GW doctoral student, Christine Riley, was recently named a P.E.O. Scholar for the 2023-2024 academic year.
P.E.O. is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting education opportunities for women in the United States and Canada. "Since its inception in 1869, the nonprofit organization has helped more than 122,000 women pursue educational goals by providing nearly $415 million in grants, scholarships, awards and loans."
Christine Riley, MSN is currently pursuing a PhD in Nursing at the GW School of Nursing. Riley's research aims to improve outcomes for infants with congenital heart disease.
"Infants with congenital heart disease are disproportionally and significantly impacted by cardiac arrest and subsequent morbidity and mortality. To date, the known risk factors for cardiac arrest are largely unmodifiable in the clinical setting. My evolving program of research focuses on identifying modifiable risk factors for cardiac arrest in high-risk infants with congenital heart disease. My dissertation work aims to develop a clinically useful tool to quantify stress in infants undergoing cardiac surgery based on the hypothesis that infant stress is a modifiable risk factor or cardiac arrest in high-risk infants undergoing cardiac surgery."
"This fellowship application was one of six I completed, so my advice is to be persistent and embrace the idea that the process is as valuable, or even more valuable, than the possible positive outcome."
Christine Riley, MSN
PhD Candidate, GW School of Nursing
Riley recognizes that "pursuing external funding opportunities can be overwhelming" for graduate students, but believes "the skills and knowledge [she] gained greatly enhanced [her] program of study". She said that "the exercise of presenting my science in different formats for different audiences required me to think about my aims and methodologies in ways I may not have otherwise".
Congratulations, Christine!