Jennifer Hulett, PhD, APRN, FNP-BC, a 2015 graduate of the Sinclair School of Nursing’s PhD program, was honored at the the Graduate Awards Banquet Wednesday, April 27, 2016. Dr. Hulett received the MU Dissertation Discipline Award in Biological and Life Sciences for her dissertation research entitled “Impact of Religious and Spiritual Beliefs on Neuroendocrine Function and Health Outcomes in Breast Cancer Survivors.”

Her dissertation research involved exploration of relationships between and among spirituality, stress and neuroimmune biomarkers in breast cancer survivorship outcomes, an increasingly ‘hot topic’ in the field of psychoneuroimmunology (PNI). Dr. Hulett’s focus on neuroimmune biomarkers, breast cancer survivorship outcomes and PNI-based symptom intervention design comprises one of the priority program initiatives currently funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. 

During her innovative and rigorous dissertation research, Dr. Hulett reached out to MU collaborators for her research program, including CAFNR Fisheries and Wildlife, Health Psychology, Medical Pharmacology and Physiology, Human Development and Family Science, and Nursing.

The completion of this novel psychoneuroimmunological research has provided Dr. Hulett the opportunity to significantly extend her dissertation accomplishments through an appointment for a highly competitive post-doctoral fellowship at University of Utah in the NIH-funded (T32 mechanism) Interdisciplinary Training Center on Cancer, Aging and End-of-Life Care for 2015-2017.