Distinguished health services researcher Lusine Poghosyan is the speaker for the School of Nursing’s 27th Annual Bonnie Bullough Lecture, the keynote address for the school’s 11th Annual Research Day on April 19.

Poghosyan's lecture, titled “Nurse Practitioner Workforce and Health Equity: Building a Program of Research,” will focus on research surrounding the policy and organizational barriers affecting the optimal utilization of the primary care nurse practitioner workforce and the care that nurse practitioners (NPs) deliver to older adults.

It will begin at 1 p.m. in 403 Hayes Hall, South Campus, following a research poster session and awards ceremony. For more information and to register, visit the event’s registration page. The registration deadline is April 15.

“The number of nurse practitioners is growing significantly in the United States,” says Poghosyan. “Soon, almost one-third of all primary care providers in the U.S. will be NPs. This workforce is critical for delivering safe, high-quality care, particularly to older adults with chronic conditions, and helping to achieve health equity.”

Poghosyan, the Stone Foundation and Elise D. Fish Professor of Nursing and professor of health policy and management in Columbia University’s School of Nursing, is recognized for her contributions to the study of primary care organizations, health care workforce dynamics, teamwork and the quality of patient care, with a particular focus on chronic diseases.

With a career dedicated to advancing health care equity, Poghosyan’s research yields crucial insights into maximizing the effectiveness of nurse practitioners as primary care providers and establishing robust primary care teams to ensure equitable access to timely, safe and high-quality health care, especially for marginalized communities and underserved populations.

She leads numerous federally and foundation-funded research initiatives, including projects supported by the National Institute of Nursing Research, the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the National Institute on Aging. She also serves as executive director of the Center for Healthcare Delivery Research and Innovation, a pioneering institution driving cutting-edge health care systems and health services research.

The School of Nursing’s Annual Research Day brings together scholars across Western New York to share advancements in health care research and practice.

The Bullough Lecture was established in 1997 by Vern Bullough to honor the memory of his wife and colleague, Bonnie Bullough, dean of the School of Nursing from 1980-91, by bringing prominent leaders in the field to speak to the School of Nursing community.