Constance R. Uphold, PhD, ARNP-BC, FAAN, is a Research Health Scientist with the Rehabilitation Outcomes Research Center. Dr. Uphold’s research program focuses on the effects of aging and biopsychosocial factors, such as healthy lifestyles and stress, on outcomes in chronic illness.

Dr. Uphold earned a baccalaureate degree in nursing and a master’s degree in transcultural nursing from Pennsylvania State University. Her doctoral degree is in family nursing from University of Maryland. Dr. Uphold completed a VA nursing postdoctoral fellowship and is currently a Veterans Affairs Research Career Development Awardee. She is conducting a five-year prospective study “Predictors on Outcomes in HIV-Infected Men,” which is funded through the Nursing Research Initiative, VA HSR&D.

Dr. Uphold is also a Research Associate Professor in the College of Nursing and a Courtesy Professor in the Department of Health Services Research, Management, and Policy, College of Public Health and Health Professions at University of Florida. She is a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing, a distinguished lecturer in the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, a member of the VA National Research Advisory Group, and on the editorial board of Clinical Excellence for Nurse Practitioners. She has served as an officer and on numerous committees within the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties.

In addition to her Nursing Research Initiative grant, she is a co-principal investigator or co-investigator on funded proposals to examine stroke family caregiving and to evaluate interventions to improve the use of anti-thrombotic therapy for stroke prevention and a method to disseminate stroke prevention materials to veterans.