Palmer Trinity School alumna Rosa Gonzalez-Guarda has been given a three-year $350,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Gonzalez-Guarda, a 1998 Palmer Trinity graduate and currently an assistant professor at the University of Miami School of Nursing & Health Studies, will use the grant to develop and test an intervention for preventing teen dating violence among Hispanics. This Nurse Faculty Scholar Award, given to only 12 nurse educators throughout the United States, honors junior faculty who show outstanding promise as future leaders in academic nursing. To receive the award, scholars must be registered nurses who have completed a research doctorate in nursing or a related discipline, and who have held a tenure-eligible faculty position at an accredited nursing school for no more than five, years.
“Being named a RWJF Nurse Faculty Scholar is a huge honor,” said Gonzalez-Guarda. “As a Nurse Faculty Scholar, I am looking forward to being connected to other scholars, as well as an extraordinary network of mentors and resources. I am doubly thrilled because so many of my professional role models through the years have had a connection to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Under the program’s guidance, I hope to become a better faculty member and leader in my institution and area of research.”
For her research project, JOVEN: Juntos Opuestos a la Violencia Entre Novios (Together Against Teen Dating Violence), Gonzalez-Guarda will create a community-based participatory intervention addressing the prevention of teen dating violence among Hispanic high-school freshmen.
She will begin by developing a community forum and focus groups with students, parents and school staff to assess their opinions and perceptions regarding what should be included in an effective teen-dating violence prevention program. Gonzalez-Guarda will then develop the intervention based on the results of the forum.
“Hispanic youth are at a higher risk for teen dating violence and in the future face greater risk of domestic violence,” said Gonzalez-Guarda. “From my previous experiences working to prevent domestic violence in the community, I know this work is important to the health of Hispanics and the country more broadly.”
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Nurse Faculty Scholars program aims to strengthen the academic productivity and overall excellence of nursing schools by developing the next generation of national leaders in academic nursing. With her recent selection into the program, Gonzalez-Guarda joins the fourth group of Nurse Faculty Scholars and many have been published and recognized for their outstanding work after being accepted into the program.
