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Connell School's Christopher Lee honored
Cardiovascular nurse scientist Christopher S. Lee, the Barry Family/Goldman Sachs Endowed Professor at the Connell School of Nursing, has been honored with the Katharine A. Lembright Award and Lecture by the American Heart Association (AHA) Council on Cardiovascular and Stroke Nursing.
Lee received the award at the AHA’s Scientific Sessions, held November 6-9 in Chicago, where he delivered the Katharine A. Lembright Lecture, a presentation titled “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter: A Cardiovascular Nursing Odyssey” that looked back on his research and mentoring career.
The Lembright Award and Lecture recognizes and encourages excellence in cardiovascular research by established nurse scientists. The award’s namesake was the AHA’s assistant director for nursing from 1960-1981 and played an important role in the development and growth of the Council on Cardiovascular and Stroke Nursing.
Christopher Lee is flanked by the award presenters, University of Rochester School of Nursing Dean Lisa Kitko (left) and CSON Professor Corrine Jurgens. (Photo courtesy of Christopher Lee)
"This career achievement award from the American Heart Association afforded me the wonderful opportunity to reflect on how the generosity of others helped shape my career path, and how we can learn equally from our triumphs and tragedies," said Lee. "It is an absolute gift to contribute in small ways to the humanitarian discipline of nursing, and I am honored to be able to carry out this work at Boston College."
Lee’s research is on heart disease, focusing on improving long-term outcomes for patients and their families. He is an expert in heart failure self-care and symptom science, and patient and care-partner dyadic relationships in chronic conditions. His research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Office of Research on Women’s Health, and the AHA. He also directs CSON’s doctoral program.
Considered a lifetime achievement award, the Lembright is the highest AHA honor given to a nurse scientist. Over the course of his career, Lee has been recognized by the AHA with the Kathleen A. Dracup Award for Exemplary Early Career Mentoring (2024); Mathy Mezey Excellence in Aging Award (2020); Atherosclerosis/Heart Failure Translational Research Prize (2015); Marie Cowan Promising New Investigator Award (2013); and Martha Hill New Investigator Award (2009).
A member of the Sigma Theta Tau International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame, Lee has published more than 300 papers and his work has been cited more than 30,000 times. He is a Fellow of the Heart Failure Society of America, the American Academy of Nursing, and the AHA.