Health Care Headliner: Jennifer Vanderlaan, PH.D., MPH, CNM, FNP, Assistant Professor, UNLV School of Nursing

Image

Wade Vandervort

Jennifer Vanderlaan

Thu, Feb 25, 2021 (2 a.m.)

Dr. Jennifer Vanderlaan is dedicated to building a maternity care system that provides families with safe and appropriate options for care. Not only does she train advanced practice nurses and advocate to expand the midwifery workforce in Nevada, she also completes vital research necessary to improve care for the entire population.

Dr. Vanderlaan is a nurse midwife and family nurse practitioner, and holds a master’s degree in public health. She researches maternal health from a health systems perspective—integrating clinical outcomes, health economics and health policy to identify ways to improve access to quality maternal care. Her recent projects explore regionalization of maternal care, effects of childbirth education and the use of hydrotherapy for pain management during labor and delivery.

As the early challenges of COVID-19 persisted, Dr. Vanderlaan suspected it would cause changes in maternity care. Her COVID-19 and Maternity Services project followed the changes in maternity care in the United States during the first weeks of the pandemic. This project allowed her team to track the barriers to safe care and the ways midwives changed practice to reduce transmission risk. Dr. Vanderlaan presented this project to the Royal Society of Medicine.

Appointed by the governor, Dr. Vanderlaan serves on the Nevada Maternal Mortality Review Committee. This committee identifies the causes of death during pregnancy and within a year of giving birth, and makes recommendations on how to reduce maternal mortality in the state. Dr. Vanderlaan also participated in a series of Nevada Community Engagement in Reproductive Health stakeholder meetings to inform legislative action on reproductive health. She currently serves as chair of the Lamaze International Research Workgroup.

Dr. Vanderlaan’s extensive nursing research has put a spotlight on maternity care and midwifery, but most importantly, it has allowed her to identify changes needed to improve the health of Nevada families.

Research/Science Runner-up

Anu Thummala, MD Medical Oncologist and Hematologist, Comprehensive Cancer Centers

Back to top

Share