More than 100 attendees convened for the School of Nursing’s 2026 Office of Nursing Research and Scholarship (ONRS) Research Day on Jan. 30.
The annual event is now in its fourth year since the program’s launch in 2023. Strengthening the School of Nursing’s research culture, catalyzing interdisciplinary collaboration and elevating the visibility of faculty and student research and scholarship, this year’s Research Day brought together faculty, students and community partners under the theme “Transforming Healthcare Through Collaboration and Innovation.”
The full-day event featured vibrant scholars and community partners, including dozens of exhibitors, poster and podium presentations highlighting work across community partnerships, home-based care and caregiving, innovation and artificial intelligence and research supporting service members, veterans and their families.
Presentations spanned basic, clinical and translational science, underscoring the School of Nursing’s expanding portfolio of rigorous, solution-oriented research. Dean of the School of Nursing Sonya Hardin, PhD, RN, and Vice Dean for Research and Scholarship of the School of Nursing Lixin (Lee) Song, PhD, RN, opened the day, emphasizing the importance of furthering both collaborative and community-based nursing-led research, a crucial step in making lives better across San Antonio, Bexar County and South Texas.
The event drew an interdisciplinary group made up of dozens of students, including nursing students from the School of Nursing’s Summer Undergraduate Nursing Research ImmerSion Experience (SUNRISE) Program — an eight-week paid research program providing students an opportunity to engage in faculty-mentored research — and nearly 40 attendees from partner institutions and schools.
The School of Nursing was also proud to host Jennifer Sharpe Potter, PhD, MPH, senior executive vice president for research and innovation at UT San Antonio; Min Wang, PhD, department chair, Statistics and Data Science at UT San Antonio; along with Nursing Advisory Council members, the Trauma Research and Combat Casualty Collaborative (TRC4), the Military Health Institute and esteemed faculty from the School of Medicine and School of Health Professions, reflecting the growing regional and interdisciplinary impact of nursing-led research.
As a key highlight of the event, Potter commended the School of Nursing for its steadily advancing research excellence. She also highlighted the momentum reflected in a recently submitted National Institutes of Health P20 center grant led by Song, in collaboration with a multidisciplinary team of investigators from across the School of Nursing and the broader UT San Antonio institution. She encouraged faculty to continue pursuing highly rigorous research and external funding to ensure the long-term sustainability and impact of innovative programs that address real-world health challenges.
Jennifer Kawi, PhD, FNP-BC, Lee and Joseph Jamail, distinguished professor at the Cizik School of Nursing, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, delivered an insightful keynote on advancing rural pain care through partnership and empowerment in the development of non-pharmacological interventions.
Panel discussions throughout the day emphasized interdisciplinary collaboration, community engagement, the responsible integration of emerging technologies into healthcare research and practice and innovative approaches to better serve service members, veterans and their families.
Concluding the day, Song and Melinda Villagran, PhD, executive director, Texas State University Translational Health Research Center, announced a new formal research collaboration solidified by a recently completed research agreement. They also unveiled a $100,000 joint pilot award program to support multiple-principal investigator, cross-institutional projects with strong potential for extramural funding. This new partnership complements the ongoing collaboration with the UT San Antonio Department of Statistics and Data Science, which regularly provides biostatistical support to School of Nursing faculty.
These exciting initiatives are designed to accelerate innovative, translational solutions that can be sustained and scaled to meet pressing health needs across communities in South Texas and beyond.
The success of Research Day was made possible by the dedicated efforts of the ONRS staff, whose behind-the-scenes leadership and coordination ensured a seamless and engaging program.
Patty Rodriguez, senior research manager, provided strategic oversight and operational leadership throughout the event’s planning and execution, while Zhen Xu and Melissa Marquez played key roles in coordinating logistics, communications and presenter support. Allen Reese, office manager, and Micah Wright, PhD, assistant director of impact and innovation contributed essential expertise in program development, technology and on-site execution, helping to create a professional, welcoming and intellectually vibrant environment.
With robust participation, high-impact scholarship and the launch of new collaborative investments, the 2026 ONRS Research Day marked a significant step forward in advancing nursing research that is collaborative, innovative and positioned for lasting translational impact — an exemplar for nursing schools around the country.
For pictures of the event, click here.