Shannon Halloway named inaugural Kim Scholar of Nursing

Shannon Halloway has been selected as the inaugural Heung Soo & Mi Ja Kim Endowed Faculty Scholar at the UIC College of Nursing.

The honor, made possible by a generous gift from Dean Emerita Mi Ja Kim and her husband, Heung Soo, is designated to support an outstanding faculty member who demonstrates excellence in research.

“We are so pleased to welcome Dr. Halloway as our inaugural Kim Scholar,” said Dean Eileen Collins. “The Kims bestowed this award with the intention of propelling forward the work of nurse scientists who are changing the face of health care with their research. Shannon embodies this goal perfectly.”

Halloway comes to UIC Nursing from Rush University College of Nursing, where she was an associate professor in the department of community, systems and mental health nursing. Halloway will be inducted in the American Academy of Nursing’s 2022 class of fellows in October.

As an associate professor in the department of biobehavioral nursing science at UIC Nursing, Halloway will continue her work on interventions (physical activity and cognitive training) to prevent memory loss in older women with cardiovascular disease, a critical area of research because cardiovascular disease is one of the leading risk factors for cognitive impairment. She is funded with grants from the National Institute for Nursing Research, the Institute of Translational Medicine, and the Consolidated Anti-Aging Foundation.

Halloway began her career as a cardiac critical care nurse. Her experiences with patients sparked her passion for preventative health and her interest in identifying interventions to promote heart health.

“It’s a fitting coincidence that both Mi Ja and Shannon started their careers as critical care nurses — allowing us to honor Dr. Kim’s legacy of practice and research,” Collins said.

– Deborah Ziff Soriano