UAH College of Nursing researcher helping make future brighter for transplant patients

Dr. Haley Hoy, a professor of nursing at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), is pursuing a longstanding passion for research in the field of transplantation. The educator recently supported a study using machine learning algorithms to identify important risk factors for cardiovascular death and to develop a prediction model in liver transplant patients.

Hoy, who is also an alumna of UAH, a part of The University of Alabama System, began her nursing career as an acute care nurse. She also shares her expertise in the field through numerous training seminars and conferences across the country.

“I found that working as a nurse practitioner (NP) in the field of transplantation provided both a challenging and rewarding experience,” the alumna says, explaining how she came to focus on this vital area of healthcare. “The patients I work with have all met with their own mortality and remind me every day to concentrate on the important things in life. 2025 will be my twentieth year working in lung transplantation.”

Finding a firm foundation at UAH

As UAH is ranked as “R1 – Very high research activity” status among doctoral-granting universities in the Carnegie rankings, the university proved to be a perfect collaborative fit for Hoy, both as a nursing student and faculty member.

“I chose nursing because I am a people person who enjoys science,” Hoy notes. “Nurses are some of the biggest users of STEM – science, technology, engineering and math – and I think that part of it often gets overlooked. I chose UAH for undergraduate education because it has a strong reputation for research. I knew I wanted to pursue a Ph.D., and I thought UAH would provide a strong foundation. After working as a graduate teaching assistant during my master’s degree, I realized I wanted to teach as well.”

Timing was also big factor to finding the best mentor and program to help her pursue her goals. “I was in the second graduating class of the acute care nurse practitioner degree started by Dr. Joan Williamson,” the researcher says. “I found the professors at UAH to be both approachable and genuine, and I knew I wanted to emulate that.”

Leveraging cutting-edge technologies to make a difference

In this recent study, Hoy collaborated with Auburn University to focus on cardiovascular disease and mortality among nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) patients who have undergone a liver transplant. NASH is an inflammatory subtype of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in which fat builds up in the livers of people who drink little or no alcohol.

Detection and prediction of CVD after liver transplants in NASH patients are essential. The condition is the fastest-growing reason for liver transplants and affects 3% to 6% of the U.S. population, and cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of mortality among these patients. The study utilizes machine-learning models – the science of teaching machines how to learn by themselves, enabling machines to rapidly perform high-frequency repetitive tasks with great accuracy – to predict and detect novel risk factors of CVD among NASH patients after transplants.

Leveraging a machine-learning algorithm will ultimately enable clinicians to implement timely therapies and improve patient outcomes.

Leading the way with a collaborative approach

Hoy has also taken a more traditional approach to innovation – by encouraging greater collaboration in the field. Her passion for her research has led to her spreading the word through a forum she devised almost two decades ago.

“One of the things I am most proud of is the Transplant Provider Symposium that I started nearly twenty years ago with my mentor at Vanderbilt Medical Center, Edward Zavala MBA,” she says. “He had been conducting a symposium for transplant administrators for many years and we wondered of there was a need for education at the prescriptive level for transplant nurse practitioners.

“This was a new role for nurse practitioners at the time,” Hoy notes. “We thought we would attract only a handful of people, but since its inception, we have been fortunate to have approximately 200 NPs from across the nation and internationally attend every year. We found an unmet educational need in a clinical area, and we often conduct survey research with participants. In my mind, this allows me to apply the clinical, education and research role of a nursing faculty.”

Looking to the future of transplantation, the field is continually developing new therapies to make a big difference in patient care and outcomes, says Hoy.

“The beauty of working in transplantation is that it is constantly changing and advancing at a rapid pace. Currently, advances in the procurement of organs using animal models and continuing to advance our understanding of the complex human immune system appear to be at the forefront.”