News
February 6, 2023

Prof. Mattos, Recipient of the Lucy Young Kelly Award for 2023

Christine Kueter
Associate professor and nurse scientist Meghan Mattos
The Kelly Award is the latest accolade for Mattos, who studies the link between cognitive decline and insomnia and earned a $1.22M NIH grant in 2022.

Associate professor Meghan Mattos—an NIH grantee who studies the prevention and treatment of cognitive impairment in older adults, particularly those living in rural areas with limited access to care—earned the Lucie Young Kelly Faculty Leadership Award for the 2022-23 academic year.

The Kelly Award is given each year to an outstanding emerging faculty member at UVA School of Nursing who demonstrates leadership in research, teaching, and within the School community. 

"The strength of your scholarship and science, as well as your tireless and successful pursuit of external funding to propel it forward, makes you most deserving of this accolade," Dean Marianne Baernholdt told Mattos, "as does your leadership within the Symptom Science Area of Excellence and the warmth of your student mentoring. Your nursing science, leadership, teaching, student mentoring, and willingness to take on duties above and beyond the parameters of a typical faculty role is both impressive and inspiring, and your School, your students, your colleagues, and your dean are all grateful."

Nurse scientist Meghan Mattos examines a bloodstain on a patient's sheet, part of the work she's doing to assess whether white, blue, or red lights can detect body fluids and under what conditions.
In her work, Mattos has evaluated factors that influence sleep and wellness in hospital rooms, assessed the Virginia At Home pilot program, and studied the link between sleep and cognitive decline.
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Mattos earned a $1.22M National Institutes of Health grant to investigate the connections between poor sleep, cognitive decline, and the potential brain-saving power of digital health.

Too, Mattos was one of a trio of nurse scientists (with Virginia LeBaron and Jessica Keim-Malpass) to earn a $100,000 grant from the School’s Office for Nursing Research to pursue work focused on precision health technology across the lifespan among diverse populations.

Mattos practiced clinically in both acute and critical care settings prior to pursuing her PhD, which is where she developed her research interests in gerontology, cognitive health, and health equity. Her continued commitment to providing care to underserved and aging communities drives her research, clinical, and teaching interests.

She has also been a tireless advocate of especially undergraduate students' exposure to and engagement in nursing science, and regularly partners with students like Allie Kim (BSN `22) and others to further her scholarly endeavors forward.

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