Both our history and our ongoing attention to research infrastructure position us well to prepare future nurse scientists in an active interdisciplinary research environment. The history of research conducted by nursing faculty members at Wayne State University College of Nursing began formally with the establishment nearly four decades ago of the Center for Health Research (CHR). The CHR was established under the leadership of Harriet Werley. From its initiation the CHR has affiliated with scientists prepared in related disciplines who were members of departmental faculties and of Centers and Institutes at WSU. In addition to Dr. Werley, several outstanding WSU scholars have contributed to the body of scientific knowledge that has accrued during nursing's establishment of itself as a scientific discipline. Some of these leading scientists include previous CHR Directors: Jean E. Johnson, Joyce Fitzpatrick, Madeleine Leininger, Fredricka Shea, Darlene Mood, and Ada Jacox.
Beginning in 2003, the CHR formalized across-discipline relationships by establishing a Collaborating Scholar Awards Program (CSAP) for colleagues in related disciplines whose programs of research overlap conceptually with aspects of self-care and caregiving in the urban environment. Through these efforts, junior faculty are developing programs of study focused on perceived racism, internet use for health education in the urban environment, and self-management of chronic mental illness.
Since 2003, over 25 interdisciplinary teams of campus researchers have been established by the University to push forward the frontier regarding urban health research. Both basic and applied research ideas for improving healthcare in the 21st Century have been identified. Two of these teams are led by senior CON faculty. One team, networking with ACCESS and Children's Hospital of Michigan, has focused on the effects of cumulative trauma on children's health. The second team, networking with the Michigan Commission for Urban African American Aging Research (MCUAAAR) at the Institute of Gerontology (IOG), has focused on the health of older homeless women in the urban environment. These two nurse-led campus research teams are supported by the WSU President's Research Enhancement Award (PREA). These emerging programs of across-discipline research are part of WSU's development of a NIH Clinical and Translational Science (CTS) Center application currently under joint development by the School of Medicine, College of Nursing, College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, and College of Science at WSU. This initiative is funded by a NIH CTS Planning Grant Award received by the University in 2006. The CON CSAP, the WSU PREA program, and CTS collaboration are positioning WSU CON to increase the amount of external grant monies and remain a nationally-recognized, highly research-productive nursing school during the next decade.
