Join us as we discuss nursing research in the era of COVID-19. Dr. Kelly Wierenga and Dr. Scott Emory Moore will be discussing a new project that they have developed and their experience launching a new study about behavioral outcomes related to social distancing during the pandemic. 

Dr. Kelly Wierenga is an assistant professor of nursing at Indiana University. Her program of research focuses on improving self-management behaviors and secondary prevention for patients recovery following a major adverse cardiac event. Her research interests lie in how improving abilities to adaptively regulate emotions during a stressful period of recovery can improve symptoms of emotional distress in these individuals. These improvements in psychological symptoms paired with traditional recovery efforts may increase the uptake and sustaining of healthy self-management behaviors long-term. She has developed a treatment using mechanisms of emotion regulation to support recovery in the cardiovascular rehabilitation population. This treatment has demonstrated early efficacy in a small pilot sample and is continuing to be refined by her team.  Dr. Wierenga has been funded as a principle investigator, co-investigator, and trainee through foundation and NIH funded projects. She has published and presented work related to cardiovascular health, health disparities, illness perceptions, symptoms of psychological distress, self-management behaviors, emotion regulation, and intervention development.

Scott Emory Moore, Ph.D., APRN, AGPCNP-BC, is an assistant professor at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University. Dr. Moore’s program of research and scholarship focuses on improving quality of life and aging outcomes among marginalized populations particularly sexual and gender minorities and people living with HIV. His clinical background as a Registered Nurse and an Adult-Gerontological Primary Care Nurse Practitioner (AGPCNP) has included serving a range of vulnerable populations in rural and urban community settings for both acute and chronic care needs. His research and practice has focused on providing affirming care for sexual and gender minority adults and other marginalized populations with a specific focus on aging and the psychosocial and behavioral factors that influence health outcomes. Dr. Moore has been PI and Co-PI on foundation and NIH funded projects, and published and presented work related to mHealth, aging, sex-based differences, sexual and gender minority populations, symptoms, biomarkers, HIV, behavioral economics, and decision making.