Nursing prof garners school acclaim

Barbara Medoff-Cooper -- already a School of Nursing professor, the director of the Center for Nursing Research and the director of the Biobehavioral Studies group -- now has another honorary title.

Medoff-Cooper was honored this year by her colleagues when she was given the annual Claire M. Fagin Distinguished Researcher Award.

The award is given out annually to one faculty member in the Nursing School whose research methods, findings and practices are considered to be exemplary.

"In honoring [Fagin] we established this award to honor a faculty member who possesses the same qualities that Dr. Claire Fagin was known for, and that is scholarship, mentorship, integration of research and practice," Nursing School Dean Afaf Meleis said.

Meleis said that Medoff-Cooper was an excellent selection because she "is an outstanding researcher, whose research ... is making an impact on the way we take care of infants. Barbara has had international influence. ... Her work transcends the United States."

Medoff-Cooper's focus is on infant feeding patterns and the study of problems with feeding. She is particularly interested in how infants who had difficulties with feeding may have further health and development problems later on in life.

She has a number of partnerships with different institutions, such as the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, which allow her to expand her research and apply it directly in the field of neonatology.

Medoff-Cooper expressed how thrilled she was to be receiving the Fagin Award, especially because of the close contact the two had.

"It was a big honor, because it's named for Claire Fagin, who was one of my mentors," Medoff-Cooper said. "So it was really an honor for me. I think she is one of the most amazing pathfinders in nursing."

"She really is the nurse at Penn who created the role of the nurse as a scholar. It helped the University understand what a nurse scholar was, and it helped the school to develop to nurse scholars," Medoff-Cooper added.

In turn, Medoff-Cooper has received much praise of her own.

"She's an amazing mentor. She's pretty high up in the Nursing School, and yet she still has time to listen to [students] and take our suggestions towards the study seriously," said Nursing graduate student Jennifer Hall, who has known Medoff-Cooper for five years. During that time, she traveled to Israel with Medoff-Cooper for a study trip and now works as her research assistant.

Medoff-Cooper stressed the importance of the work she is doing, noting its potential to help infants who are sick and in need of better care.

"My research has always been driven by clinical questions. I have been a nurse practitioner for many years and caring for very at-risk infants," she said. "My research is geared at understanding the development of how these ... sick kids grow. The goal is to make a difference in how we give care and to help them grow better."

Due to this work, colleagues and students look to Medoff-Cooper as a role model.

"She encourages everyone on the study, academically and personally, even with her numerous commitments to her research, the School of Nursing and her family," Hall said. "Dr. Medoff-Cooper exemplifies her dedication to academia and to her patients in everything she does."

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