John F. Garde Researcher of the Year Award
2022 Recipient John F. Garde Researcher of the Year Award
E. Jane McCarthy, PhD, CRNA, FAAN
The AANA Foundation presented the prestigious 2022 John F. Garde Researcher of the Year Award to E. Jane McCarthy, PhD, CRNA, FAAN.
Dr. E. Jane McCarthy’s remarkable career of public service as a scientist, researcher, educator, as well as a clinician, provides the perfect example of how one person can have an extraordinary impact on an entire profession. After completing her doctorate in Physiology from the Uniformed Services University, followed by a post doctorate National Research Council Fellowship at the Navy Medical Research Institute, Jane served in the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps as a regulatory scientist for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reviewing respiratory and anesthesia medical device applications for FDA approval. Jane developed the congressionally mandated nurse anesthesia program for the Uniformed Services University, one of the first master’s level nurse anesthesia programs, mentoring students in their non-clinical and clinical research. She helped develop the AANA Research in Action program, providing a method for students to have their research peer reviewed. More recently she has been mentoring students in evidence-based practice to apply published research results into clinical anesthesia practice. Presently Jane is a professor at the University of North Florida where she does primarily online education in Healthcare Policy and Evidence-Based Practice for doctoral nursing students. Her service to the profession includes serving on the AANA Board of Directors and as president of the District of Columbia Association of Nurse Anesthetists.
“I would like to thank the AANA Foundation for this prestigious recognition of the John Garde Researcher of the Year Award. It is such an honor to be recognized in John Garde’s name as he was such a mentor for me in so many ways. John saw strengths and attributes in me before I saw them. I remember after I finished my PhD as a basic scientist, he asked me along with Jan Mannino who was then AANA President, if I would be an associate editor for the Journal to make it more research focused. At that time our educational programs were moving to the master’s level and our students and graduates were doing research. Back in the 90’s Sandra Lovell and I developed the AANA Research in Action program, under John’s guidance, for students and graduates to present their research at this meeting and publish their findings in the journal. After several trips here to Chicago to do AANA work, John said to me “Jane, you need to be a program director.” And then, low and behold, a couple of years later, I was the University of Uniformed Services master’s Program Director mentoring students in their research. John, as I, saw the importance of research for our profession of nurse anesthesia and found a way to make it happen. I continue to believe that research is a foundational part of our profession.”
