Kirsten A. Dickins, Ph.D., FNP-C

Kirsten A. Dickins, Ph.D., FNP-C is an intramural investigator at NINR and principal investigator of the Community Health and Trauma (CHaT) Lab. Dr. Dickins is a nurse scientist and family nurse practitioner. She centers her research on systems and models of care innovation, with a focus on integrated trauma treatment with and for populations facing health disparities. Currently, Dr. Dickins is systematically evaluating accessible approaches to trauma treatment with women in community (shelter-based) and correctional (jail, prison, re-entry) settings via a community-based randomized controlled trial. Her work utilizes a multimodal approach, prioritizing bidirectional partnerships between participants as knowledge holders.

Prior to joining the NIH intramural research program in Fall of 2024, Dr. Dickins received funding through the National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) (Advance Health Equity R01), the Institute of Translational Medicine (ITM) Chicago (KL2) (NIH NCATS), the Chicago Chronic Condition Equity Network (C3EN) (NIH NIMHD), the Rita and Alex Hillman Foundation (Hillman Emergent Innovation), and the DAISY Foundation (Health Equity Grant). She has published her research in peer-reviewed journals including JAMA Internal Medicine, JAMA Network Open, Academic Medicine, Ethics & Human Research, Journal of Women's Health, and Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved. She is the co-author of a textbook, Literature Review and Synthesis: A Guide for Nurses and Other Healthcare Professionals, published by Springer in 2022.