Hyekyun Rhee Selected as American Academy of Nursing Fellow
Hyekyun Rhee Ph.D., R.N., P.N.P., whose research centers on developing innovative approaches to asthma self-management using technologies and peer dynamics to improve asthma outcomes in adolescents, will be inducted as an American Academy of Nursing (AAN) fellow this fall. Rhee is among a class of 164 nurse leaders to be honored at the academy’s annual meeting and conference on Oct. 20-22, 2016 in Washington, DC.
The AAN comprises more than 2,400 nurse leaders in education, management, practice, policy, and research representing all 50 states, the District of Columbia and 28 countries. Candidates for selection must provide evidence of significant contributions to nursing or health care, sponsorship of two current fellows, and be approved by a panel of elected and appointed fellows based on the impact of their career on health and wellbeing or health policy.
Rhee has worked with teens with asthma for more than a decade and has helped to develop several approaches to help them better manage their condition, including an award-winning wearable device that records symptoms around the clock. Data from the Automated Device for Asthma Monitoring (ADAM) can be downloaded to a smartphone or computer and analyzed for patterns or triggers, leading to medication or behavioral adjustments. The device has been recognized as a leading innovation in health care and is being further developed by start-up company, Health Care Originals.
Rhee is currently conducting a clinical trial evaluating a peer-led asthma self-management program for inner-city teens in Buffalo, Baltimore and Memphis. The Peer-led Asthma Self-Management for Adolescents (PLASMA) program examines the effects of the training program in improving self-management and overall outcomes of asthma in teens. She has also been developing a clinical study of an interactive text messaging system to help teens and their parents with daily asthma management and facilitate parent-teen partnerships through information sharing in a timely manner.
Rhee joined the University of Rochester School of Nursing faculty in 2007 and was recently named endowed chair of nursing science. She earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from the Catholic University in Seoul, South Korea, her master’s degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo, and her doctorate from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
