Barbara L. Brush, Ph.D., ANP-BC, FAAN


Professor
Professor, School of Public Health
Department of Health Behavior and Biological Sciences
Room 4148 NURS2

University of Michigan School of Nursing
426 North Ingalls Building
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2003

Telephone: (734) 763-3218
Fax: (734) 763-0681
Barbara Brush is accepting new PhD students.

Interests

  • Community-based participatory research (CBPR)
  • Health disparities
  • Family homelessness
  • Best practice models
  • Nurse workforce

Dr. Brush’s research delves into the social determinants influencing health, with a specific emphasis on their role in fostering health disparities and inequalities within urban communities. Most studies are conducted collaboratively with partners in Detroit, using a community-based participatory research approach. Over the past fifteen years, Dr. Brush has been actively engaged with Detroit partners in understanding and addressing elements contributing to housing instability and homelessness among African American families. Recent work, with researchers from Henry Ford Hospital and community partners, is dedicated to enhancing Black participation in cancer clinical trials, ultimately aiming to improve health outcomes. In addition to her community research, Dr. Brush explores critical aspects of nurse workforce development and capacity building and is a prominent authority on primary care practice and international nurse migration.

Current Research Grants and Programs

  • Measurement Approaches to Partnership Success (MAPS): An Innovative Tool for Assessing Long-Standing CBPR Partnerships. (Co-PI: RO1/NINR), 2016-2023.
  • Community-Based Participatory Research: Extending the Use of Innovative Methodologies in the Behavioral and Social Sciences (Co-I: R25/NIEHS). 2020-2024.
  • Participatory Action for Access to Clinical Trials (PAACT). (Co-PI: Genentech), 2021-2023.
  • COVID-19 and Nail Salon Workers: Taking Stock of the Pandemic's Impact on Occupational Health and Safety (Co-I: R03/CDC/NIOSH). 2023-2025.

Teaching

Dr. Brush’s dedication to critical thinking is evident throughout her teaching. At the doctoral level, she teaches several core courses and provides guidance to doctoral and post-doctoral students in nursing and other disciplines in their research pursuits. With over 40 years of experience as a nurse practitioner, Dr. Brush also teaches, precepts, and supervises students specializing in primary care. Dr. Brush extends her teaching and mentorship to undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students across health disciplines, overseeing their involvement in community-based research activities. In recognition of her outstanding teaching contributions, Dr. Brush was honored with the Mae Edna Doyle Teacher of the Year Award in 2010.

Affiliations / Service

  • Nurse Practitioner, Hope Medical Clinic, Inc., Ypsilanti, MI, 2008-present
  • Associate Director, National Clinician Scholars Program, Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovative, 2020-2023
  • Grants Reviewer, National Library of Medicine Study Section, 2010-present
  • Board Member, The Detroit Urban Community-Academic Research Center, 2014-2023

Notable Awards / Honors

  • Fellow, American Academy of Nursing, 1999
  • Excellence in Nursing Leadership Award, Sigma Theta Tau, 2007
  • Mae Edna Doyle Teacher of the Year, University of Michigan School of Nursing, 2010

Education

  • PhD, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 1994
  • MSN, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 1982
  • BSN, Southeastern Massachusetts University, North Dartmouth, MA, 1979

Publication Highlights

  • Brush, B.L., Israel, B.A., Coombe, C., Lee, D.S.Y., Wilson-Powers, E., Gabrysiak, A., & Lachance, L. (2023). Measurement Approaches to Partnership Success (MAPS): A validated survey questionnaire to assess partnership outcomes. Health Promotion and Practice: Research, Education, and Action. https://doi.org/10.1177/15248399231206088

  • Lachance, L., Brush, B.L., Mentz, G., Baker, E., Coombe, C., de Maio, R., Jensen, M., Lee, S.Y.D., Reyes, A., Rowe, Z., Schulz, A., Gabrysiak, A., Wilson-Powers, E., Israel, B.A. (2023). Validation of the Measurement Approaches to Partnership Success (MAPS) questionnaire. Health Education and Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1177/10901981231213352

  • Wilson-Powers, E., Jensen, M., Gabrysiak, A., Brush, B.L., Coombe, C., Israel, B.A., Lee, D.S.Y., Richmond, A., & Lachance, L. (2023). Using a CBPR approach to guide successful recruitment for an online survey: The Measurement Approaches to Partnership Success (MAPS) case study. Health Promotion Practice. https://doi.org/10.1177/15248399231211532

  • Choi, K.R., Brush, B.L., Chapman, S.A., Costa, D., Feder, S., Gutierrez, J.I., Heilemann, M.S., Manojlovich, M., Noonan, D., Park, L.G., Potempa, K., & Sochalski, J.A. (2023). Preparing nurse scientists for health services and policy research: Five-year outcomes of interprofessional postdoctoral training in the National Clinician Scholars Program. Nursing Outlook, 71(4), 102024. doi: 10.1016/j.outlook.2023.102024 

  • Chandanabhumma, P.P., Berry, J., Wilson-Powers, E., Rowe, Z., Reyes, A., Lachance, L., Brush, B.L., & Israel, B.A. (2023). Understanding the utility of an evaluation instrument and feedback mechanism in community-based participatory research (CBPR) partnerships (Abstract). Journal of Clinical and Translational Science, 7(s1), 72. https://doi.org/10.1017/cts.2023.303

  • Gultekin, L., Gilchrist, C., Hinebaugh, A., Walker, A., & Brush, B.L. (2023). Trauma disclosure, meaning making, and help seeking in mothers experiencing homelessness: Results from a trauma focused clinical ethnographic narrative intervention. Violence Against Women. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778012231170860

  • Chandanabhumma, P., Gabrysiak, A., Brush, B.L., Burhansstipanov, L., Coombe, C., Eng, E., Jensen, M., Lachance, L., Shepard, P., Wallerstein, N.B., & Israel, B.A. (2023). Cultivating an ecosystem: A qualitative exploration of sustainability in long-standing community-based participatory (CBPR) partnerships. Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action, 17(3), e5. 

  • Brush, B.L., Lee, D.S.Y., Gabrysiak, A., Chandanabhumma, P., Jensen, M., Coombe, C., Valerio, M., Israel, B.A., & Lachance, L. (2022). A CBPR-enhanced Delphi method: The Measurement Approaches to Partnership Success (MAPS) case study. Health Education and Behavior. doi: 10.1177/10901981221076400

  • Arring, N.M., Aduse-Poku, L., Jiagge, E., Saylor, K., White-Perkins, D., Israel, B., Walker, E., Harb, R., DeWitt, J., Molnar, M., Wilson-Powers, E., & Brush, B.L. (2022). A scoping review of strategies to increase Black enrollment and retention in cancer clinical trials. Journal of Clinical Oncology-Oncology Practice, 18(9), 614-632. doi: 10.1200/OP.21.00863.

  • LaChance, L., Coombe, C., Brush, B.L., Lee, D.S.Y., Jensen, M., Taffe, B., Bhardwaj, P., Muhammed, M., Wilson-Powers, E., Rowe, Z., Caldwell, C., & Israel, B, (2020). Understanding the benefit-cost relationship in longstanding community-based participatory research (CBPR) partnerships: Findings from the Measurement Approaches to Partnership Success (MAPS) Study. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 58(3), 1-24. doi: 10.1/77/0021886320972193.

  • Wagner, L.M., Brush, B.L., Castle, N.G., Engberg, J.B., & Capezuti, E.A. (2020).  Nursing home patient safety culture perceptions among U.S. and immigrant nurses. Journal of Patient Safety, 16(3), 238-244. doi: 10.1097/PTS.0000000000000271

  • Coombe, C.M., Chandanabhumma, P., Bhardwaj, P., Brush, B.L., Greene-Moton, E., Jensen, M., LaChance, L., Lee, D.S.Y., Meisenheimer, M., Minkler, M., Muhammad, M., Reyes, A.G., Rowe,  Z., Wilson-Powers, E., & Israel, B.A. (2020). A participatory mixed methods approach to define and measure partnership synergy in longstanding equity focused CBPR partnerships. American Journal of Community Psychology, 66 (3-4), 427-438. 

  • Israel, B.A., LaChance, L., Coombs, C., Lee, D.S.Y., Jensen, M., Wilson-Powers, E., Mentz, G., Muhammad, M., Rowe, Z., Reyes, A., & Brush, B.L. (2020) Measurement approaches to partnership success: Theory and methods for measuring success in long-standing CBPR partnerships. Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action, 14,1 (Spring): 129-140.  

  • Brush, B.L., Mentz, G., Jensen, M., Jacobs, B., Saylor, K., Israel, B.A., Rowe, Z., & LaChance, L. (2020). Success inlong-standing community-based participatory research (CBPR) partnerships: A scoping literature review. Health Education and Behavior, 47(3), 556-568. doi: 10.1177/1090198119882989

  • Gultekin, L., Brush, B.L., Ginier, E., Cordom, A., & Dowdell, E. (2019). Health risks and outcomes of homelessness in school-age children: A scoping review of the literature. The Journal of School Nursing, 36(1): 10-18. doi: 10.1177/1059840519875182.