Biography
Dr Nyamathi’s nearly four decades of research has focused on improving health outcomes for vulnerable populations in Los Angeles and India. She and her teams have developed effective and state-of-the-art interventions using community-based participatory research methods to address significant health disparities with people living with or at risk for infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS, TB, and hepatitis. Early on, Dr Nyamathi promoted the use of Community Health Workers to partner with nurses; and delivering health promotion programs in the streets of Skid Row or elsewhere, protecting the health of their participants from active TB, worsening sequelae of HCV, With her work with women living with AIDS in India, Dr Nyamathi led a multi-disciplinary intervention, hiring and training nurse-led ASHA (Village Women) to support the women. Her findings demonstrated the importance of nutrition education and supplementation in improving CD4 counts and weight gain among mothers and children, with improvements in anthropometric parameters and immune status among participants.
Her findings in the US have influenced drug treatment programs, and clinic protocols and hiring practices. Her research has led enhanced uptake of vaccines, significant reduction of drug use and abuse, reductions in re-incarceration at one-year follow-up. and an increase in protective behaviors in the targeted population. In India, her successful outcomes were presented to the Indian Government and research institutes, leading to discussions about the need to financially support the nutrition of people living with HIV. Today, financial support is being provided to people living with HIV/AIDS in many states in India. Furthermore, her research shedding light on the need for cervical cancer screening among women living with AIDS in India, has led to her new R01 from the National Cancer Institute. Over the last 36 years, Dr Nyamathi has received continuous funding from NIH as Principal Investigator across six NIH institutes, bringing in over 40 million. She has authored over 265 peer reviewed publications.
With over 30 years in leadership positions at the UCLA School of Nursing, Dr Nyamathi departed to serve as Founding Dean of the Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing at the University of California Irvine (UCI) from 2017-2021, leading the opening of new programs, significantly expanding stellar faculty and staff, and co-designing a new Nursing Hall. Her focus on building the research enterprise led to quadrupling research funding within the first five years, improving NIH ranking by 20 points to nearly the top 20.
Research Interests
HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, hepatitis, vulnerable populations including previously incarcerated, homeless, rural women of India and gay/bisexual youth.
Education
PhD, Nursing, Case Western Reserve University, 1983
MSN, Nursing, State University New York at Stony Brook, 1978
BSN, Nursing, Hunter College, Bellevue School of Nursing, 1973
Honors and Awards
- 2023 American Academy of Nursing, Living Legend Award
- 2022 Best Poster Award, Non-Student, Western Institute of Nursing
- 2019 Outstanding Community Researcher Award, UCI, Institute for Clinical and Translational Science
- 2017 Present Distinguished Professor Above Scale, UCI
- 2014 Sigma Theta Tau International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame
- 2014 Honorary Professor, Shanghai Sipo Polytechnic School of Health Science & Nursing
- 2013 Distinguished Alumni Award – Case Western Reserve University
- 2013 California Nurse.com Nursing Excellence Regional Winner in Advancing and Leading the Profession
- 2013 NIH Standing Committee Member – Behavioral and Social Consequences of HIV
- 2013 – 2016 Visiting Professor, Hunan Provincial Tumour Hospital & Tumour Hospital 2013 Xiangya School of Medicine at Central South University
- 2013 First Nurse Elected Vice Chairperson of the First Board of Specialty Committee of Nursing of the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies
- 2011 Distinguished Alumni Award – SUNY at Stony Brook University
- 2011 – 2016 Visiting Professor, Anhui Medical University, Anhui, China
- 2011 – 2016 Distinguished Professor, UCLA
- 2011 October Davis Sams Visiting Scholar, University of Indiana
- 2005 AACN Leadership Training for Academic Nursing Program
- 2005 Fellow in the Western Academy of Nursing
- 2003 – 2016 Audrienne H. Moseley Endowed Chair in Community Health Research
- 1995 Philip Y. Hahn Lecturer. University of San Diego. San Diego, CA
- 1994 Distinguished Research Lecturer, Western Society of Research in Nursing
- 1994 Distinguished UCLA Wellness Lecturer. University Series
- 1994 – 2000 Distinguished Lecturer, Sigma Theta Tau International
- 1992 Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing
