School of Nursing faculty member receives research award

By Cassie Williams
VCU Communications and Public Relations

Nancy L. McCain, D.N.S., R.N, is the 2008 recipient of the Southern Nursing Research Society Distinguished Researcher Award, which recognizes the lifetime achievements of an individual whose research has enhanced the science and practice of nursing.

McCain, a professor in the VCU School of Nursing, was one of three senior researchers chosen by the SNRS awards committee for lifetime achievements in scholarship in the southern region.

McCain is director of the Center for Biobehavioral Clinical Research. Her theoretical and empirical work in the area of psychoneuroimmunology, or PNI, the study of the interaction between psychological processes and the nervous and immune systems of the human body, is internationally known. She has conducted research in the area of PNI and complimentary clinical interventions.

Stress management interventions for individuals with cancer and HIV are some of McCain’s interest areas, which receive funding from the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute for Nursing Research and the National Center for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine.

McCain played a key role in developing the National Institute of Nursing Research P20 Center for Biobehavioral Clinical Research, which supports faculty research. She also has mentored students on prestigious pre-doctoral National Research Service Awards.

Throughout her career, she has served on numerous National Institutes of Health study sections and is a reviewer for the Journal of Advanced Nursing, Nursing Research and Brain, Behavior and Immunity.

SNRS is a membership organization dedicated to advancing nursing research in the Southern region of the United States, the Bahamas and the countries of the Caribbean and Latin America.