Nurse Scientist Susan Smith Birkhoff Makes Two Research ‘Firsts’ in Delaware

Susan Smith Birkhoff, Ph.D., RN, is making nursing history in the First State through the Delaware IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE). She is the first nurse scientist to be named an INBRE site principal investigator and she is the first nurse to receive the Seema S. Sonnad Mentor of the Year Award from INBRE’s Junior Investigator Network.

INBRE is a collaborative network of Delaware academic, health care and research institutions, composed of ChristianaCare, Delaware State University, Delaware Technical Community College Nemours Children’s Health and University of Delaware.

First nurse scientist to lead INBRE site

As the INBRE site principal investigator at ChristianaCare, Smith Birkhoff will expand on the research network’s success at a large academic health center. In collaboration with the INBRE partners and the program manager, Kellie Patterson, BSN, RN, CCRP, she will leverage centers of excellence across ChristianaCare to host an exceptional student program, increase the health system's contributions to the pilot program pool and grow the visibility of INBRE across the enterprise.

“Susan brings a terrific combination of skills to this role,” said Omar Khan, M.D., MHS, FAAFP, chief scientific officer for ChristianaCare and institutional representative on the INBRE steering committee.

“She is a mentor, scientist and teacher, and her experience with INBRE and the state’s other premier research programs will ensure that we deliver the highest value for the Delaware community.”

Smith Birkhoff leads and supports interprofessional research education, systemwide technology evaluation, and grantsmanship. She spearheads a diverse research program, encompassing areas such as robotics in health care, virtual reality in medicine and burnout in the nursing workforce.

As program director of Technology Research & Education at ChristianaCare, she collaborates across the health system’s academic research enterprise to achieve both clinician- and patient-oriented research outcomes.

“Susan is a wonderful colleague and she is a true researcher-educator,” said Neil Jasani, M.D., MBA, FACEP, chief academic officer for ChristianaCare. “She is a great fit for the work of Delaware INBRE as we advance ChristianaCare’s contribution to this essential research network.”

She co-leads an innovative program to study the one of the first deployments of increasingly autonomous robots in a U.S. health care setting and directs the first Nursing Research Fellowship in Robotics and Innovation, housed at ChristianaCare.

First nurse named Mentor of the Year

Smith Birkhoff received the 2025 Seema S. Sonnad Mentor of the Year Award from INBRE’s Junior Investigator Network, nominated for her exceptional mentorship by ChristianaCare colleagues whom she mentored. Her nominators were: Kaci Rainey, MSN, RN, CEN, TCRN, an evidence-based practice specialist at ChristianaCare, and Briana Abernathy, BSN, RN, CEN, a nurse in utilization management at ChristianaCare and an inaugral nurse fellow in the Nursing Research Fellowship in Robotics and Innovation.

“They say that if you are not at the table, you are on the menu. We are profoundly grateful that Dr. Smith Birkhoff selflessly provided us with a seat at the table and an overflowing feast of knowledge,” said Abernathy in presenting the award.

“This knowledge has quenched our thirst for change and fueled our hunger for research and innovation, setting the stage for the rest of our careers.”