Recognition Awards

DR. ALEX CLARK, RN, PhD

Letter of Nomination

I would like to nominate Dr. Alex Clark for the Cardiovascular Nursing Research Excellence Award. Alex is an Assistant Professor (Associate professor as of July 2007) at the University Alberta, Faculty of Nursing. He is the recipient of an Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research Population Health Investigator Award (2003-2009) and CIHR New Investigator award (2007-2012). He completed a PhD at Caledonian University in 2000 and his nursing studies at the same university in 1995.

Dr. Clark has met all the criteria for this award in that he has a) conducted outstanding cardiovascular nursing research, b) published high quality cardiovascular nursing research, and c) mentored others to appreciate and/or assist in the research process. Dr. Clark is new to Canada and has not yet had the opportunity to work with CCCN, but he is actively involved with the FUTURE program (cardiovascular nurse scientists).

Cardiovascular Nursing Research

Alex has designed, conducted and published cardiovascular research with implications for cardiovascular nursing practice. Dr. Clark has received more than one-million dollars in funding as a principle investigator and more than two-million as a co-investigator. He is presently studying the management of heart failure in rural communities in Alberta using a critical realist approach which embraces the complexity of chronic disease management and acknowledges that interventions occur at many levels (patient, caregiver, health care provider, community, government, etc). He has also conducted research in primary and secondary prevention. A few examples of his research are listed below.

As part of a larger realist-driven program of research for the Scottish Executive National CHD Demonstration Project, designed by Dr. Clark, he used critical realist theory to examine the influence of organizational characteristics on effectiveness of cardiac rehabilitation. The study identified that shared vision, formalization of communication structures and protocols and information handling were particularly vital. Findings from the larger body of work guided national provision of rehabilitation (Scottish Executive 2002) and published (Clark AM, Barbour RS, Whelan HK and MacIntyre PD (2005) a realist study of the mechanisms of cardiac rehabilitation. Journal of Advanced Nursing 52:4 362-7).

Dr. Clark has also studied the role of age in moderating access to cardiac rehabilitation. The study identified that institutionalized discrimination act to limit older people's likelihood of being invited to cardiac rehabilitation. However, while this was not due to overt age-based exclusion criteria or lack of belief regarding the benefits of rehabilitation to older people, limited resources, poor program flexibility and poor referral patterns limited older people's access. The paper resulting from this study produced new knowledge regarding a common problem in care provision to older adults. (Clark AM, Sharp C, MacIntyre PD). The role of age in moderating access to cardiac rehabilitation in Scotland. Ageing and Society 2002:22:501-515

Dr. Clark co-led the largest existing meta-analysis examining the effectiveness of secondary prevention programs for patients with coronary heart disease. This research guided a Medicare/Medicaid coverage decision in the United States of America and was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine (Clark AM, et al Secondary prevention program for patients with coronary artery disease: A meta-analysis of randomized control trials. Annals of Internal Medicine. 2005:143 (9):659-72).

Publications

Dr. Clark is well published especially for someone so early in his career. He has 27 first author publications, 5 second author publications, has produced four reports for government, and 21 published abstracts for most of which he is first author. He has also had eight non-peer reviewed papers published and presented 88 peer reviewed papers or posters at conferences. A detailed list of his publications can be found in the appended (abbreviated) curriculum vitae.

Mentoring

Alex is a Key Mentor for the FUTURE Program for Cardiovascular Nurse Scientists. He also supervises or sits on the thesis committees of three PhD student and 5 Masters students.

In addition to his activities as a researcher, teacher and mentor, Alex supports cardiovascular nursing and contributes to its knowledge base through other activities including:

• Reviewing for 20 journals in nursing, public health, medicine and social science (including Heart & Lung, Clinical Nursing Research, European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, Canadian Journal of Nursing Research, Intensive Care and Critical Care Nursing)
• Research Committee member Canadian Association for Cardiac Rehabilitation (2006-)
• Membership on various committees in Canada and for Scottish Executive National CHD Project, Health Education Board for Scotland, Centre of Excellence in Telerehabilitation

I strongly support Dr. Alex Clark for the Cardiovascular Nursing Research Excellence Award.

Yours Sincerely,

Kirsten Woodend, RN, MSc, PhD, Associate Professor

Nominators: Christine Newburn-Cook, Anne Sales, Kirsten Woodend