A Message from the NINR Acting Director, Dr. Ann Cashion

Dear Colleagues:

I am very excited to continue the dynamic path set by Dr. Patricia A. Grady as she retires as Director of the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR). I share the sentiments in the laudatory messages from National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Dr. Francis Collins and others of Dr. Grady’s stunning career accomplishments and her success in the growth and development of NINR. Under Dr. Grady’s leadership, NINR has fostered an expansion of nursing science’s role in improving health and quality of life across the lifespan, through training experiences such as the Summer Genetics Institute and the Methodologies Boot Camps, creation of the Office of End-of-Life and Palliative Care Research to guide end-of-life care research at the NIH, and development of the Institute’s Intramural Research Program into a significant force in symptom science research.

NIH leadership will be forming a search committee shortly to launch the nationwide recruitment for a new permanent Director for NINR. The careful and deliberate process for identifying and evaluating the best candidates will involve NIH leadership, as well as federal and extramural stakeholders. The 2016 NINR Strategic Plan will continue to guide the Institute’s support of research in symptom science, wellness, self-management, and end-of-life and palliative care in the interim.

I know that the entire nursing science and NINR community joins me in heartfelt gratitude to Dr. Grady for bringing the Institute to its current prominence and excellence. I am excited to lead this outstanding organization during this transition, and I thank the community for their support as we move forward.

Let us continue using the power of nursing science to build a healthier society for all.

Ann K. Cashion, PhD, RN, FAAN
Acting Director
National Institute of Nursing Research
National Institutes of Health