SEC Selects 2019 Faculty Achievement Award Recipients
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Faculty members from each SEC university have been named recipients of the 2019 SEC Faculty Achievement Award, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey announced Wednesday. Now in its eighth year, the program honors one individual from each SEC university who has excelled in teaching – particularly at the undergraduate level – and research.
“Through the SEC Faculty Achievement Awards we have a unique opportunity to recognize and encourage the work of outstanding faculty members on our campuses,” said Sankey. “Although we have chosen to honor 14, we know they are truly representative of all SEC faculty.”
There are approximately 14,000 full-time, tenured faculty members in the SEC, and to be eligible for an achievement award the individual must have achieved the rank of full professor; have a record of extraordinary teaching; and have a record of research that is recognized nationally and/or internationally.
Each SEC Faculty Achievement Award winner will receive a $5,000 honorarium from the SEC and will become his or her university’s nominee for the SEC Professor of the Year Award. The SEC Professor of the Year, to be named in April, receives an additional $15,000 honorarium.
“The 14 members of the SEC have embraced the tri-fold university mission of teaching, research and service with great zeal, and our faculty members are some of the most decorated individuals in academia,” said Dr. Harris Pastides, President of the University of South Carolina and President of the Southeastern Conference. “It is a privilege to be able to recognize their accomplishments, and, on behalf of the entire SEC, I am delighted to offer each of them my sincere congratulations.”
The SEC Faculty Achievement Awards and the SEC Professor of the Year Award are both selected by the SEC Provosts, and they are two foundational programs designed by the SEC to support and promote the academic endeavors and achievements of its students, faculty and administrators.
Kentucky’s recipient for 2019 is Dr. Kristin Ashford, a professor of nursing. Dr. Ashford received her BSN from Washburn University, Topeka, Kan., and a master’s degree in nursing from the University of Louisville. She received her PhD in nursing from the University of Kentucky in 2007. Dr. Ashford is a Professor, Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner, and researcher at the University of Kentucky, College of Nursing, and a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing. Dr. Ashford severs as the Associate Dean of Undergraduate Faculty and Interprofessional Education, while also serving as the Director of the Perinatal Research and Wellness Center. The majority of her studies exclusivity focus on improving health for pregnant and postpartum women with addiction, primarily tobacco, electronic cigarette and opioid use disorder. She is an internationally known nursing expert in the field of perinatal tobacco use, immune response research, and preterm birth (PTB). She has developed a trimester-specific bio-maker data collection approach that has gained national recognition in multiple disciplines (nursing, maternal-fetal-medicine, addiction medicine, dentistry). She has created a data-base of over 1000 pregnant and parenting women including prospectively collected demographic, psychosocial and immune markers in four biological media. This breathe of data is being used to develop a novel bio-behavioral PTB-risk assessment that will inform early interventions for at-risk women.
Since 2012, as a primary investigator (PI), she has submitted 15 high impact state, foundation or federal grants. She has been awarded over 6 million in federal funding including a Center for Medicaid and Medicare Innovation (CMMI) grant, National Institutes for Health (NIH), National Institute of Drug and Alcohol Research (NIDA) award, and NIDA Supplement. Dr. Ashford has been instrumental in the development of the Perinatal Assistance and Treatment Home (PATHways) and Beyond Birth program with nearly 200 pregnant women with SUDs enrolled in the program. This programis receiving significant national attention due to having significant reductions in neonatal abstinence and maternal relapse. PATHway-Beyond Birth has recently been highlighted in several state and national venues
Dr. Ashford led and directed the development the Perinatal Research and Wellness Center (PRWC). A team of 12 faculty and staff provide cutting edge research in perinatal addiction. PRWC uses translational research to inform women, providers and policymakers about current perinatal issues while empowering women to optimize maternal and child health through positive behavioral change. Tailored programs help women holistically reduce modifiable risk behaviors associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes (specifically perinatal addictions), while also identifying early prenatal biomarkers of preterm birth. Further, she has led a team to be the first in the nation to examine the impact of electronic cigarette and dual use behaviors on prenatal immune response and birth outcomes. Due to the significant rise in cannabis use among pregnant women, her team was awarded a NIDA Supplement (2017) and will also be among the first in the nation to study the combined effects of cannabis and electronic cigarette use in pregnant women. These community based and national works both aim to reduce preterm birth and advance novel discovery of perinatal opioid and tobacco treatment programs and interventions.
Dr. Ashford has recently been selected as a FNINR Ambassador. She will be on the frontline in helping to educate policy makers on both state and federal levels on the importance of nursing research and the necessary funding required to support the health and wellbeing of all Americans.
