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School of Nursing Welcomes New Beerstecher-Blackwell Distinguished Professor

Associate Professor Sheila Santacroce was officially welcomed into the School of Nursing faculty on Oct. 28. She now occupies the Beerstecher-Blackwell Distinguished Professorship position which has been occupied since 1984 by Professor-emeritus Barbara Germino.

Associate Professor Sheila Santacroce (left) unveils her Distinguished Professor portrait with Dean Kristen M. Swanson (right).

Associate Professor Sheila Santacroce (left) unveils her Distinguished Professor portrait with Dean Kristen M. Swanson (right).

Santacroce researches illness uncertainty and its biopsychosocial effects on the patient and family. Her interest in uncertainty during the diagnosis phase of a potentially life-threatening illness developed through her work at the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, with children with cancer or HIV disease diagnoses, as well as at Duke University Medical Center with infants who were HIV sero-positive. Her recent studies include a pilot randomized clinical trial of telephone-delivered coping skills training that was delivered along with usual clinical care and aimed at adolescent-young adult patients and their parents to develop functional means of managing uncertainty in childhood cancer survivorship.

At the SON, Santacroce will teach in the pediatric nurse practitioner and doctoral programs and develop a transdisciplinary course related to cancer survivorship. She will conduct research with Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and its LIVESTRONG™ Survivorship Center of Excellence and provide clinical care to childhood and adolescent cancer survivors at the N.C. Cancer Hospital.