Office of Nursing Research

Penn Nursing is the first school of nursing in the nation with an Office of Nursing Research dedicated to supporting scientific discoveries and translating nursing knowledge into new strategies for advancing healthcare.

Supporting Scientific Discovery

Informing & Shaping Policy

Research produced here at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing is nationally and internationally recognized. Our research, which helps inform and shape policy, is consistently published in a wide range of high-impact, interdisciplinary journals. Penn Nursing’s world-renowned investigators collectively rank near the top of all schools of nursing receiving federal funding.

Providing Comprehensive Services

The Office of Nursing Research (ONR) offers a comprehensive suite of services designed to support faculty and students throughout the life-cycle of a grant. The ONR provides statistical support, conducts mock reviews that result in a high grant award success rate, offers guidance with regulatory compliance, and hosts a state-of-the-art laboratory designed to promote collaboration between faculty and students of all levels and encourage translational research.

The Office of Nursing Research Values

Core Values: Trust, Respect, Integrity, & Purpose

Our goal is for these values to drive our interactions with each other and our constituents. These values govern our approach to provide assistance, share knowledge, and support innovation within an environment of inclusion, diversity and social equity.

Building Robust Funding Sources

Penn Nursing’s robust research portfolio boasts a wide range of funding mechanisms from NIH, AHRQ, CDC, and numerous foundations. Research at the School of Nursing is conducted through school-supported and grant-funded research centers. Faculty and student research efforts are vigorously supported through the ONR and the pilot grant program, major research awards, and the University’s significant resources.

Fostering Collaboration

Dedicated to continually expanding and strengthening Penn Nursing’s community knowledge base, the ONR offers colloquia spotlighting research topics of interest to better inform investigators across all levels of expertise. Additionally, the ONR connects Penn Nursing investigators with a broad network of multidisciplinary research colleagues so they can capitalize on overlapping areas of exploration with partners throughout the Penn community. The ONR also acts as a central liaison to the Perelman School of Medicine’s Biomedical Postdoctoral Program for Penn Nursing’s post-doctoral fellows.

    Research News

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    Fifth Annual Story Slam

    On February 22, 2024, the fifth iteration of the Penn Nursing Nursing Story Slam took to the virtual stage, featuring personal and powerful narratives of nurses from Penn Nursing and Penn Medicine.

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    Penn4C Announces Awardees for Community-led Partnership Grants

    Penn Community Collaboratory for Co-Creation (Penn4C), an initiative led jointly by the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing (Penn Nursing) and the School of Engineering and Applied Science (Penn Engineering), has awarded funding to five new research projects that address social justice through designing and implementing solutions to improve health, well-being, and safety. In addition to the involvement of Penn faculty and students, the projects are required to have active and equitable representation of the community in which the project will be completed.

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    Improving Quality of Life and Sleep in People with Memory Problems Without Using Drugs

    A groundbreaking study from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing (Penn Nursing), recently published in Innovation in Aging, has shown promising results in improving the quality of life (QOL) and sleep quality in individuals living with memory problems. The research delves into the efficacy of a nonpharmacological approach in a trial known as the Healthy Patterns Sleep Program.

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    Penn Collaboratory to Fund Ten New Pilot Studies on Aging

    The Penn Artificial Intelligence and Technology Collaboratory for Healthy Aging (PennAITech) – made up of Penn’s School of Nursing, the Perelman School of Medicine, and other departments across the University – focuses on identifying developing, evaluating, commercializing, and disseminating innovative technology and artificial intelligence methods/software to support aging. This is year two for the collaboratory – made possible through a grant from the National Institute on Aging – and it is providing more than $2.3 M in funding to ten pilot projects.