Leslie Parker, PhD, APRN, NNP-BC, FAAN, was recently named one of the University of Florida’s 2023 Research Foundation Professors. This prestigious designation is reserved for 34 of the university’s most distinguished faculty and recognizes their exceptional scholarship and achievement as researchers, clinicians, educators and mentors.
“This recognition goes to faculty who have a distinguished current record of research and a strong research agenda that is likely to lead to continuing distinction in their fields,” said David Norton, UF’s vice president for research. “Based on the more than 700 UF faculty recognized over the past 26 years, we can expect significant research discoveries, scholarship and technology transfer from this group in the future.”
Parker was specifically honored for her research achievements, as well as her unwavering commitment to clinical practice and research mentorship for nursing and interdisciplinary scholars. Demonstrating her outstanding level of research productivity, she has served as principal or co-investigator on 12 funded grants in the past five years, garnering over $4 million in research funding.
Most recently, Parker completed a randomized, National Institutes of Health-funded, controlled trial that advanced clinical understanding of routine gastric residual evaluation, a commonly-used medical procedure for extremely preterm infants, and published her findings in one of the highest ranked pediatric journals. Her current work is focused on determining the optimal feeding tube dwell time in very low birth weight infants to reduce contamination.
UFRF Professors are recommended by their college deans based on nominations from their department chairs, a personal statement and an evaluation of their recent research accomplishments as evidenced by publications in scholarly journals, external funding, honors and awards, development of intellectual property and other measures appropriate to their field of expertise. The professorships run for three years.