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| Vol. 22, No. 20 |
| November 1, 2000 |
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Nurse Researcher Enters Genetics Research Field By PAMELA LEWIS The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
Dr. Lorraine Frazier, a postdoctoral fellow at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston's Schools of Public Health and Nursing is stepping into the world of genetics research. Dr. Patricia L. Starck, dean of the nursing school, couldn't be prouder. "Dr. Frazier is one of our first D.S.N. (doctor of science in nursing) graduates. We believe she is a model for the future-nurses who combine basic science with clinical research to unlock mysteries that affect patients and then translate that knowledge into improving the health of individuals and populations," says Dr. Starck. With her fellowship from the National Institutes of Nursing Research (NINR) of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Frazier is filling in the missing link, so to speak, of the NINR-funded research in risk factors for hypertension in adults 50 and older that she undertook during her doctoral studies at the nursing school. The theme of her dissertation was "Factors Influencing Blood Pressure: Development of a Risk Model." Her article with this title was published in the September issue of the Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing. "After studying the effects of lifestyle, response to the environment and physiology in this population, it was obvious that genetics was the next piece I needed to examine,"said Dr. Frazier. "I was a nurse without any genetic background and I needed to expand and deepen my knowledge base to get prepared to do that kind of work." Luckily, she discovered that this is a great time for mid-career nurses who want to make the transition into genetics research. Dr. Frazier learned that a summer genetics institute was being offered by NINR. It was specifically aimed at nurse researchers interested in incorporating genetics in their research. She applied and was accepted into the eight-week intensive institute in Washington, D.C. Her summer "vacation" was spent taking classes on the ethical dimensions of biomedicine, the design and analysis of clinical trials, the molecular and cellular applications of human genetics and lots of hands-on labs. While at the genetics institute, she learned that her post-doctoral training fellowship had been funded. "There is no way I could have made this transition without the knowledge I gained at the summer institute. This was not just extending knowledge I already had. Genetics is a whole new way of thinking and uses an entirely new language," says Dr. Frazier. Now, she's focusing on the "Pharmacogenomics of Human Hypertension" in laboratories at the Institute for Molecular Medicine (IMM) and SPH. Her guide at IMM and the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences is Dr. Eric Boerwinkle, director of the Research Center for Human Genetics at the IMM and the Human Genetics Center at SPH. Dr. Boerwinkle also is a professor of biological sciences at the School of Public Health. Dr. Frazier's mentor at the School of Nursing is Dr. Janet Meininger. Dr. Frazier is part of a team of SON nurse researchers, including Dr. Meininger and Dr. Patricia Liehr, who study blood pressure across the age spectrum. Dr. Meininger, also Dr. Frazier's post-doctoral co-sponsor, will provide consultation as Dr. Frazier integrates biological and nursing sciences and continues to develop her program of research. Dr. Meininger's research on cardiovascular risk reduction over the life span includes a twin-family study. Thus she brings an understanding of the interplay between the genetic and environmental origins of risk for cardiovascular diseases. "Hypertension affects more than 50 million Americans, many of whom have not been diagnosed or successfully treated. Understanding the role of genetic factors in hypertension will revolutionize our ability to prevent and effectively manage this widespread problem," said Dr. Meininger. "Knowledgeable practitioners and clinical researchers will be required to successfully apply rapidly expanding knowledge of human genetics. With this project, which is jointly sponsored by NINR and the National Human Genome Research Institute, Dr. Frazier will broaden the interdisciplinary base for future research and clinical practice on the prevention and treatment of hypertension." In her postdoctoral research, Dr. Frazier is a studying and training with a team of researchers investigating drug response data of 40,000 blood samples that are part of the antihypertensive and lipid-lowering treatment to prevent heart attack trial (ALLHAT). The ALLHAT study, coordinated by Dr. Barry Davis at the UT-Houston School of Public Health, is being undertaken to see if there is a genetic component to response to blood pressure medication. Her fellowship also includes an ethical component to enable nursing to have a voice in influencing future policy making in the area. Dr. Boerwinkle is enthusiastic about Dr. Frazier bringing the nursing bias of providing better outcomes for patients to genetics research at the Health Science Center. "As more and more nurses study human genetics, there is a greater hope of translating that knowledge into changes in clinical practice. It is imperative for all health care providers to be knowledgeable in genetics," he said. Dr. Boerwinkle believes genetics should be incorporated into the nursing curriculum as quickly as possible, because nurses will soon be collecting more and more high-tech, genetic-based information and translating it back to patients. "All of health care is going to need to learn more about genetics. Nurses are one group that's been left out of the equation so far," Dr. Boerwinkle said. Dr. Sandra K. Hanneman, associate dean for research and evaluation at The University of Texas School of Nursing at Houston, agrees that the genetic component is one that needs to be more closely studied by nurses. "All nursing care and research we do has to consider heritable factors as well as environmental factors. Right now, we tend to do interventions for whole population groups. Knowing patients' genetic predisposition would help us target their education and care more effectively," she said. Dr. Frazier says genetics is a wide-open frontier, and is extremely passionate about the necessity for genetics education for nurses. "It is very important that nursing professionals have knowledge of genetics at all levels," she said. "For us to leave genetics out of our profession would be a mistake."
©2006 Texas Medical Center E-Mail: tmcinfo@texmedctr.tmc.edu URL: http://www.tmc.edu/tmcnews/11_01_00/page_02.html |
