Maria Danet Lapiz Bluhm PhD, RN, MSCI

M. Danet Lapiz-Bluhm, Ph.D., R.N., is an Associate Professor at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio School of Nursing. Dr. Bluhm’s mental health-related research education and career spans across the globe from the Philippines to Australia, Sweden, England, Denmark and the US. Her program of research has been on the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the effects of stress on mental health. Her current research is on biobehavioral markers for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which received funding support from the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) and the Hogg Foundation Mental Health Research Award. Her RWJF project aims to determine the cognitive, neurotrophic and genetic markers for the variability of the speed of response to Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) among military personnel with PTSD. She hopes that her research will inform the development of treatment strategies to improve patient outcomes. Further, it may also assist the identification of vulnerability for PTSD. As a nurse educator, she champions the promotion of the use of evidence-based practice literature and its translation to practice, interprofessional quality and safety education and community health among vulnerable populations.