Eligible to Direct Dissertations
Contact Information
Education
PhD, Indiana University
MSN (Adult Health Clinical Nurse Specialist), Indiana University
BSN, Indiana University
BS (Business Management), Indiana Wesleyan
Research Areas
Quality of Life & Chronic Condition Management
Awards and Honors
IUPUI Research Trailblazer Award 2022
Dean’s Partnership Award for Collaborative Work to Support IU Health Riley Hospital for Children’s Nurse Residency Program, IU School of Nursing, 2022
Fellow, American Academy of Nursing, 2021
Indiana University Trustees Teaching Award, Indiana University, 2012, 2013, 2017
International Society for Medication Adherence, (ESPACOMP), 2018
Biography
Dr. Ellis is a tenured professor at the Indiana University (IU) School of Nursing and previously served as the Executive Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. During her time as the Executive Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Dr. Ellis served as the academic affairs officer for the IU School of Nursing and provided strategic leadership for BSN, MSN, DNP, and PhD programs.
Dr. Ellis has more than 15 years of academic nursing experience. She earned her BS in business management from Indiana Wesleyan University and her BSN, MSN, and PhD from the IU School of Nursing. Dr. Ellis is a board-certified adult health Clinical Nurse Specialist and is a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing.
Dr. Ellis is a recognized leader in the field of medication adherence and has an active funded research program focused on improving medication adherence using digital technologies among persons living with chronic kidney disease. Dr. Ellis’s work has been widely disseminated in peer-reviewed publications and national and international presentations. Dr. Ellis is the first nurse in the history of IU School of Nursing to be awarded a patent. She and her team of inventors hold a patent for a smart pillbox. Her current research is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NINR).
External Funding
9/23/2021-7/31/2023. “Medication Adherence Given Individual SystemCHANGE in Advancing Nephropathy (MAGICIAN) study.” (PI). NINR, $435,875.
2/15/2020-12/31/21. “Pilot: Medication adherence given individual SystemCHANGE in advancing nephropathy (MAGICIAN) study.” (PI). Center for Enhancing Quality of Life in Chronic Illness, $50,000.
Publications
Description of the video:
It's something that I'm very proud of, being the first nurse from Indiana University School of Nursing to be awarded a patent. I'm Rebecca Bartlett Ellis, and I'm a professor at Indiana University School of Nursing. I actually came into nursing as a second career, second degree. My first degree is in business, and I was working in a community hospital in nursing administration and had the opportunity to learn about nursing and discovered that nursing was really rooted in evidence-based practice. And the foundation of evidence-based practice was really a strong basis in research, and it was through learning that that I really became connected with nursing and wanted to come into the field of nursing as a nurse researcher. My current research focuses on helping individuals with multiple chronic conditions better manage their medications, and I do that through the use of digital health technologies. My current work is focused on using an intervention that combines telehealth and feedback about how well patients are taking their medication that they receive on their smartphones. So my current work is testing that intervention that embeds medication taking in daily habits and routines so that it becomes something that people do as part of their daily routine. It's not something that they have to think or do anything extra. It just embeds it into to what they're already doing so that it becomes a reliable and consistent approach for them. At the IU School of Nursing, we are committed to improving the lives of the communities we serve here in Indiana and beyond. Indiana University School of Nursing becomes a premier place to come and work as a faculty member and be engaged in research that's cutting edge and making a real impact in the world.