Cashion Retires as NINR Acting Director
NINR acting director and scientific director Dr. Ann Cashion retired from federal service on Sept. 30. She had served as NINR acting director since September 2018, and as NINR scientific director since 2013.
Cashion arrived at NINR in 2011 as a senior advisor to then-NINR director Dr. Patricia Grady. She also served as acting scientific director before being named permanent SD. In this role, she established a thriving intramural research program focused on advancing symptom science, a program that now includes the NINR-led trans-NIH Symptom Science Center. Additionally, with Grady, Cashion developed the NIH Symptom Science Model to guide symptoms research in the intramural program.
Before joining NIH, Cashion was professor and chair of the department of acute and chronic care in the College of Nursing, University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC). She joined the faculty in 2000, shortly after earning her doctorate at UTHSC. During her tenure there, Cashion researched social, environmental and genetic markers to predict patient outcomes and guide therapies in solid organ transplant recipients. She also shared her expertise, mentoring numerous doctoral students on how to incorporate genomics into their programs of research.
In a director’s message posted on NINR’s website, Cashion thanked the community for its support during her acting directorship. She continued, “I am always inspired by the accomplishments of the nursing science community, and I know that our science will continue to thrive and improve the lives of many individuals and families for decades to come.”
While the search for NINR’s next permanent director is ongoing, NIH principal deputy director Dr. Lawrence Tabak is serving as acting director and NIH associate deputy director Dr. Tara Schwetz is serving as NINR acting deputy director. Dr. Jessica Gill, currently NINR’s deputy scientific director, is serving as acting scientific director.