Anna McDaniel

E-mail
Phone: 317-274-8095
Office: 719 Indiana Ave.
WK 312
Indianapolis, IN 46202

Other Titles

Professor and Assistant Dean for Research, School of Nursing

Education

National Library of Medicine post-doctoral fellowship in Health Informatics, Regenstrief Institute for Health Care
D.N.S.. Nursing Science, Indiana University (1991)
M.S. Nursing, Ball State University
B.S. Nursing, Ball State University

Introduction

Anna McDaniel is a Professor in the Health Informatics program in the School of Informatics and in the School of Nursing. She also serves as Assistant Dean for Research at the School of Nursing and is a member of the Indiana University Cancer Center. She is an Affiliated Scientist with the Regenstrief Institute.

Biography

McDaniel's clinical background is in critical care nursing, and she has over 30 years experience teaching undergraduate and graduate nursing students. She is a member of Faculty Colloquium on Excellence in Teaching, a university-wide program started in 1989, designed to recognize, encourage, and enhance outstanding teaching throughout the eight Indiana University campuses. McDaniel was one of the first faculty members to develop and teach web-based courses at the School of Nursing, recognized as a national leader in teaching with technology.

McDaniel's research is characterized by the innovative use of information technology to enhance decision-making by clinicians and to promote wise health care decisions by consumers. Her program of research has a unique focus on the use of informatics for cancer prevention and control, specifically the treatment of nicotine dependence. In a series of pilot studies, McDaniel examined how to change clinical practice patterns in the acute care setting to promote smoking cessation intervention. During her fellowship, she developed computer algorithms to deliver tailored patient information to enhance "bedside" smoking cessation intervention and nicotine dependence treatment for hospitalized smokers. Currently, her research has moved beyond using information technology to enhance decision-making by clinicians to consumer health informatics, using informatics methodologies to improve health care decisions by consumers (i.e., the decision to quit smoking). Because the burden of nicotine dependence disproportionately affects those below the poverty level, McDaniel's work has targeted disadvantaged populations, such as those living in the inner-city and geographically-isolated rural settings. Preventing tobacco use among youth is critical to reaching the goal of optimal health for all, and McDaniel's research using computer gaming technology is uniquely suited to engage children and adolescents in smoking prevention education. In partnership with Gabriel Interactive, an Indianapolis-based computer game development company, McDaniel has been awarded funding from the Small Business Innovation Research program of the National Cancer Institute to develop an anti-smoking computer game for a commercial audience.

Cancer patients and their families have significant needs for information about prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and self-management. Provision of cancer-related information helps patients and their families to accept their diagnosis, improve symptom management and compliance, and reduce anxiety and uncertainty, thus increasing overall quality of life. To these ends, McDaniel leads a team of School of Informatics investigators to link IU Simon Cancer Center researchers, clinicians, and patients and increase outreach, education, and cancer information to our larger community. The purpose of this project is to establish a secure web portal to serve as a platform for translation of evidence-based cancer control behavioral interventions and information dissemination.

Research Interests

The use of technology to support positive health behaviors