Lisa Duffy is an Assistant Professor in the Marieb College of Nursing, and a member of the Center for Personalized Health Monitoring in IALS.
IALS: Hi Lisa, thank you for speaking with us today. We have a few questions for you so everyone on campus can get to know you better. How long have you been at UMass Amherst?
LD: Not long. I just started on September 1, 2023.
IALS: Where did you grow up?
LD: I grew up in Walpole, MA. A suburb about 20 miles southwest of Boston.
IALS: Does the love of science run in your family?
LD: No :) I am the first in my family to have a science related career. I am actually the first in my immediate family to go to college. My father emigrated from Italy when he was seven years old. His parents brought their six children to the US via Ellis Island in 1954. I am first generation Italian and the first to go to college. I fell in love with science in high school, thanks to an amazing physics teacher, and I knew I wanted to go into a science related field. I chose to study nursing in college and have found it to not only be a rewarding career but it has also given me countless opportunities to make impactful change.
IALS: How long have you been teaching?
LD: This is my 7th year in academia. I am a pediatric nurse pracitioner and have worked in a clinical role for most of my career. I specialized in child neuroimmunology, which prompted me to do a post doc in patient centered outcomes. To continue to build my program of research I accepted a position in academia and have fell in love with teaching.
IALS: What is more stressful, grant proposals, research, or teaching?
LD: Definitely grant proposals. You spend so many hours trying to summarize your passion in 6-12 pages and then wait months to see if someone thinks your work is worth funding. The entire process is certaiinly stressful but all the more rewarding when you receive that award letter.
IALS: Assuming your research is widely successful, how will it impact society?
LD: My research aims to develop, disseminate and implement new models of care utilizing digital health to improve patient-centered outcomes in families of adolescents with chronic illness.
IALS: Who do you admire and why?
LD: I admire one of my mentors, Heather Young. Dr. Young was the founder of the Betty Irene Moore Fellowship for Nurse Leaders and Innovators, which I was fortunate enough to be in the inagural cohort. Throughout the 3 year fellowship. Dr. Young embodied what it means to be a leader in our field and I aspire to translate some of the skills I gained from working with her into my own practice.
IALS: What are your interests when you are not a scientist?
LD: I am a wife and proud Mom of two amazing kids (Jake age 14 and Harper age 11). Both play hockey so right now our family spends a lot of time at hockey rinks :) In the hockey off season we love to travel and have a Disney Mediterranean Cruise planned for this summer.
IALS: Thank you so much Lisa!