News Release

December 13, 2010

UNC Institute on Aging Announces Winners of the Gordon H. DeFriese Career Development in Aging Research Awards

The UNC Institute on Aging is pleased to announce the 2010 winners of the Gordon H. DeFriese Career Development in Aging Research Awards. These annual awards honor Dr. DeFriese's thirty-year distinguished career in the conduct and development of research to improve the quality of lives of older North Carolinians, and especially his unwavering commitment to developing and supporting the careers of his colleagues. One junior faculty/staff member and two doctoral students from UNC Chapel Hill who demonstrate commitment to and outstanding promise in aging research will receive this year's DeFriese awards. Each award is in the form of an account established in the recipient's home department to support his or her research activities.

Anna Song Beeber PhD, RN, is this year's recipient of the $5,000 faculty award. Dr. Beeber is an assistant professor at the UNC-CH School of Nursing, and Research Fellow at the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research. Dr. Beeber received a BSN from Hartwick College, and a MSN (Adult and Geriatric Nurse Practitioner Programs) and PhD from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. Her doctoral work focused on the process of enrollment in the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) from the perspective of patients, families, and staff (funded by the John A. Hartford Foundation Building Academic Geriatric Nursing Capacity Scholars Program and AHRQ). Dr. Beeber completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Nursing, funded by the NINR Healthcare Quality and Patient Outcomes T32 and the John A. Hartford Foundation Building Academic Geriatric Nursing Capacity Fellowship program. Dr. Beeber is currently funded by The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health Institutional K12 Program (BIRCWH) to conduct various projects examining and improving the quality of care in the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly and residential care/assisted living. In addition to advising undergraduate and master's level nursing students interested in gerontological nursing, Dr. Beeber directs a new required course for the School of Nursing's MSN Programs, N 686 - Advanced Concepts in the Clinical Care of Older Adults. Dr. Beeber serves older adults at a local and national level by working with organizations such as Piedmont Health Services Senior Care, the Orange County Department of Aging and Wellness, and the National PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) Association Virtual Ethics Committee. She plans to use her award to support a research assistant to further her research.

The two doctoral student winners this year receiving $2,500 each are Ashley Leak, UNC-CH School of Nursing, and Tiffany Washington, UNC-CH School of Social Work. Ashley Leak's research and career interests involve working with aging adults with cancer. She received both her BSN and MSN at UNC Greensboro, and will graduate with her PhD in Nursing in May 2011. Ms. Leak's selection for both an Institutional National Research Service Award (NRSA) Predoctoral Fellowship for 2007-2009 and a John A. Hartford Building Academic Geriatric Nursing Capacity (BAGNC) Scholar for 2009-2011 has funded her four years of doctoral training. Her dissertation research is a secondary data analysis focused on testing a Cancer Survivor Adaptation model with older non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) patients and to identify factors that moderate or mediate their quality of life. Ms. Leak's long term goal is to develop a program of research focused on complex problems of older adults with cancer. She is currently enrolled in the UNC Interdisciplinary Certificate in Aging and will receive this certificate upon graduation. Ms. Leak was recently selected as a member of the American Nurses Credentialing Center as a Content Expert Panel for Gerontological Nurses for a 4 year term. Upon completion of her PhD in 2011, Ms. Leak will pursue post doctoral training and plans a career as a gero-oncology nurse scientist.

Tiffany Washington obtained her B.A. in Communication Studies at UNC Chapel Hill and her M.S.W. at both North Carolina A&T University and UNC Greensboro. She is currently working on obtaining her PhD in social work at UNC Chapel Hill where she is a predoctoral fellow in the Carolina Program in Health and Aging Research (CPHAR). Ms. Washington's research interests include disease self-management among older adults with chronic kidney disease, influence of family and social support on older adult chronic illness self-management, older adult perceived health competence, and illness perceptions. She teaches an undergraduate service-learning course and incorporates aging-related content throughout the semester. Ms. Washington has held assistantships at both the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research and the Center for Aging Research and Educational Guidance. She has fulfilled three aging fellowships: the Hartford Pre-Dissertation fellowship, the Summer Training on Aging Research Topics in Mental Health fellowship, and the Summer Training Workshop on African American Aging Research fellowship, all which have helped her form a footing for aging research. Ms. Washington has several manuscripts in development and holds membership in many associations, including AGESW, GSA, and CNSW. She intends to use her award to support her dissertation research and data collection.