Melissa Scollan-Koliopoulos, Ed.D., DNP, FNP, PMHMP, CDCES
Office Location
Dr. Melissa Scollan-Koliopoulos has been a specialist in diabetes nursing since 1995 focusing on the psychosocial aspects. She comes to Sacred Heart University from Rutgers New Jersey Medical School where she retired as an Clinical Assistant Professor and Caldwell University where she was an Associate Professor. She has over two decades experience as an advanced practice nurse and Principal Investigator of diabetes behavioral research. She lives in New Jersey with her family.
Degrees & Certifications
- Ed.D., Nursing Professorial Role and Health and Behavior Studies, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York
- DNP, Nursing Leadership, Regis College, Massachusetts
- MSN, Nursing Education and Population Health, Saint Joseph’s College of Maine
- Family Nurse Practitioner, Felician University, New Jersey
- Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, Liberty University, Virginia
Teaching Responsibilities
- Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Graduate Nursing Program Online
Awards & Fellowships
- Civil Air patrol, United States Air Force Auxiliary Billy Mitchell Award (1989)
- Civil Air patrol, United States Air Force Auxiliary Exceptional Service Award (1988)
- Civil Air Patrol-Ocean Composite Squadron Cadet Commander (1989)
- Sigma Theta Tau; Kappa Zeta Chapter International Honor Society for Nursing (1998)
- Health and Human Services Administration
- Faculty Loan Repayment Program Award Recipient (Disadvantaged background)
- 2004-2006 (Award 1)
- 2006-2008 (Award 2)
- American Association of Diabetes Educators. Diabetes Educators of the Year Award Nominee Awarded first runner-up (2008)
- National Institutes of Health Scholarship Award NIH Summit on Eliminating Health Disparities (2008)
Research Interests & Grants
I have maintained two simultaneous grant-funded programs of inquiry and research:
Health service delivery and translational science focusing on the transitional healthcare needs of urban minority, lower income people hospitalized with diabetes and chronic disease to community-based services, especially as it relates to medication adherence, reconciliation, and adverse events. Outcomes include preventing 30-day all cause hospital readmission and emergency department recidivism. Results of interventions developed for the projects include a 40% reduction in readmissions for a 100% poverty level sample and identification of root cause variables.
The psychosocial coping aspects of diabetes, especially disease-related distress, cognitive and emotional interface, and depression/anxiety. A special interest is building the evidence to support the theoretical paradigm of the multigenerational legacies of diabetes constructs, especially as it relates to medication adherence and resistance to insulin usage. The neuroscientific foundations of learning and role-modelling behavior (mirror neurons and neurolinguistics) is incorporated. Collectively both programs of research utilize the self-regulation theory and illness representations model. Dr. Scollan- Koliopoulos is the creator and principal author of the multigenerational legacies of diabetes theory, a theory that has gained international recognition currently being tested for validity by investigators in Russia, Iran, and Mexico (names and contacts available upon request).
Grant History
a. Principal Investigator
1. Sigma Theta Tau
Multigenerational Legacies of Diabetes and Adaptation to Self-care 2005
$5,000
2. UMDNJ Foundation
Multigenerational Legacies of Diabetes and Self-care Decision-making descriptive study. 2007-Phase 1-Stigma and disclosure, emotional and cognitive risk perception 2009-Phase 2-Self-enhancing and Motivating Factors (ie. spirituality and Afrocentric and Caribbean cultural views) and emotional responses to diabetes self-care
$39,000
3. International Diabetes Federation, BRIDGES Translational Research
Tailored Intervention for Inpatients: Transitional Care Coordinator versus Conventional Care
2008
$65,000
4. American Association of Diabetes Educators Continuous Quality Improvement Grant
2010
$10,000
5. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, New Jersey Health Initiatives-Transitions in Care
2011-2013
New Jersey Medical School’s I-CARE-4 Healthcare Transition
$300,000
6. Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey –Presidential Award
2011-2013
New Jersey Medical School’s I-CARE-4 Healthcare Transition. $50,000
b. Co-Investigator
c. Additional Funding Support
1. NIH grant-DK20541 to Diabetes Research and Training Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York
Multigenerational Legacies of Diabetes and Adaptation
2004-2005
$1,500