Assistant Professor, 2025 Outstanding Scholarship Award, Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing
Dr. Mary Ann Leavitt’s research focuses on leveraging patient-centered technology and nursing interventions to reduce hospital admissions and readmissions for individuals living with heart failure. Her work focuses on patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). She has developed and validated a non-invasive external sensor designed to monitor HFpEF patients and enable early intervention before decompensation leads to emergency department visits or hospitalizations. In collaboration with Florida Atlantic University’s College of Engineering and Computer Science, Dr. Leavitt is co-developing skin-based wearable sensors that can detect early signs of heart failure decompensation. The team has miniaturized the sensor’s electronics into a 3D-printed housing—approximately the size of a deck of cards—which attaches to the upper chest using two snaps on a single large electrode. Dr. Leavitt also serves as a faculty advisor for the college’s Nurses Christian Fellowship student organization.
