Dena Schulman-Green

Faculty

Dena Schulman-Green Headshot

Dena Schulman-Green

PhD FAAHPM

Associate Professor
Director of the Florence S. Downs PhD Program

1 212 998 5786

433 First Ave
New York, NY 10010
United States

Accepting PhD students

Dena Schulman-Green's additional information

Dena Schulman-Green, MA, EdM, MS, PhD, FAAHPM is Director of the Florence S. Downs PhD Program in Nursing Research and Theory Development and Associate Professor at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing. Her 20+ years in clinical nursing research are grounded in an interdisciplinary background of psychology, gerontology, and palliative care. Prof. Schulman-Green’s scholarship centers on self- and family management of serious chronic illness, with an emphasis on early integration of palliative care. She is a lead developer of the internationally recognized Middle Range Theory of Self- and Family Management of Chronic Illness and co-developed the Managing Cancer Care intervention with women and family caregivers facing breast and ovarian cancer. Her funders include the National Institutes of Health, the American Cancer Society, and the National Palliative Care Research Center.

Currently, Schulman-Green leads and collaborates on various studies related to cancer, dementia, and palliative care. A recognized expert in qualitative and mixed methods research, she consults widely. Schulman-Green is deeply committed to mentorship, routinely involving PhD students and postdoctoral fellows in her work. She serves on the Leadership Development Committee of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine and on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management.

Prior to joining NYU Meyers, Schulman-Green was first a Research Scientist and later an Associate Professor at Yale School of Nursing, where she also directed the Qualitative and Mixed Methods Core of the Center for Biobehavioral Health. Additionally, she held faculty roles in the Palliative Medicine Fellowship Program and the Interprofessional Palliative Care Education Program at Yale School of Medicine and was instrumental in strengthening Yale’s palliative care research infrastructure.

Among her many honors, Schulman-Green has received the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization Research Award, the Suzanne Feetham Nurse Scientist Family Research Award, the Yale School of Nursing’s Annie W. Goodrich Award for Excellence in Teaching, and NYU Meyers’ Dean’s Excellence in Mentoring Award. She has also been recognized among the World’s Top 2% of Scientists by Stanford University/Elsevier and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine and the New York Academy of Medicine.

Post-doctorate in Breast Cancer & Palliative Care, Yale School of Nursing
PhD in Gerontology, University of Massachusetts Boston
MS in Gerontology, University of Massachusetts Boston
EdM in Counseling Psychology, Columbia University
MA in Counseling Psychology, Columbia University
BS in Psychology and Religion, Boston University
Chronic disease
Gerontology
Global Health
Health Disparities
Mixed Methods Research
Oncology
Palliative care
Qualitative Research
Research methods
Serious illness
Self and Family Management
Theoretical and conceptual models
Women's health
American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine
Eastern Nursing Research Society
Gerontological Society of America

Faculty Honors Awards

Fellow, New York Academy of Medicine (2025)
Dean’s Excellence in Mentoring Award, NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing (2025)
World’s Top 2% of Scientists, Stanford University/Elsevier (2024)
Fellow, American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (2023)
World’s Top 2% of Scientists, Stanford University/Elsevier (2023)
World’s Top 2% of Scientists, Stanford University/Elsevier (2022)
Suzanne Feetham Nurse Scientist Family Research Award, Eastern Nursing Research Society (2019)
Annie W. Goodrich Award for Excellence in Teaching, Yale School of Nursing (2017)
Poster Award, American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (2017)
Poster Award, American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (2016)
Success Story Award, Center for Disease Control (2010)
Poster Award, American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (2010)
Ellison Medical Foundation Aging New Scholar Award Nominee, University of Massachusetts Boston (2006)
Research Award, National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (2004)
Gerontology Dissertation Book Award, University of Massachusetts Boston (2002)
Sigma Phi Omega Honor Society, University of Massachusetts Boston (1999)
Student Paper Award, Massachusetts Gerontology Association (1998)
Margaret Clark Student Paper Award, Association for Anthropology and Gerontology (1998)
Association for Gerontology in Higher Education/AARP Andrus Foundation Graduate Scholarship in Gerontology (1998)
General Scholarship Award, Columbia University (1993)
Inducted into Psi Chi, Psychology Honor Society (1992)
Golden Key Honor Society, Boston University (1992)

Publications

Deceiving appearances. Communicating with facially inexpressive older adults.

Schulman-Green, D., & Schulman-Green, D. J. (1999). In Journal of gerontological nursing (Vols. 25, Issues 11, pp. 40-43). 10.3928/0098-9134-19991101-11
Abstract
Abstract
The term "facially inexpressive" is introduced to describe individuals who have lost the ability to produce facial expressions as a result of a neuromuscular disorder. Difficulties in communication may be compounded by presentation of this condition in individuals of mature appearance because the expectation of diminished functioning may increase. Practical techniques are offered to circumvent inaccurate and potentially detrimental assumptions both practitioners and laypeople tend to make when communicating with older adults whose conditions prevent the normal yield of social cues. A case study is presented and implications for the wider geriatric population are discussed.

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