The human heart, an organ so precious that it has become a symbol of love across the world, serves as an embodiment of life's vitality. It's no surprise that scientists and healthcare workers around the globe are working tirelessly to find ways to protect it. Leading the pack is the trailblazing researcher Theresa M. Beckie, PhD, RN, FAHA, FAAN, who has dedicated the past thirty years to investigating heart disease at the USF College of Nursing. Dr. Beckie’s expertise centers on developing effective secondary prevention interventions for women with heart disease, a leading killer of women. She was the first to design and test, in a five-year NIH-funded study, a motivationally enhanced, gender-specific cardiac rehabilitation (CR) program specifically for women. This female-only study focused on exercise training, behavior changes (such as improving one's diet, managing stress, or quitting smoking), stress management, and counseling sessions, among other interventions, and their effects on health.
Despite the success of the women-only CR program, it failed to reach participants with adequate health insurance. Beckie has gone on to translate this work to a home-based CR intervention using mobile technology and wearable sensors through her current research. This intervention can be delivered without the need for health insurance and can be delivered in real-time while women are living their lives.
Beckie's work has sparked national discussions surrounding the lack of access women
face to center-based cardiac rehabilitation and has led to invitations to join the
American Heart Association scientific writing panels. Her articles have addressed
myocardial infarction in women, practice guidelines for preventing cardiovascular disease in women, home-based CR delivery, cardiovascular disease in breast cancer survivors, and more.
Most recently, Beckie has contributed to the development of the first guideline for women-focused cardiac rehabilitation, fittingly publicized the day before Valentine's Day.
Beckie’s passion for cardiovascular research began early on in her career. As a nursing student, she quickly realized that she had a passion for critical care nursing and within a year of working in an emergency department, she transitioned into the coronary care unit. She eventually finished her clinical career in the heart and lung transplant program at the University of Alberta Hospital in Edmonton, Alberta (Canada).
“My passionate research interest in cardiovascular disease and its treatments was stimulated through my clinical and research experience with these patients,” says Beckie. “My interventions are designed to help these women improve their health behaviors to prevent a second, potentially fatal, event.”
The College of Nursing is proud to house trailblazing researchers like Beckie, whose work embodies the spirit of Valentine's Day by caring for the hearts of all. To learn more about her and her research, click here.
For more information on heart disease and prevention tips, visit the American Heart Association at www.heart.org.