaldone, A, Larson, EL. Prevalence of multidrug resistant-gram negative bacteria among nursing home residents: A systematic review and meta-analysis, American Journal of Infection Control, 2017 May 1;45(5):512-518. doi: 10.1016/j.ajic.2017.01.022.

Schroeder, K, Smaldone, A. What barriers and facilitators do school nurses experience when implementing an obesity intervention? The Journal of School Nursing, 2017; 33:456-466.

Schultz, A., & Smaldone, A. Components of interventions that improve transition to adult care for adolescents with type 1 diabetes, Journal of Adolescent Health, 2017; 60(2), 133-146.

Choi, YJ, Jia, H, Gross, T, Weinger, K, Stone, P, Smaldone, A. The impact of Medicare Part D on the proportion of out-of-pocket prescription drug costs among older adults with diabetes, Diabetes Care, 2016 Nov1. pii: dc160902 [Epub ahead of print].