Davina Porock Named Associate Dean of Research and Scholarship in UB School of Nursing

BUFFALO, N.Y., -- Davina Porock, PhD., has been named professor and associate dean of research and scholarship in the University at Buffalo School of Nursing, appointed by Jean K. Brown, PhD, FAAN, dean of the school.

Porock comes to UB from the University of Nottingham School of Nursing, Midwifery and Physiotherapy in the U.K. She will direct UB's Center for Nursing Research and will facilitate the development of interdisciplinary research and research by faculty and students including oversight of scholarly teams, grant writing resources and the Brown Bag Symposiums where emerging research is discussed.

A noted researcher on end-of-life issues for patients suffering from chronic disease, Porock is interested in the quality of care that dying patients receive and how nurses and doctors treat the symptoms of the terminally ill.

She has published more than 50 peer-reviewed articles on end-of-life care and has garnered millions of dollars in grants to study such areas as medical crises in the aged, recognizing dying and lymphedema among older breast cancer survivors.

"Professor Porock's unique and fresh approach to nursing theory, research, scholarship and clinical nursing practice is a perfect fit for our students, faculty and school," said Brown."I am extremely pleased that she has decided to join us and help the school continue to grow its research enterprise and educate the next generation of nurse scientists, educators, and clinicians."

Porock succeeds Mary Ann Jezewski, PhD, FAAN, who had been professor and associate dean of research for eight years and this year announced plans to retire after more than 30 years on the faculty of the UB School of Nursing.

According to Porock, the core of the nursing profession is about helping people maintain their humanity despite being ill. "Nursing is about being humane and maintaining patients' integrity," she said.

Nursing research and scholarship for Porock means giving words to what nurses do, and thus helping them improve their profession and receive the recognition they deserve.

"So much of nursing employs an oral tradition and is also embedded in the hands and the body," she explained. "Nurses give oral reports to one another and they communicate clinical methods to each other through demonstration and trial. Getting that kind of knowledge into writing can be challenging."

Born in England, Porock moved to Australia when she was 15. She received her BappSci and MSci degrees in nursing from Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Western Australia (WA) and received her PhD in nursing in 1998 from Edith Cowan University, Perth, WA. She is a registered nurse in Australia as well as having registration in nursing and midwifery in the U.K.

Porock also holds additional faculty appointments at the University of Nottingham, the University of Missouri-Columbia, U.S. and her alma mater, Edith Cowan University.

She is a grant reviewer for the National Institutes of Health Research and National Health Services, U.K., an executive board member for three nursing societies, and an editorial board member of three journal publications, including the Western Journal of Nursing Research. Porock is a peer reviewer for nine journals, two of which are the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management and the International Journal of Nursing Studies.

Porock also is a member of the European Association for Palliative Care, the Palliative Care Research Society and the International Philosophy of Nursing Society.

The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, a flagship institution in the State University of New York system and its largest and most comprehensive campus. UB's more than 28,000 students pursue their academic interests through more than 300 undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs. Founded in 1846, the University at Buffalo is a member of the Association of American Universities.