Media contact: Holly Gainer
Macy Stockdill, BSNFor the first time in the School of Nursing’s 70-year history, a student has received a F31 grant from the National Institutes of Health. Macy Stockdill, BSN, a student at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, has received an 18-month, $75,000 F31 grant from the National Institute of Nursing Research for her Ph.D. studies.
The grant provides Stockdill the opportunity to take additional courses, complete her dissertation and work on a research team with her mentors Andres Azuero, Ph.D., Marie Bakitas, DNSc., J. Nick Dionne-Odom, Ph.D., Marie L. O’Koren and Christopher S. Lee, Ph.D.
“I was thrilled to be selected to receive this grant, and to be honest, it’s still sinking in. It takes a lot of work and a lot of time to apply for these grants, and they’re very competitive,” Stockdill said. “I’m excited to be the first person from the UAB School of Nursing to receive this grant, and this opportunity is a testament to my mentor Dr. Marie Bakitas and the strength and growth the UAB School of Nursing has seen in research.”
The F31 fellowship is known as the Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award. It will provide Stockdill supervised research training and support during her Ph.D. program. It also helps her stand out as an early career researcher.
“The first grant is always the hardest, so completing this process and receiving the F31 grant is no small task,” Bakitas said. “This process also allows Macy to expand her network, become a known nurse researcher across the nation, and prepare to write her next career award or grant.”
In her dissertation, Stockdill will complete a secondary analysis of existing data that focused on comprehensive heart care for patients and caregivers to identify symptom pattern trajectories of heart failure patients. The analysis will look at co-occurring symptoms with the goal of developing improved interventions that target multiple symptoms.