Cheryl R. Dennison Himmelfarb

PhD, MSN, BS, RN

ANP, APRN

FAAN, FAHA, FPCNA

Vice Dean, Research

Sarah E. Allison Professor for Research and Self-Care

Dr. Cheryl Dennison Himmelfarb is Vice Dean for Research and Sarah E. Allison Endowed Professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. She is an eminent nurse scientist whose passion and commitment to promoting cardiovascular health equity and engaging diverse populations in research is evident throughout her extensive program of research and policy advocacy. Dr. Himmelfarb’s leadership capacity and expertise in cardiovascular nursing science and policy is evidenced by her contribution to national guidelines and scientific statements published by the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology. Her contributions have ensured representation of nursing science in these important guidelines with emphasis on crucial role of nurses in all aspects of cardiovascular prevention.

As Deputy Director of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Clinical & Translational Research (Hopkins CTSA Award), Dr. Himmelfarb leads efforts across Johns Hopkins to develop innovative community engagement and research participant recruitment and retention methods. She established the Recruitment Innovation Unit that develops and rapidly scales informatics-based research participant recruitment approaches. Innovations include development of one of the first models in the nation of a robust “MyChart Recruitment Service”, which uses Epic to identify study populations via computational phenotyping and send MyChart messages to potential study participants.

Dr. Himmelfarb also leads the NIH-funded Community Engagement Alliance (CEAL) Washington DC-Maryland-Virginia consortium of 5 universities and over 35 community-based organizations that are testing digital and grassroots strategies to increase community partnership and diverse participation in research. Through her leadership and innovation, Dr. Himmelfarb’s research is improving engagement and increasing the level of trust in the community which is an important step in addressing health disparities.

Dr. Himmelfarb has made important contributions to developing the next generation of nurse scientists and community-engaged researchers through her mentorship of junior faculty and trainees. Dr. Himmelfarb is a remarkable leader in the field of cardiovascular nursing science and an effective advocate for cardiovascular health equity and shared academic-community leadership in research. Dr. Himmelfarb provides leadership for research strategy and related initiatives for the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. Her responsibilities broadly include monitoring and expanding the school’s research portfolio and enhancing faculty competitiveness for research funding, while ensuring regulatory compliance and responsible, reproducible conduct of research. She is a professor of Nursing, Medicine, and Public Health.

W ikipedia Bio

JHU Center Affiliation:
Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality
Center for Cardiovascular & Chronic Care

Full CV

[email protected]

@CDH_JHU

Specialties and Expertise

Cardiovascular
Care Coordination
Chronic Care
Community
Disparities
Electronic Medical Records
Equity
Health Behavior
Health Policy
Interprofessional
Palliative Care
Primary Care
Quality Improvement
Research Design
Safety
Social Determinants of Health
Transition of Care

Publications

Dennison Himmelfarb CR, Beckie TM, Allen LA, Commodore-Mensah Y, Davidson PM, Lin G, Lutz B, Spatz ES; American Heart Association Council on Cardiovascular and Stroke Nursing; Council on Clinical Cardiology; Council on Quality of Care and Outcomes Research; Council on Hypertension; Council on the Kidney in Cardiovascular Disease; Council on Lifelong Congenital Heart Disease and Heart Health in the Young; Council on Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health; Council on Peripheral Vascular Disease; Council on Epidemiology and Prevention; and Stroke Council. Shared Decision-Making and Cardiovascular Health: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2023 Aug 14. doi: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000001162. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37577791.

Commodore-Mensah Y, Liu X, Ogungbe O, Ibe C, Amihere J, Mensa M, Martin SS, Crews D, Carson KA, Cooper LA, Himmelfarb CR. Design and Rationale of the Home Blood Pressure Telemonitoring Linked with Community Health Workers to Improve Blood Pressure (LINKED-BP) Program. Am J Hypertens. 2023 Apr 15;36(5):273-282. doi: 10.1093/ajh/hpad001. PMID: 37061796; PMCID: PMC10105861.

Byiringiro S, Lacanienta C, Clark R, Evans C, Stevens S, Reese M, Ouyang P, Terkowitz M, Weston C, Galiatsatos P, Guerrero Vazquez M, Luthardt FW, Dennison Himmelfarb C. Digital and virtual strategies to advance community stakeholder engagement in research during COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Clinical and Translational Science. 2022:1-18. doi:10.1017/cts.2022.457.

Commodore-Mensah Y, Loustalot F, Dennison Himmelfarb C, Nickens P, Sachdev V, Bibbins-Domingo K, et al. Opportunities to Improve Hypertension Control: Proceedings from a National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Virtual Workshop. (2022). Am J Hypertens. Mar 8;35(3):232-243. doi: 10.1093/ajh/hpab182. PMID: 35259237; PMCID: PMC8903890.

LaFave, S.E., Wallace II, D.J., Grover, R., Clark, R., Marks, S., Lacanienta, C., Evans, C., Kalil, G.Z., Ouyang, P., Himmelfarb, C.R., & Abshire, M. (2021). Building a pipeline of community-engaged researchers: How interdisciplinary translational research training programs can collaborate with their Community Research Advisory Councils. Journal of Clinical and Translational Science. Jul 14;5(1):e156. doi: 10.1017/cts.2021.818. PMID: 34527295.

Peeler A, Miller H, Ogungbe O, Lewis C, Martinez L, Guerrero Vazquez M, Carey S, Murli S, Singleton M, Lacanienta C, Gleason K, Ford D, Himmelfarb C. (2021). Centralized Registry for COVID-19 Research Recruitment: Design, Development, Implementation, and Preliminary Results. Journal of Clinical and Translational Science. Jul 14;5(1):e152. doi: 10.1017/cts.2021.819. PMID: 34462668.

Han HR, Xu A, Bahouth M, Waligora K, Cudjoe J, Okoye S, Reese M, Bone L, Dennison-Himmelfarb C. (2021). Exploring community engaged experiences and preferences: A multi-level qualitative investigation. BMC Research Involvement and Engagement. Mar 30;7(1):19. doi: 10.1186/s40900-021-00261-6. PubMed PMID: 33785074

Commodore-Mensah Y, Turkson-Ocran RA, Foti K, Cooper LA, Himmelfarb CD. Associations between Social Determinants and Hypertension, Stage 2 Hypertension and Controlled Blood Pressure among Men and Women in the US. Am J Hypertens. 2021 Jan 11:hpab011. doi: 10.1093/ajh/hpab011. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33428705.

Cooper LA, Marsteller JA, Carson KA, Dietz KB, Boonyasai RT, Alvarez C, Ibe CA, Crews DC, Yeh HC, Miller ER 3rd, Dennison-Himmelfarb CR, Lubomski LH, Purnell TS, Hill-Briggs F, Wang NY. The RICH LIFE Project: A cluster randomized pragmatic trial comparing the effectiveness of health system only vs. health system Plus a collaborative/stepped care intervention to reduce hypertension disparities. Am Heart J. 2020 Aug;226:94-113. doi: 10.1016/j.ahj.2020.05.001. Epub 2020 May 8. PubMed PMID: 32526534; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7481013.

Miller HN, Gleason KT, Juraschek SP, Plante TB, Lewis-Land C, Woods B, Appel LJ, Ford DE, Dennison Himmelfarb CR. Electronic medical record-based cohort selection and direct-to-patient, targeted recruitment: Early efficacy and lessons learned. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2019 Sep 25;. doi: 10.1093/jamia/ocz168. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 31553434.

Arnett DK, Blumenthal RS, Albert MA, Buroker AB, Goldberger ZD, Hahn EJ, Himmelfarb CD, Khera A, Lloyd-Jones D, McEvoy JW, Michos ED, Miedema MD, Muñoz D, Smith SC Jr, Virani SS, Williams KA Sr, Yeboah J, Ziaeian B. 2019 ACC/AHA Guideline on the Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Clinical Practice Guidelines. Circulation. 2019 Sep 10;140(11):e596-e646. doi: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000000678. Epub 2019 Mar 17. Erratum in: Circulation. 2019 Sep 10;140(11):e649-e650. PubMed PMID: 30879355.

Carey RM, Calhoun DA, Bakris GL, Brook RD, Daugherty SL, Dennison Himmelfarb CR., et al. Resistant Hypertension: Detection, Evaluation, and Management: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association. Hypertension. 2018;0:HYP.0000000000000084.

Gleason, K.T., Ford, D.E., Gumas, D., Woods, B., Meyer, M., Murray, P., Dennison Himmelfarb, C.R. Development and Preliminary Evaluation of a Patient Portal Messaging for Research Recruitment Service. Journal of Clinical and Translational Science, 2018;2(1), 53-56.DOI: 10.1017/cts.2018.10.

Whelton PK, Carey RM, Aronow WS, Casey DE, Collins KJ, Dennison Himmelfarb C, DePalma SM, Gidding S, Jamerson KA, Jones DW, MacLaughlin EJ, Muntner P, Ovbiagele B, Smith SC, Spencer CC, Stafford RS, Taler SJ, Thomas RJ, Williams KA, Williamson JD, Wright JT. 2017 ACC/AHA/AAPA/ABC/ACPM/AGS/APhA/ASH/ASPC/NMA/PCNA Guideline for the Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Management of High Blood Pressure in Adults. Journal of the American College of Cardiology Nov 2017, 24430; DOI:10.1016/j.jacc.2017.11.006.

Research

A cardiometabolic health program LINKED with clinical-community support and mobile HEAlth telemonitoRing in underserved populaTionS (LINKED-HEARTS Program), MPIs: Yvonne Commodore-Mensah and Cheryl Himmelfarb, 10/01/2021-09/30/2026, NIH-NIMHD P50 MD017348 – 8183.

Improving Participation Among diverse populations in Cardiovascular clinical Trials (IMPACT), Erin Michos (Director) / Cheryl Himmelfarb (Co-Director), 10/01/2022-09/30/2026, American Heart Association.

Developing a learning COmmunity to increase eNgagemeNt and Enrollment in cardiovascular Clinical Trials (CONNECT), MPIs: Cheryl Himmelfarb and Hailey Miller, 10/01/2022-09/30/2026, American Heart Association.

Home Blood Pressure Telemonitoring Linked with Community Health Workers to Improve Blood Pressure (LINKED-BP Program), PI: Commodore-Mensah, 10/01/2021-09/30/2025, American Heart Association.

Community Engagement Alliance DC-Maryland-Virginia (CEAL-DMV). PI: Cheryl Dennison Himmelfarb, 05/15/2021-03/31/2024, NIH-NHLBI / Westat OT2HL161612.

Johns Hopkins Institutional Clinical and Translational Science Award, (PI: Dan Ford) Deputy Director, ICTR and Director of Community and Collaboration Core and Recruitment Innovation Unit: Cheryl Himmelfarb, 06/01/19-05/30/24, NIH/NCATS UL1TR003098 01.

2023 American Heart Association Kathleen A. Dracup Distinguished Lecture and Exemplary Career in Mentoring Award

2023 Friends of the National Institute for Nursing Research Faye Glenn Abdellah Leadership Award for sustained impact on nursing science through advocacy and individual program of research that has led to the public awareness of the value of nursing science in improving health at the individual and population levels

2023 Excellence in Research Mentoring Award, Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing

2018 Sarah E. Allison Endowed Professor for Research and Self-Care

2017 Sigma Theta Tau International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame

2015 Health Education & Behavior Lawrence W. Green Paper of the Year Award (for “Developing Behavioral Theory with the Systematic Integration of Community Social Capital Concepts” with Drs. Laura Samuel and Yvonne Commodore-Mensah)

2014 Teaching Innovation Award (for The Helene Fuld Leadership Program for the Advancement of Patient Care Quality and Safety, Program Director, C. Dennison Himmelfarb), Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing

2010 VIP List: Very Important Professionals Successful By 40, The Daily Record

2010 Fellow, American Academy of Nursing

2010 Fellow, Preventive Cardiovascular Nurses Association

2010 Clinical Innovation Award (First Place for “A telemanagement system to facilitate self-care among African American heart failure patients”), American Association of Heart Failure Nurses

2008-2010 Claire M. Fagin Fellow, John A. Hartford Foundation

2007 Fellow, American Heart Association, Council on Cardiovascular Nursing

2007 Shirley Sohmer Award for Evidence-Based Practice Research, Johns Hopkins Hospital (“Heart Failure Care Coordinator Pilot Program” with E. Caslin, K. Davis, C. Foley, J. Ioannou, S. Russell)

2005 NIH Roadmap Johns Hopkins Clinical Research Scholar (K12 Award)

2003 Best Abstract Award, Council on Cardiovascular Nursing, American Heart Association 76th Scientific Sessions

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