Nursing Names Martsolf Associate Dean of Research and Translation

Donna Martsolf, PhD, has been named the new associate dean of research and translation at the UC College of Nursing. She comes to the position from Kent State University, where she served as a faculty member from 1993-2011.

What brought you to UC?
"I came to UC to join the new dean, Greer Glazer, as a member of her administrative team. Dr. Glazer and I were faculty colleagues at Kent State University in the 1990s."

What types of research are particular to nursing?
"The research questions of particular interest to nursing are those that deal with the responses of people, at all stages of development, to illness and to promotion of their health. We are especially interested in developing and testing nursing interventions that assist people to attain and maintain their highest possible level of health. Nurses encounter people in a wide variety of settings so the range of possible areas of research interest for nurses is quite diverse."

Do you have a particular area of interest—professional or personal—that you think needs more research? 
"My area of research interest is interpersonal violence and health outcomes. I have studied how people recover from sexual violence experienced at any point in the lifespan. I have also investigated the relationship between childhood abuse and maltreatment and adult health both in the U.S. and Haiti, where I was a Fulbright Scholar. Most recently, I have examined teen dating violence in order to more clearly understand how it begins, unfolds and ends."

What kinds of research is the College of Nursing involved in now?
"Research at the College of Nursing is diverse and expanding. We have faculty investigating many areas including violence prevention, addictions, health disparities, teaching/learning and changing health behaviors."

What is your vision for research at the college?
"I can say that we will be aggressively working to advance our visibility both at the university and nationally through significantly increasing the numbers of externally funded grants and the research dollars associated with them. We will both continue and expand our focus on conducting research that impacts the daily lives of people by working with them to improve their health."
 
Will you also be conducting nursing research here? 
"Yes. I am hoping to continue a line of research which I had started last year. Our research team conducted a feasibility study to determine whether motivational interviewing and mentoring could be used to prevent teen dating violence for teens sheltered with their mothers at a battered women's shelter. I would like to move that project forward here."