Associate Professor and Interim Associate Dean Susan DeSanto-Madeya was named a Fellow in Palliative Care Nursing (FPCN) through the National Hospice and Palliative Nursing Association (HPNA) in March 2023.

DeSanto-Madeya, the URI College of Nursing’s Weyker Chair, focuses on palliative and end-of life nursing care. She is currently an investigator on an NIH-funded study examining structural racism and engagement of family caregivers in serious illness care, and the primary investigator on a Hillman Foundation funded study to examine Photovoice as an intervention to align goals of care for dyads living with serious illness. She was the recipient of funding from the Cambia Health Foundation, and named a Sojourns Palliative Care Scholar Leader, to develop, implement, and evaluate an interdisciplinary palliative care certificate program. She has presented her work at professional conferences both national and globally. Additionally, she has consulted internationally including Romania, Israel, Switzerland, Japan and Turkey.

DeSanto-Madeya is a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing in recognition of her contributions to the field of palliative and end-of-life nursing. She is a member the Hospice and Palliative Nursing Association, Eastern Nursing Research Society and Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society for Nursing. She serves on numerous committees, including as a Board member for the Partnership to Reduce Cancer in Rhode Island and the Nursing Education Task Force of the Massachusetts Coalition for Serious Illness/Institute for Healthcare Improvement.