Dr. Pozehl receives national award for work in heart failure

Bunny Pozehl, PhD, of the UNMC College of Nursing, has been awarded the Heart Failure Society of America’s Nursing Research Leadership Award. The award recognizes extraordinary achievement and excellence in nursing that improves outcomes of patient with heart failure.

The award, which was presented on Oct. 6 during the annual scientific meeting of the society, recognizes PhD-prepared nurse scientists who have demonstrated outstanding contributions and exemplary leadership in nursing research. Recipients also must be actively involved in improving and disseminating heart failure outcomes, nationally and internationally, along with serving as mentors to future scientist leaders.

Dr. Pozehl, professor and Dorothy Hodges Olson Chair in Nursing, will receive a $1,000 prize and a complimentary registration for the society’s Virtual Annual Scientific Meeting.

“I am honored and humbled to be selected for this award from the Heart Failure Society of America,” Dr. Pozehl said. “I am grateful for the opportunity to care for patients with heart failure and continually aspire to improve their quality of life through my research to promote exercise behavior.”

Windy Alonso, PhD, said she was thrilled to contribute to Dr. Pozehl’s nomination for the award. “Dr. Pozehl is driven by her passion to improve the outcomes of the patients with heart failure,” Dr. Alonso said. “She has touched the lives of countless patients, clinicians, students and faculty with her compassion and kindness. I am grateful to call Dr. Pozehl my mentor and friend and I could think of no one more deserving of such an incredible honor.”

Dr. Pozehl has presented her research at regional, national and international scientific meetings. Her research expertise has been recognized with numerous awards. She has received a number of grants including from the American Heart Association, the National Institute for Nursing Research and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

In 2017, she was granted fellowship in the Heart Failure Society of America, following her receipt of fellowship in the American Heart Association in 2010. In 2013, she was inducted as a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing. She received the Dr. Anselmo Alonso Research Investigator Award from the Nebraska Affiliate of the American Heart Association in 1999, the Penny Z. Davis Faculty Research Award in 2005, a Distinguished Scientist Award from UNMC in 2013 and was named a Virginia Stone Scholar from the American Nurses Foundation.