Suzanne Leveille Appointed New Director of the Department of Nursing’s PhD Program

Respected researcher, scholar, and Department of Nursing professor Suzanne Leveille, PhD, RN, has been appointed director of the PhD Program in Nursing. Originally joining the College of Nursing and Health Sciences in September 2009 as a professor with tenure, Suzanne Leveille is also a lecturer in medicine at Harvard Medical School, and an epidemiologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center’s Division of General Medicine and Primary Care.

Suzanne Leveille, with an area of research expertise focusing on musculoskeletal pain, disability, and aging, has performed studies within numerous organizations and with collaborators in the U.S. and internationally. After completing her post-doctoral work in the Laboratory of Epidemiology, Demography and Biometry at the National Institute on Aging, she joined the research faculty at Boston’s Research and Training Institute at the Hebrew Rehabilitation Center. In 2004, she joined the research faculty of the Division of General Medicine and Primary Care at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and the Department of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Suzanne Leveille has also authored scores of articles, book chapters, abstracts, and presentations.

Suzanne Leveille recently received a $3.1 million RO1 grant from the National Institute on Aging, part of the National Institutes of Health. With this grant, as principal investigator, she leads the five-year research project “Attentional Demands of Chronic Pain and Risk for Falls in Older Adults,” which explores the role of cognitive and mobility factors in the association between chronic pain and falls in the elderly. 

CNHS’ PhD faculty and students look forward to the new research and scholarly ventures that Suzanne Leveille will helm, building upon the work of Laura L. Hayman, PhD, RN, FAAN, FAHA. Suzanne Leveille received her PhD in epidemiology and her MSN in gerontological nursing from the University of Washington, and her BSN from Georgetown University.