#MeetUsMonday - Meet Nurse Scientist and Professor Paula Sherwood
Meet Paula.
A neuroscience nurse who’s practiced in Honolulu, Hawaii, Iowa City, Iowa, and Flint, Michigan, but a native of Blacksburg, Va., and a die-hard Hokies fan. Mom to two human sons and German Shepard “Addy.” An inveterate traveler fascinated by both by the behavioral and biological experiences of neuro-oncology patients and caregivers who has earned four R01s and more than $8 million over an expansive career as a nurse scientist. Earned an honorary doctorate in summer 2025 from the University of Eastern Finland, where colleague and collaborator, Tarja Kvist, head of UEF's department of nursing, presided. A faculty member who teaches REAL (Research, Ethics, Advocacy, and Leadership) to first- and second-year BSN students.
When the psychological stress of providing care goes on and on, a caregiver’s immune system starts to suffer. They get sick, catch a cold or flu more easily, and, when they do, it lasts longer. Data show that caregivers have a depressed immune response, a higher mortality rate, that they get sick more often, and that when they’re sick, they stay sick longer.
HER PATH TO NURSING
“I began my career in neuroscience, caring for patients who’d had a stroke, spinal cord, or head injuries, or were recovering from craniotomies or spinal surgeries—and discovered I absolutely loved it. Along the way, I developed an affinity for brain cancer patients, too, and worked closely to support and educate patients and families and get them into clinical trials.
“As a neuro-oncology nurse, I found I was really interested in behavioral outcomes, like depression and anxiety, as well as patients’ biological outcomes. Neuro-oncology is an orphan cancer; it’s not as common as breast, lung, or prostate cancer, but the mortality is horrible—only about 30 percent of these patients are alive five years after they’re diagnosed. In this population, chemotherapies don’t work well, so treatment is really limited. Patients not only have to deal with cancer and a potentially terminal diagnosis, but they also frequently have personality changes, memory loss, and cognitive decline.
“I found that I was really frustrated by the limited support we provided to patients and was particularly interested in how family members dealt with all the stress when their loved one was diagnosed with a brain tumor. I was fascinated by how psychological stress in family caregivers affected their physical health and decided to devote my research career to understanding and helping neuro-oncology family caregivers.
I was fascinated by how psychological stress in family caregivers affected their physical health and decided to devote my research career to understanding and helping neuro-oncology family caregivers.
“Their experience is like taking care of someone with cancer who also has dementia. When the psychological stress of providing care goes on and on, a caregiver’s immune system starts to suffer. They get sick, catch a cold or flu more easily, and, when they do, it lasts longer. Data show that caregivers have a depressed immune response, a higher mortality rate, that they get sick more often, and that when they’re sick, they stay sick longer.”
HER PATH TO NURSING SCIENCE
“When I was growing up, everybody called my dad (a math professor at Virginia Tech) Dr. Riess, and I thought, ‘That’s really cool. I want to do that.’ So, I decided to go and earn my PhD, even though I had no real idea of what that meant. Once I started, though, I fell in love with the research part of it and knew that’s what I wanted to do.
“Along the way, I was unbelievably lucky to have amazing mentors at Michigan State University and the University of Pittsburgh. I went to Pitt as a post-doc to build a research career in neuro-oncology caregiving. There, we looked at immune markers, cytokines, and behavioral outcomes, like depression and anxiety. Neuro-oncology caregivers have higher levels of stress compared to other diseases, even compared to caregivers of persons with other types of cancer.”
What I’m working on now is understanding what the best outcomes are and what’s most important to caregivers and their primary care providers. We have data that say that neuro-oncology caregivers are at risk; we have data that say interventions are helpful; now let’s figure out how to merge the two things together.
HER RESEARCH
“I first did a study of cerebral aneurysms with a pharmaceutical scientist who was interested in the biology of blood breaking down in the brain. My part of the study was focused on the behavioral piece: how patients’ physical function was after an aneurysm, what their symptoms were, and what their return-to-work pathways were.
“The two subsequent R01s I earned focused on neuro-oncology. In my most recent study, we deployed a cognitive-based therapy intervention for caregivers that taught them how to solve problems. We asked them about what was distressing, developed goals and strategies to achieve that goal, then assessed behavioral and biological outcomes at four, six, and 10 months after the intervention, traveling to their homes to collect blood while also keeping tabs on their sleep patterns, heart rate, and blood pressure using continuous monitoring devices.
“After the intervention, we were able to show changes to their levels of psychological distress, and changes in their cytokines, which meant they had better immune function, and changes to their C-reactive protein, a biomarker of cardiovascular disease, which may mean that the intervention was protective with regard to cardiovascular risk.
“I also led a R01 study focused on brain tumor patients themselves. We were assessing a new surgical endoscopic endonasal approach to resect pituitary tumors, which are benign, but can still cause serious side effects. After surgery, we evaluated patients’ outcomes: quality of life, return to work, depression, and anxiety. We’d follow up with patients who’d had the new procedure to see how things went in the recovery phase compared to the standard approach.”
WHAT’S NEXT
“At UVA, my goal is to make my research more clinically applicable: to take what I know about stress markers and caregiving and the behavioral and biological impact of unabated stress and bring it to real people at actual sites. It would be a model of support for family caregivers, broadly speaking.
“What I’m working on now is understanding what the best outcomes are and what’s most important to caregivers and their primary care providers. We have data that say that neuro-oncology caregivers are at risk; we have data that say interventions are helpful; now let’s figure out how to merge the two things together.”
UVA SCHOOL OF NURSING IN A WORD?
“HOME. I was thrilled to accept an offer to join the faculty at UVA because Virginia is my home. Every time I see the mountains, I feel at peace. UVA has an outstanding neuro-oncology and nursing program, and I see great opportunities to grow myself and my research here.”
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