UCLA nurse scientist named to the International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame

Nancy Pike Ph.D., RN, CPNP-AC/PC, FAHA, FAAN, a professor and researcher in the UCLA School of Nursing has been named a 2022 International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame inductee by Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing (Sigma).

Pike is one of 32 world-renowned nurse researchers named to this year’s class and will be officially inducted at Sigma’s 33rd International Nursing Research Congress in Edinburgh, Scotland, in July. This prestigious honor recognizes nurse scientists who have achieved significant and sustained national or international recognition and whose research has improved the profession of nursing and the people it serves, according to Sigma.

“This is an incredible honor for me and my research,” Pike said. “To know that my work has been recognized by my colleagues and has helped make a difference in the lives of the patients that I care for is an incredible feeling. And to be nominated by my peers to this remarkable group of international nurse scientists is extremely humbling.”

Pike, who also serves as UCLA Nursing’s Director of Research, has dedicated her work to the study of congenital heart disease (CHD) among children. A certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, she has maintained a clinical practice for nearly 30 years and says it was interactions with patients and their families that inspired her research focus and continues to push her forward.

Pike’s biobehavioral and neuroimaging studies have received regular funding from the NIH/NINR and have led to new understandings of structural brain injury, cerebral blood flow and their correlations to cognitive and psychosocial outcomes in adolescents and young adults with CHD. Currently, Pike is using an innovative computer-based cognitive intervention to study potential improvements in working memory and attention in children with complex forms of CHD.

Congenital heart disease is the number 1 birth defect in the United States and currently impacts approximately one million children and 1.5 million adults.

“We are all incredibly proud of Dr. Pike and her induction into the International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame,” said Lin Zhan, dean of the UCLA School of Nursing. “The impact nurse scientists like Nancy Pike have on research, science and patient care is profound and deserves to be celebrated.”

Upon her official induction, Pike will join 238 previously inducted nurse researchers in the Hall of Fame, including several other UCLA Nursing faculty and emeritus faculty. This year marks the 13th presentation of this prestigious honor.