Lisa Skemp, PhD, RN, FGSA, FAAN is Professor and Chair of Health Systems, Leadership, and Policy at Loyola University Chicago (LUC). Her Baccalaureate in Nursing is from Viterbo University, La Crosse, Wisconsin. Her Master of Science is in Community Health and Education, and her doctorate in Gerontological Nursing and Global Health are from the University of Iowa. Early research development of the Culturally Informed Healthy Aging (CIHA) model included a John A. Hartford Foundation Building Academic Geriatric Nursing Capacity Claire M. Fagin Postdoctoral Fellowship. Before joining Loyola University Chicago, she was tenured faculty at the University of Iowa and the Director of the Iowa Hartford Center of Geriatric Nursing Excellence Global Health Initiatives. The CIHA was further developed while mentoring doctoral (Mendez, Silva-Martinez, Wu) and DNP students (Peacock). Dr. Skemp worked with Dr. Dreher and Mrs. Lehmann on development of the Healthy Places, Healthy People textbooks which framed the community health practicums. From 2011 to 2014 she held the Sister Agnes Marie Fitzsimons Endowed Chair of Gerontological Nursing at Our Lady of the Lake University which included mentoring Dr. Mullins on use of the CIHA in research for urban elders. Dr. Skemp was recruited to Loyola University Chicago to extend this work. She is a Fellow in the Gerontological Society of America, the American Academy of Nursing, the University of Iowa Cosmay Center, National Hartford Center of Gerontological Nursing Excellence, and the Institute of Medicine Chicago.
Dr. Lisa Skemp
Curriculum development includes national standards for gerontological nurse educators and for global public health. She serves on the Board of the National Hartford Center of Gerontological Nursing Excellence (NHCGNE) and is the Chair of the NHCGNE Education Committee which recently approved the International Distinguished Educator in Gerontological Nursing Award. She has curriculum expertise in community health, global health and gerontology. Using the CIHA model, in partnership with international colleagues, she has developed a 19-year interdisciplinary educational global health program for graduate and advanced undergraduate students in the Caribbean, south India, rural Midwest and most recently with Loyola University Chicago Health EQ funding.
This interdisciplinary CIHA model is part of her academic role that integrates research, education and practice to focus on promoting health and quality of life for community-dwelling older adults through building community capacity for healthy aging in two areas: 1) culturally informed nursing research and practice on understanding how older adults acquire the things they need to live in the community and 2) translation of evidence-based practice and best practices into culturally informed care both locally and globally. She has worked with the Widernet Project and WHO to develop programs on digital platforms and networks among international colleagues, respectively. Her work is inherently interdisciplinary and she is honored to partner with diverse community members, community organizations, interdisciplinary scientists and providers, developing nurse scientists, and students to promote healthy aging.