Dr. Zou earns award

Congratulations to Dr. Ping Zou, assistant professor in the School of Nursing, on earning the award of merit for her outstanding doctoral thesis.

The award, the 2017 Sigma Theta Tau International, Lambda Pi-At-Large Chapter, Award of Merit for Outstanding PhD Thesis, was presented at a ceremony last night at Toronto’s St. Michael’s Hospital.

Dr. Zou’s thesis, titled:Examination of a Culturally Sensitive Dietary Education Intervention to Treat Hypertension for Chinese Canadians in the Community: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial, is a culturally adapted anti-hypertensive educational dietary intervention study focusing on middle-aged and senior Chinese Canadians.

This award is presented to an individual who has demonstrated excellence in nursing scholarship through completion of her/his doctoral dissertation, successfully defended, and communicated her/his findings both inside and outside the academic environment.

Dr. Monica Parry, associate professor and director of the Nurse Practitioner Program at the University of Toronto, nominated Dr. Zou.
"Ping’s research is novel as it addresses the cultural sensitivities associated with delivering a nursing intervention to manage hypertension in a Chinese Canadian community,” Dr. Parry stated in her nomination letter. “When she presented her research plan at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress, the moderator of the session, who is a member of the Canadian Hypertension Education Program, congratulated Ping on her thoughtfully delivered, well-designed, and highly relevant study addressing an issue of major significance in Canada. Her study is a fairly low cost community-driven intervention; promising to contribute to the advancement of community-driven nursing practice interventions for vulnerable populations in the future.”