Pilot Funding Supports UR Nursing Studies on Heart Attack Treatment, Rural Health Literacy

Two members of the University of Rochester School of Nursing community have received funding from UR’s Clinical & Translational Science Institute (CTSI) in support of upcoming research projects.

Postdoctoral Research Associate Sukardi Suba, PhD, RN and fourth-year PhD student Lindsay Batek, ND, RN, FNP-C received faculty and trainee awards from CTSI’s Pilot Study Program, which helps UR researchers lay the foundation for innovative projects that move new discoveries forward to patients and the community.

Suba’s pilot study, “Significance of Symptom Onset-To-Angiography Time in Non-ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction (NSTEMI),” will explore whether the time from onset of symptoms to angiography is a significant factor in the management of non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction. The study will leverage existing data from electronic health records to examine the prognostic value of the time of symptom onset on coronary angiography on adverse outcomes, and estimate optimal timing for angiography using statistical learning modeling. 

“A more accurate estimate of optimal timing for such intervention will allow timely invasive revascularization in NSTEMI patients who benefit the most, eventually will minimize the risk for adverse outcomes,” Suba said.

Suba is an accomplished critical care nurse and researcher specializing in cardiovascular health. He began his career as an intensive care unit nurse in his home country of Indonesia, and earned a PhD in Nursing Science and Master’s in Critical Care/Trauma Nursing at the University of California San Francisco before joining the UR School of Nursing.

Batek’s project, “Positive Deviance and Health Literacy: Underexplored Constructs for Successful Translational Science,” is a community-engaged, mixed-methods study that will explore the relationship between health literacy and health care access from the perspective of rural Mexican American young women. 

“Health literacy is generally low within marginalized groups, but some individuals from marginalized groups have higher health literacy and are accessing health care,” Batek said. “Understanding how they gained health literacy and health care access may offer solutions that are generalizable to more individuals from those same groups who have lower health literacy and lack health care access and may provide a missing piece in the provider-community-client link of the translational science framework.”

Batek is a recipient of the Loretta Ford Fellowship. In addition to pursuing her PhD in Nursing & Health Science, she earned her master’s degree in the Family Nurse Practitioner specialty as part of the MS-PhD Combined Accelerated Program, and holds a doctoral degree in naturopathic medicine from Bastyr University. Her research interests include adolescent sexual health promotion, integrative health, and global health.

Learn more about research at the UR School of Nursing.