Leanne L. Lefler of UAMS Receives National Research and Study Award in Geriatric Nursing
| LITTLE ROCK – Leanne L. Lefler, M.S.N., assistant clinical professor at the Lefler of Conway was selected as one of 13 pre-doctoral and eight post-doctoral scholars through a national competition as part of the John A. Hartford Foundation’s Building Academic Geriatric Nursing Capacity Scholar program. The program funds five Centers of Geriatric Nursing Excellence, including one at UAMS. It also established seven additional university-based investment projects and provides scholarships for geriatric nursing education, leadership, research and best practice models. “These Scholars will educate and guide nursing students who will be prepared to provide the best quality of care for generations to come,” said program director Claire M. Fagin, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N. Lefler, whose award is for $64,332, received a master’s degree in nursing from the University of Central Arkansas in Conway and is completing her Ph.D. at UAMS with emphasis on prevention of disabilities in older women with cardiac disease. Her mentors at UAMS are Elaine Souder, Ph.D., and Jean McSweeney, Ph.D., leading experts in gerontology and heart disease, respectively. Lefler is the daughter of Estella Conatser of Russellville and the late Robert E. Conatser. She plans to direct research in the The Foundation has invested more than $9.28 million in scholarships for nurses through this program, which began in 2000. For more information about the program and a PDF file of the 2005 Scholar Applications, go to www.geriatricnursing.org or call (202) 651-7242 or contact UAMS Hartford Project Director Sandie Lubin, MA, RN, at (501) 686-7984 or LubinSandraA@uams.edu.