Journal of Alzheimers Disease & Parkinsonism
Open Access

For the past 30 years Dr. Farran has had a multidisciplinary academic research career. As a Rush College of Nursing faculty member, she worked collaboratively with the Rush Institute for Health and Aging and the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center (RADC) as Principal Investigator of the Education and Information Core. The primary role of the Education Core was to establish a community outreach program that facilitated recruitment of African American family caregivers and family members with dementia, to participate in ongoing research studies.

She simultaneously developed a multidisciplinary research program that addressed needs of these family caregivers. This multicultural research program developed and tested interventions with the aim to help caregivers provide care for their impaired relative, while at the same time decreasing their own distress and improving their own health. This research helped caregivers to develop caregiving skills, manage stress and most recently, to become more involved in their own health promotion through participating in a physical activity intervention.

As a Professor in the College of Nursing, Dr. Farran mentored numerous doctoral students and junior faculty members. She assumed the role as Director of the PhD Program and collaboratively worked with faculty to lead the transition from the Doctorate of Nursing Science (DNSc) Program to the current PhD Nursing Program.

Dr. Farran was active on the Midwest Nursing Research Society Board, serving as President for one term. She was also frequently served as a member of National Institute for Health and National Institute for Nursing Research Study Section Review Committees.