Janet D. Pierce, PhD, APRN, CCRN, FAAN

Professional Background

Dr. Janet Pierce is the Christine A. Hartley Centennial Endowed Professor of Nursing, a Professor in the Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology and the Department of Cardiology, and a University of Kansas Distinguished Professor. Recently, Dr. Pierce received the Research Trailblazer Award from the Kansas Chapter of American College of Cardiology. She has received the outstanding undergraduate teaching by the School of Nursing students for two consecutive years, Kemper Teaching Fellowship Award, Phyllis Keeney Lawrence Teaching Award, and was presented the University of Kansas Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Classroom Teacher. Dr. Pierce’s is teaching in both the DNP and PhD programs. She currently teaches courses such as precision health, symptom science, biomarkers, and advanced pathophysiology to graduate students. Dr. Pierce also spent several months as a Visiting Professor at the University of Canberra. Dr. Pierce completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Oklahoma, her master’s and doctoral degrees at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and her postdoctoral training at the Virginia Commonwealth University. In addition to her academic responsibilities at the School of Nursing, Dr. Pierce retired after 25 years as a United States Navy Captain.

• BSN, Nursing, University of Oklahoma-Norman, Norman, OK
• MSN, Adult-Health Nursing, University of Alabama-Birmingham
• PhD, Critical Care Nursing, University of Alabama-Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama
• Post Doctoral Fellowship, Cardiovascular Surgery, Virginia Commonwealth University/Medical College of Virginia, Richmond, VA

• NIH/NHLBI Special Emphasis Panel/Scientific Review , Member, 2023 - 2023
• Nursing Research Journal Editorial Board, Member, 2016 - Present
• American Academy of Nursing Fellow (FAAN), FAAN, Fellow, 2012 - Present

Research

Overview

For more than 20 years, Dr. Pierce has been studying antioxidants in various diseases to determine the effects on the diaphragm, lungs, myocardium, brain and kidneys. Dr. Pierce has had continuous research funding at KUMC for over 30 years. She recently completed a randomized double blinded clinical trial funded by National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging to study the effects of ubiquinol (active form of Coenzyme Q10) and D-ribose in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. The purpose of this study was to determine if these two supplements can improve the bioenergetics of the myocardium and reduce symptom burden. She is currently investigating pathophysiology and symptoms of post-COVID-19 syndrome. Dr. Pierce was recently been funded by DOD, TSNRP to study the prevalence of post-COVID-19 syndrome in active duty military personnel.

• Reducing Symptom Burden in Patients with Heart Failure, KUMC Research Institute Enhancement Award, University of Kansas Medical Center , PI

• Pierce, J.., D., Shen, Q., Mahoney, D.., E., Rahman, F. , Krueger, K.., J. , Diaz, F. ., J., Clark, L., Smith, C., Hiebert, J.., B.. 2022. Effects of ubiquinol and/or D-ribose in patients with Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction: A Randomized Clinical Trial. . American Journal of Cardiology, 176, 79-88
• Pierce, J.., D. , Shen, Q., Cintron, S., Hiebert, J.., B. . 2022. Post-COVID-19 syndrome. . Nursing Research, 10-12
• Cintron, S.., A., Shen, Q., Mahoney, D., Sardiu, M.., E., Hiebert, J.., B., Pierce, J.., D.. 2022. Obesity-related high-Output heart failure: An integrative review.. Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing
• Cintron, C. ., A., Pierce, J.., D., Sardiu, M., Mahoney, D., Peltzer, J., Gupta, B., Shen, Q.. 2022. Differences in leukocyte transcriptomes of morbidly obese patients with high output heart failure: A descriptive study.. Circulation
• Mahoney, D.., A., Pierce, J.., D.. 2022. Ovarian cancer symptom clusters: What can the NIH symptom science model reveal for precision in prompt symptom recognition and management? . Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing , 26 (5), 533-542
• Mahoney, D., Peterson, S., Spoozak, L., Linares, B., Pierce, J.., D.. 2021. The role of microbiota in epithelial ovarian cancer: A scoping review.. International Journal of Gynecologic Cancer , 42 (15), 1006-1017
• Pierce, J., D, Shen, Q, Cintron, S., A, Hiebert, J., B. 2021. Post-COVID-19 Syndrome.. Nursing research
• Rincon, T., Raffa, J.., D., Celi, L.., A., Badawi, O., Johnson, A., Pollard, T., Pierce, J.., D.. 2023. Evaluation of evolving sepsis criteria in discriminating sepsis and mortality among adult patients admitted to the intensive care unit. . International Journal of Nursing Studies, 145, 104529
• Pierce, Janet., D., Gupte, Raeesa, Thimmesch, Amanda, Shen, Qiuhua, Hiebert, John., B, Brooks, William., M., Clancy, Richard., L., Diaz, Francisco., J., Harris, Janna., L.. 2018. Ubiquinol treatment for TBI in male rats: Effects on mitochondrial integrity, injury severity, and neurometabolism. . Journal of Neuroscience Research, 1-13
• Pierce, J.., D., Shen, Q., Vacek, J., Krueger, K., Rahman, F., Shah, Z., Bupta, B., Hiebert, J.., B.. 2020. Potential Use of Ubiquinol and D-ribose in Patients with Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction.. Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Heart Failure, 55, 77-80