Centers & Initiatives

The University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing and Division of Diversity and Community Engagement (DDCE) are partnering with the City of Austin, Mt. Zion Baptist Church, and Rehoboth Baptist Church to develop the AMEN - African American Mental Health and Wellness Program with a new initiative to support the mental and physical health of African American residents.

The BioBehavioral Laboratory provides state-of-the art laboratory services for researchers. These services are available to faculty at The University of Texas at Austin. The laboratory has state-of-the-art equipment to do many kinds of testing: immunological, endocrine, as well as genetics.

The Cain Center for Nursing Research was opened in September 1995 for the purpose of strengthening the support services available to faculty for developing their research programs. It provide consultation services and administrative assistance for faculty and graduate students on research methods, statistical analysis, funding sources, grant submissions, and post-award budget management.

The Cancer Neuroscience Laboratory at The University of Texas at Austin seeks to improve the lives of patients with cancer by studying how cancer and its treatments affects brain health including cognition, sleep, mood and stress.

The Center for Excellence in Aging Services and Long Term Care provides education and training to providers who work in long term care settings and lay learners interested in long term service and supports (LTSS). The partnership between the School of Nursing and the Health and Human Services Commission aims to share research based geriatric and disability best practices to improve the quality of care for all Texans in long term care.

The Center for Health Interprofessional Practice and Education (IPE) leads The University of Texas at Austin’s efforts to transform health professions education by promoting innovative learning experiences, disseminating best practices, convening key health and education stakeholders, and championing impact-driven scholarship.

The Center for Transdisciplinary Collaborative Research in Self-Management Science (TCRSS) was established through a National Institutes of Health grant in 2014. Its mission is to develop, test, and disseminate innovative self-management solutions to improve the health outcomes of people with chronic conditions.

The Community Health Worker (CHW) Institute was established to improve the quality of life and health outcomes of underserved populations/communities in Central Texas focused on health promotion, chronic disease self-management, mental health and women's health.

Critical Care Research (Danesh Lab) is an interdisciplinary research group focusing on clinical and health services research in critical illness. Our interdisciplinary research teams are collaborating on federally-funded and extramurally sponsored research projects. Our research group is contributing to innovation with ongoing work in clinical research, implementation science, and health care delivery.

At the Digital Heart Health, we explore a combination of digital tools to provide support for knowledge and behavior for heart failure self-care by older adults over 55 years living in the community. We study how digital tools can provide information and support behaviors for taking better care of your heart condition.

Nighttime agitation causes suffering for people with dementia, distresses caregivers, and often results in prescriptions for harmful antipsychotic medications. A sleep disorder, restless legs syndrome (RLS), may be causing nighttime agitation. The study will investigate if treatment of RLS with the FDA-approved medication, gabapentin enacarbil (Horizant®), improves sleep and reduces nighttime agitation, restless legs syndrome symptoms, and the use of antipsychotic medications.

Nursing Facility Quality Review will conduct a statewide measurement of the quality of care, quality of life, consumer satisfaction, and medication use in Texas Medicaid-certified nursing facilities. Nursing Facility Quality Review study funded by the Department of Aging and Disability Services.

The Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research in Underserved Populations was established in 1999. In August of 2011, the St. David’s Foundation made a gift to the School of Nursing to create a permanent endowment to support the Center. In recognition of this gift, the Center was renamed the St. David’s Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research in Underserved Populations. The mission of the center is to improve the health of underserved people through applied research.