Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion

Profile

Helene Moriarty, PhD, RN, FAAN is a Nurse Scientist and Co-Director of a VA Advanced Interprofessional Fellowship in Patient Safety at the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center (CMCVAMC). In addition, she is Professor, Diane and Robert Moritz Jr. Endowed Chair in Nursing Research at Villanova University M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing. She is a longstanding member of the NewCourtland Center for Transitions and Health, a research center at University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing.

Dr. Moriarty’s program of research centers on individuals and families experiencing severe stressors, with a special emphasis on Veterans and their families. She has conducted research with families facing death of a child, cancer, chronic illness, violence, trauma, divorce, and traumatic brain injury (TBI). Her research is one of the earliest scientific efforts to engage family members as integral partners in the care of Veterans with TBI and to focus on the health of family caregivers. Dr. Moriarty and Dr. Laraine Winter were Principal Investigators (PIs) on an NIH-funded randomized controlled trial (RCT; R21 HD068857) that evaluated the impact of an innovative rehabilitation intervention, the “Veterans’ In-home Program” (VIP), for Veterans with TBI and their families. VIP is the first intervention demonstrating significant benefits for both. Building on the VIP, a larger NIH-funded RCT (R01NR018655) in progress is testing an intervention that addresses critical gaps in services and research for Veterans and civilians with chronic TBI symptoms and their families.

Currently, Dr. Moriarty is also PI on a VA-funded feasibility study of behavioral activation for Veterans with post-TBI depression. She is Co-PI on a CHERP-funded feasibility study of a community rapid housing program for Veterans experiencing homelessness.

Dr. Moriarty served on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Committee on Accelerating Progress in Traumatic Brain Injury Research and Care from 2020 to 2022. The Committee prepared a report providing a 10-year roadmap for advancing TBI research and clinical care. She served as Chair and is now Co-chair of the VA Office of Nursing Services, Nursing Research Field Advisory Committee that is charged with developing, implementing, and evaluating the strategic plan for nursing research for the VA health system.