By Laura Gasque

University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing alumna Lucinda Graven, PhD, APRN, FAHA, FAAN (PhD 2014), is the recipient of the 2025 Nursing Research Leadership Award from the Heart Failure Society of America. The award recognizes extraordinary achievement and excellence in nursing that improves outcomes of patients with heart failure.

“I am very honored to receive this important career award from the HFSA,” Graven said. “The HFSA works to reduce the burden of heart failure and is a leading national organization for researchers and clinicians in the field. Currently, about 6.7 million Americans have heart failure, with incidence expected to rise to 8.5 million by 2030. As a nurse scientist, my goal is to develop effective interventions which help patients and their care partners better manage heart failure and its sequelae in the home with the goal of improving physical and mental health outcomes.”

Graven is an Associate Professor at the Florida State University College of Nursing. Her research focuses on improving outcomes for heart failure patients and their family care partners through the development and testing of cognitive-behavioral interventions. In 2017, she received the Early Science Investigator Award from the Southern Nursing Research Society that recognizes the contributions of a nurse scientist early in his or her research career who shows potential to develop a sustained program of research to enhance nursing science and practice. In 2019, she was elected as a Fellow of the American Heart Association. In 2022, she was elected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing.

She is a 2014 Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing graduate of the UAB School of Nursing. While at the School, Graven received the Outstanding PhD Student Award.

“I am very appreciative of the training that I received at UAB as a PhD student,” Graven said. “The guidance and support that I received from faculty was instrumental in my ability to build a successful program of research.”