Melissa deCardi Hladek PhD, CRNP, FNP-BC is an Assistant Professor and Principal Faculty in the Center for Equity in Aging at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing.
Dr. Hladek is an expert in health equity, behavior change and aging. Her research focuses on the intersection of how stress, self-efficacy, and sociocultural factors influence aging and multiple chronic conditions, especially advanced kidney disease, as well as the development of strengths-based, person-environment strategies and policies to improve outcomes. Dr. Hladek is funded through multiple institutes at the National Institute of Health, the American Heart Association and the John A. Hartford Foundation.
Dr. Hladek is a staunch advocate for centering patients’ values and goals in both research and clinical healthcare decision-making. As such, Dr. Hladek is the lead nurse practitioner in the national effort to disseminate Patient Priorities Care (PPC) to NP clinicians and students, also working with the PPC national team in multi-disciplinary dissemination and Spanish translation efforts. These contributions have refined the clinical practices of more than 13,000 clinicians and students toward person-centered care for older adults, focusing on vulnerable groups. Her two current pilot randomized control trials are both co-developed between the participant and the interventionists to address issues like: symptom burden, functional limitations, the home environment, communication skills and digital literacy.
Dr. Hladek’s work also includes notable contributions to the Pan-American Health Organization’s “Decade of Healthy Aging” and Medicare modernization through TV ads generating over 1 million views and more than 20,000 letters and 5,000 calls to Congress. Dr. Hladek is Principal Faculty for the School of Nursing’s Center on Equity in Aging and Core Faculty for the University’s Center on Aging and Health.
Dr. Hladek maintains a clinical practice with a primarily Spanish-speaking community in Baltimore, Maryland, teaches both DNP and PhD students, advises multiple Latinx nursing student groups and, is the Immediate Past- President for the National Association of Hispanic Nurses-DC Metro Chapter.
Dr. Hladek is married with two children and enjoys hiking, camping and exploring Maryland and beyond in her spare time.
JHU Center Affiliation:
Center for Equity in Aging
Center for Cardiovascular & Chronic Care