Featured Interventionist
 Mary Ellen Wewers, Ph.D., M.P.H., FAAN
Mary Ellen Wewers, Ph.D., M.P.H. R.N., is our
featured interventionist. She serves as the Co-Director of the Nursing Center for Tobacco
Intervention at The Ohio State University. The Center is funded by the American Nurses
Foundation and has as its goal the dissemination of information pertaining to tobacco
dependence prevention and treatment for use by clinicians.
Dr. Wewers completed her Ph.D. in nursing at the University of Maryland in Baltimore
and has a master’s degree in public health from Harvard University. She is a
Professor in the College of Nursing at Ohio State University, and also has an appointment
in the School of Public Health. Dr. Wewers is currently on leave from the University and
will complete a Cancer Prevention Fellowship at the National Cancer Institute in the
Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, Tobacco Control Research Program in
August, 2000.
As an adult nurse practitioner, Mary Ellen has a long history of caring for patients
who smoke. Her initial interest in tobacco resulted from her experiences with patients in
the respiratory intensive care unit who were generally in acute respiratory failure. From
there, she began to develop a smoking cessation practice and returned to doctoral study
for training in smoking-related research. Her dissertation research examined correlates of
relapse among American Lung Association Freedom from Smoking participants.
After joining the faculty at Ohio State, Mary Ellen was awarded a Clinical Investigator
Award (K08) from NIH to examine the role of opioid peptides in nicotine reinforcement.
This work continued in a FIRST Award from NIH (R29) that characterized opioid receptors in
human and animal models of nicotine dependence.
Dr. Wewers has a concurrent interest in the effectiveness of tobacco
cessation interventions delivered by nurses. She served as a member of
the AHCPR [now Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)] Expert
Panel that developed the Smoking Cessation Clinical Guideline in 1996
and is now a member of the panel that has reconvened to update the original
guideline. Her publications in the area of nurse-managed treatment include
investigations that have evaluated nurse-managed interventions among patients
with smoking-related diseases such as coronary artery disease and cancer,
during pregnancy and after diagnosis with HIV. Most recently, Dr. Wewers
is conducting an NIH funded (R01) study of tobacco use and other risk
factors among rural Ohio Appalachian residents. A focus of this study
involves the creation of novel approaches for the delivery of health promoting
behaviors, such as tobacco use prevention and treatment, among this vulnerable
population.
Dr. Wewers is excited about the renewed interest in tobacco prevention and treatment
that is present among nurse clinicians and researchers. To address this national and
international health problem, the College of Nursing at Ohio State has assembled a team of
faculty, graduate students and staff to conduct tobacco-related research.
Dr. Wewers invites further questions about clinical and research opportunities at the
Nursing Center for Tobacco Intervention. Inquiries can be directed to her at wewers.1@osu.edu
View Previous Featured
Interventionists
- Janie Heath, RN, PhD(c), CCRN, ANP, ACNP
- Mary Ellen Wewers, RN,
PhD, MPH, FAAN
- Louise M. Nett, RN, RRT
- Linda Lillington, RN, DNS
- Patricia G. Rienzo, RN, MSN
- Linda Sarna, RN, DNSc, FAAN
- Kathleen O' Connell, RN, PhD,
FAAN
- Karen Ahijevych, RN, PhD
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