Katherine A. Sward

Katherine A. Sward, PhD, RN, FAAN

Academic Information

Departments Primary - Biomedical Informatics

Academic Office Information

kathy.sward@nurs.utah.edu

Lab

Katherine (Kathy) Sward has joint appointment as a Professor in Nursing and a Professor in Biomedical Informatics. She worked as a nurse and as a knowledge engineer before moving to her current academic role. She specializes in Clinical Research Informatics and Exposure (Environmental) Informatics. She has led multiple extramural research projects and academic teams. She is on the leadership team at the Utah Data Coordinating Center; and has leadership roles on network projects. At the DCC, she leads data harmonization, information management, and informatics/data science initiatives. Dr. Sward also leads efforts to examine the effects of the environment on health and co-directs the Center of Excellence for Exposure Health Research. She has extensive teaching and curriculum development experience and teaches multiple informatics and research courses. She is widely sought as a scientific mentor and has mentored more than 50 graduate students and faculty.

Research Statement

Extensive experience in biomedical and nursing informatics, including terminology/vocabulary management and data/information standards; and the design, development, and implementation of decision support systems and databases. Clinical background includes clinical nursing (Med-Surg and ICU), education, and administration. Current research is in the area of clinical research informatics, including clinical and translational research and managing research information in domain-specific populations (e.g., pediatrics, ICU, oncology, gerontology, women's health); as well as informatics to support exposure science, sensor monitoring.

Education History

Diploma Lutheran Hospital School for Nurses
 RN
Undergraduate Westminster College of Salt Lake City
 BS
Graduate Training University of Utah
 MS
Doctoral Training University of Utah
 PhD

Selected Publications

Journal Article

  1. Yang R, Wang H, Edelman LS, Tracy EL, Demiris G, Sward KA, Donaldson GW (2020). Loneliness as a mediator of the impact of social isolation on cognitive functioning of Chinese older adults. Age Ageing, 49(4), 599-604. (Read full article)
  2. Matney S, Brewster PJ, Sward KA, Cloyes KG, Staggers N (2011). Philosophical approaches to the nursing informatics data-information-knowledge-wisdom framework. ANS Adv Nurs Sci, 34(1), 6-18. (Read full article)
  3. Martial MA, Sward KA, Morse JM, Wilson AR, Martial C, Penney DS, Nicolas E (2021). Anemia Management in Rural Haitian Children: A Mixed Methods Study. J Transcult Nurs, 32(6), 672-680.
  4. Guo JW, Keeshin BR, Conway M, Chapman WW, Sward KA (2021). A Scoping Review and Content Analysis of Common Depressive Symptoms of Young People. J Sch Nurs, 38, 10598405211012680. (Read full article)
  5. Staggers N, Lyons A, Sward (2000). Implementation of a new e-mail application in a health sciences center. Case study. Computers in nursing, 18(2), 59-61. (Read full article)
  6. Hirshberg E, Lacroix J, Sward K, Willson D, Morris A (2008). Blood glucose control in critically ill adults and children: a survey on stated practice. Chest, 133(6), 1328-1335. (Read full article)
  7. Khemani RG, Sward K, Morris A, Dean JM, Newth CJ, NICHD Collaborative Pediatric Critical Care Research Network (CPCCRN) (2011). Variability in usual care mechanical ventilation for pediatric acute lung injury: the potential benefit of a lung protective computer protocol. Intensive care medicine, 37(11), 1840-8. (Read full article)
  8. Thompson CB, Sward (2005). Modeling and teaching techniques for conceptual and logical relational database design. Journal of medical systems, 29(5), 513-25. (Read full article)
  9. Roberts L, Sward (2001). Birth center outcomes reported through automated technology. Journal of obstetric, gynecologic, and neonatal nursing, 30(1), 110-20. (Read full article)
  10. Gawron LM, Sanders JN, Sward K, Poursaid AE, Simmons R, Turok D (2020). Multi-morbidity and Highly Effective Contraception in Reproductive-Age Women in the US Intermountain West: a Retrospective Cohort Study. Journal of general internal medicine, 35(3), 637-642. (Read full article)
  11. Newth CJ, Meert KL, Clark AE, Moler FW, Zuppa AF, Berg RA, Pollack MM, Sward KA, Berger JT, Wessel DL, Harrison RE, Reardon J, Carcillo JA, Shanley TP, Holubkov R, Dean JM, Doctor A, Nicholson CE, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Collaborative Pediatric Critical Care Research Network (2012). Fatal and near-fatal asthma in children: the critical care perspective. The Journal of pediatrics, 161(2), 214-21.e3. (Read full article)
  12. Demiris G, Iribarren SJ, Sward K, Lee S, Yang (2019). Patient generated health data use in clinical practice: A systematic review. Nursing outlook, 67(4), 311-330. (Read full article)
  13. Guo JW, Sward KA, Beck SL, Staggers (2014). Quality of reporting randomized controlled trials in cancer nursing research. Nursing research, 63(1), 26-35. (Read full article)
  14. Newth CJL, Khemani RG, Jouvet PA, Sward K (2017). Mechanical Ventilation and Decision Support in Pediatric Intensive Care. Pediatric clinics of North America, 64(5), 1057-1070. (Read full article)
  15. Jung CY, Sward KA, Haug P (2012). Executing medical logic modules expressed in ArdenML using Drools. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 19(4), 533-6. (Read full article)
  16. Lyons AM, Sward KA, Deshmukh VG, Pett MA, Donaldson GW, Turnbull (2017). Impact of computerized provider order entry (CPOE) on length of stay and mortality. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 24(2), 303-309. (Read full article)
  17. Frey LJ, Sward KA, Newth CJ, Khemani RG, Cryer ME, Thelen JL, Enriquez R, Shaoyu S, Pollack MM, Harrison RE, Meert KL, Berg RA, Wessel DL, Shanley TP, Dalton H, Carcillo J, Jenkins TL, Dean J (2015). Virtualization of open-source secure web services to support data exchange in a pediatric critical care research network. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 22(6), 1271-6. (Read full article)
  18. Morris AH, Stagg B, Lanspa M, Orme J, Clemmer TP, Weaver LK, Thomas F, Grissom CK, Hirshberg E, East TD, Wallace CJ, Young MP, Sittig DF, Pesenti A, Bombino M, Beck E, Sward KA, Weir C, Phansalkar SS, Bernard GR, Taylor Thompson B, Brower R, Truwit JD, Steingrub J, Duncan Hite R, Willson DF, Zimmerman JJ, Nadkarni VM, Randolph A, Curley MAQ, Newth CJL, Lacroix J, Agus MSD, Lee KH, deBoisblanc BP, Scott Evans R, Sorenson DK, Wong A, Boland MV, Grainger DW, Dere WH, Crandall AS, Facelli JC, Huff SM, Haug PJ, Pielmeier U, Rees SE, Karbing DS, Andreassen S, Fan E, Goldring RM, Berger KI, Oppenheimer BW, Wesley Ely E, Gajic O, Pickering B, Schoenfeld DA, Tocino I, Gonnering RS, Pronovost PJ, Savitz LA, Dreyfuss D, Slutsky AS, Crapo JD, Angus D, Pinsky MR, James B, Berwick (2021). Enabling a learning healthcare system with automated computer protocols that produce replicable and personalized clinician actions. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 28(6), 1330-1344. (Read full article)
  19. Khemani RG, Hotz JC, Sward KA, Newth CJ (2020). The role of computer-based clinical decision support systems to deliver protective mechanical ventilation. Current opinion in critical care, 26(1), 73-81. (Read full article)
  20. Blagev DP, Hirshberg EL, Sward K, Thompson BT, Brower R, Truwit J, Hite D, Steingrub J, Orme JF Jr, Clemmer TP, Weaver LK, Thomas F, Grissom CK, Sorenson D, Sittig DF, Wallace CJ, East TD, Warner HR, Morris A (2012). The evolution of eProtocols that enable reproducible clinical research and care methods. Journal of clinical monitoring and computing, 26(4), 305-17. (Read full article)
  21. Furlong-Dillard JM, Miller BJ, Sward KA, Neary AI, Hardin-Reynolds TL, Jeffers G, Clay BA, Truong DT, Miller TA, Jones CE, Lambert LM, Bailly D (2019). The association between feeding protocol compliance and weight gain following high-risk neonatal cardiac surgery. Cardiology in the young, 29(5), 594-601. (Read full article)
  22. Phansalkar S, Sward KA, Weir CR, Morris A (2007). Mapping clinicians' perceptions about computerized protocol use to an IT implementation framework. Studies in health technology and informatics, 129(Pt 2), 1098-101. (Read full article)
  23. Tiase VL, Sward KA, Cummins M (2019). Navigating the Search for Patient Generated Health Data. Studies in health technology and informatics, 264, 1992. (Read full article)
  24. Hirshberg EL, Lanspa MJ, Wilson EL, Sward KA, Jephson A, Larsen GY, Morris A (2017). A Pediatric Intensive Care Unit Bedside Computer Clinical Decision Support Protocol for Hyperglycemia Is Feasible, Safe and Offers Advantages. Diabetes technology & therapeutics, 19(3), 188-193. (Read full article)
  25. Sorenson D, Grissom CK, Carpenter L, Austin A, Sward K, Napoli L, Warner HR, Morris AH, Reengineering Clinical Research in Critical Care Investigators (2008). A frame-based representation for a bedside ventilator weaning protocol. Journal of biomedical informatics, 41(3), 461-8. (Read full article)
  26. Sward K, Orme J Jr, Sorenson D, Baumann L, Morris AH, Reengineering Critical Care Clinical Research Investigators (2008). Reasons for declining computerized insulin protocol recommendations: application of a framework. Journal of biomedical informatics, 41(3), 488-97. (Read full article)
  27. Sward KA, Richardson S, Kendrick J, Maloney (2008). Use of a Web-based game to teach pediatric content to medical students. Ambulatory pediatrics, 8(6), 354-9. (Read full article)
  28. Guo JW, Sward K, Beck S, Wong B, Staggers N, Frey (2014). Using a content analysis to identify study eligibility criteria concepts in cancer nursing research. Computers, informatics, nursing, 32(7), 333-42. (Read full article)
  29. Kalsy M, Lin JH, Bray BE, Sward K (2018). Role of Nursing Informatics in the Automation of Pneumonia Quality Measure Data Elements. Computers, informatics, nursing, 36(10), 475-483. (Read full article)
  30. Sward KA, Rubin S, Jenkins TL, Newth CJ, Dean JM, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Collaborative Pediatric Critical Care Research Network (CPCCRN) (2016). Case Study: Semantic Annotation of a Pediatric Critical Care Research Study. Computers, informatics, nursing, 34(3), 101-4. (Read full article)
  31. Yang R, Plasek JM, Cummins MR, Sward K (2021). Predicting Falls Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Demonstration of Applied Machine Learning. Computers, informatics, nursing, 39(5), 273-280. (Read full article)
  32. Cummins MR, Sward K, Guo J (2015). Leaders in Nursing Informatics Education and Research: The University of Utah Celebrates 25 Years. Computers, informatics, nursing, 33(9), 379-81. (Read full article)
  33. Roemer LK, Richardson SJ, Sward K, Tilley (2005). Redundancy in a computer-generated order list: meeting the needs of nurses at various levels of practice expertise. Computers, informatics, nursing, 23(2), 73-82; quiz 83-4. (Read full article)
  34. Hirshberg EL, Sward KA, Faustino EV, Nadkarni VM, Agus MS, Morris AH, Lacroix (2013). Clinical equipoise regarding glycemic control: a survey of pediatric intensivist perceptions. Pediatric critical care medicine, 14(2), 123-9. (Read full article)
  35. Newth CJL, Sward KA, Khemani RG, Page K, Meert KL, Carcillo JA, Shanley TP, Moler FW, Pollack MM, Dalton HJ, Wessel DL, Berger JT, Berg RA, Harrison RE, Holubkov R, Doctor A, Dean JM, Jenkins TL, Nicholson CE, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute for Child Health and Human Development Collaborative Pediatric Critical Care Research Network (CPCCRN) (2017). Variability in Usual Care Mechanical Ventilation for Pediatric Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome: Time for a Decision Support Protocol?. Pediatric critical care medicine, 18(11), e521-e529. (Read full article)
  36. Sward KA, Newth CJL, Khemani RG, Page K, Meert KL, Carcillo JA, Shanley TP, Moler FW, Pollack MM, Dalton HJ, Wessel DL, Berger JT, Berg RA, Harrison RE, Doctor A, Dean JM, Holobkov R, Jenkins TL, Nicholson CE, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute for Child Health and Human Development Collaborative Pediatric Critical Care Research Network (CPCCRN) (2017). Potential Acceptability of a Pediatric Ventilator Management Computer Protocol. Pediatric critical care medicine, 18(11), 1027-1034. (Read full article)
  37. Carcillo JA, Sward K, Halstead ES, Telford R, Jimenez-Bacardi A, Shakoory B, Simon D, Hall M, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Collaborative Pediatric Critical Care Research Network Investigators (2017). A Systemic Inflammation Mortality Risk Assessment Contingency Table for Severe Sepsis. Pediatric critical care medicine, 18(2), 143-150. (Read full article)
  38. Thompson BT, Orme JF, Zheng H, Luckett PM, Truwit JD, Willson DF, Duncan Hite R, Brower RG, Bernard GR, Curley MA, Steingrub JS, Sorenson DK, Sward K, Hirshberg E, Morris AH, Reengineering Critical Care Clinical Research Investigators (2008). Multicenter validation of a computer-based clinical decision support tool for glucose control in adult and pediatric intensive care units. Journal of diabetes science and technology, 2(3), 357-68. (Read full article)
  39. Tiase VL, Wawrzynski SE, Sward KA, Del Fiol G, Staes C, Weir C, Cummins M (2021). Provider Preferences for Patient-Generated Health Data Displays in Pediatric Asthma: A Participatory Design Approach. Applied clinical informatics, 12(3), 664-674. (Read full article)
  40. Tiase VL, Hull W, McFarland MM, Sward KA, Del Fiol G, Staes C, Weir C, Cummins M (2019). Patient-generated health data and electronic health record integration: protocol for a scoping review. BMJ open, 9(12), e033073. (Read full article)
  41. Luo G, Stone BL, Koebnick C, He S, Au DH, Sheng X, Murtaugh MA, Sward KA, Schatz M, Zeiger RS, Davidson GH, Nkoy F (2019). Using Temporal Features to Provide Data-Driven Clinical Early Warnings for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Asthma Care Management: Protocol for a Secondary Analysis. JMIR research protocols, 8(6), e13783. (Read full article)
  42. Sward KA, Newth CJ (2016). Computerized Decision Support Systems for Mechanical Ventilation in Children. Journal of pediatric intensive care, 5(3), 95-100. (Read full article)
  43. Iribarren SJ, Sward KA, Beck SL, Pearce PF, Thurston D, Chirico (2015). Qualitative evaluation of a text messaging intervention to support patients with active tuberculosis: implementation considerations. JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 3(1), e21. (Read full article)
  44. Luo G, Sward (2017). A Roadmap for Optimizing Asthma Care Management via Computational Approaches. JMIR medical informatics, 5(3), e32. (Read full article)
  45. Tiase VL, Sward KA, Del Fiol G, Staes C, Weir C, Cummins M (2021). Patient-Generated Health Data in Pediatric Asthma: Exploratory Study of Providers' Information Needs. JMIR pediatrics and parenting, 4(1), e25413. (Read full article)
  46. Tiase VL, Hull W, McFarland MM, Sward KA, Del Fiol G, Staes C, Weir C, Cummins M (2020). Patient-generated health data and electronic health record integration: a scoping review. JAMIA open, 3(4), 619-627. (Read full article)
  47. (2008).
  48. Hirshberg, (2013).
  49. Tiase, (2020). Patient-Generated Health Data In Pediatric Asthma: An Exploratory Study of Providers' Information Needs. JMIR pediatrics and parenting,
  50. Furlong-Dillard, J.M (2019). The Association between Compliance and Weight Gain When Using a Feeding Protocol in Single Ventricle Patients; a Single Center Experience.
  51. Blagev, (2012).
  52. (2008).
  53. Yang, (2020). Predicting falls among community-dwelling older adults: A demonstration of applied machine learning.
  54. Newth CJ (2017). Mechanical ventilation & decision support in pediatric intensive care. Pediatric clinics of North America, 64, 1057-1070.
  55. Guo, Jia-We (2014).
  56. (2009).
  57. (2011).
  58. Gouripeddi (2020). Reproducible informatics for reproducible translational research. Journal of clinical and translational science,
  59. Hirshberg E (2017). A pediatric ICU bedside computer protocol for hyperglycemia is feasible, safe, and offers advantages. 19, 188-193.
  60. Jung, C.Y (2012).
  61. KATHERINE A SWAR (2015).
  62. Yang, (2020). Loneliness as a mediator of the impact of social isolation on cognitive functioning of Chinese older adults. Age and ageing,
  63. (2008).
  64. Gawron, (2019). Multi-morbidity and Highly Effective Contraception in Reproductive-Aged Women in the U.S. Intermountain West: A Retrospective Cohort Study. Journal of general internal medicine,
  65. (2009).
  66. (2008).
  67. Demiris, (2019). Patient Generated Health Data Use in Clinical Practice: A Review. Nursing outlook, 67, 311-330.
  68. Li K, Deng H, Morrison J, Habre R, Franklin (2021). W-TSS: A Wavelet-Based Algorithm for Discovering Time Series Shapelets. 21, (Read full article)
  69. Sward, Katherine (2016).
  70. Khemani, R. (2011).
  71. Li K, Sward K, Deng H, Morrison J, Habre (2022). Using dynamic time warping self-organizing maps to characterize diurnal patterns in environmental exposures. Scientific reports, 11, 24052. (Read full article)
  72. (2008).
  73. Newth, (2012).
  74. (2008).
  75. Tiase, (2019). Patient-generated health data and electronic health record integration: protocol for a scoping review. BMJ open, 9, e033073.
  76. Lyons, An (2016).
  77. KATHERINE A SWAR (2014).
  78. Yang R, Wang H, Tracy EL, Jo YJ, Sward KA, Edelman LS, Demiris (2023). What is the relationship between falls, functional limitations, and depressive symptoms among Chinese older adults? The role of living alone. Maturitas, 168, 78-83. (Read full article)
  79. Morris AH, Horvat C, Stagg B, Grainger DW, Lanspa M, Orme J, Clemmer TP, Weaver LK, Thomas FO, Grissom CK, Hirshberg E, East TD, Wallace CJ, Young MP, Sittig DF, Suchyta M, Pearl JE, Pesenti A, Bombino M, Beck E, Sward KA, Weir C, Phansalkar S, Bernard GR, Thompson BT, Brower R, Truwit J, Steingrub J, Hiten RD, Willson DF, Zimmerman JJ, Nadkarni V, Randolph AG, Curley MAQ, Newth CJL, Lacroix J, Agus MSD, Lee KH, deBoisblanc BP, Moore FA, Evans RS, Sorenson DK, Wong A, Boland MV, Dere WH, Crandall A, Facelli J, Huff SM, Haug PJ, Pielmeier U, Rees SE, Karbing DS, Andreassen S, Fan E, Goldring RM, Berger KI, Oppenheimer BW, Ely EW, Pickering BW, Schoenfeld DA, Tocino I, Gonnering RS, Pronovost PJ, Savitz LA, Dreyfuss D, Slutsky AS, Crapo JD, Pinsky MR, James B, Berwick D (2022). Computer clinical decision support that automates personalized clinical care: a challenging but needed healthcare delivery strategy. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 30(1), 178-194. (Read full article)
  80. Burr JS, Johnson A, Risenmay A, Bisping S, Serdoz ES, Coleman W, Sward KA, Rothwell E, Dean J (2022). Demonstration Project: Transitioning a Research Network to New Single IRB Platforms. Ethics & human research, 44(6), 32-38. (Read full article)
  81. Sward KA, Enriquez R, Burr J, Ozier J, Roebuck M, Elliott C, Dean J (2022). Consent Builder: an innovative tool for creating research informed consent documents. JAMIA open, 5(3), ooac069. (Read full article)
  82. Martial MA, Sward KA, Morse JM, Wilson AR, Martial C, Penney DS, Nicolas (2021). Anemia Management in Rural Haitian Children: A Mixed Methods Study. Journal of transcultural nursing, 32(6), 672-680. (Read full article)
  83. Adams MCB, Sward KA, Perkins ML, Hurley R (2025). Standardizing research methods for opioid dose comparison: the NIH HEAL morphine milligram equivalent calculator. Pain, (Read full article)
  84. Sutherland EK, Smith JD, Ofori-Boateng M, Kushitor SB, Sarkwah HN, Kwanin BA, Sward KA, Gouripeddi R, Manortey SO, Price MD, Rositch A, Ngwa W, Alder SC, Joshu C, Price R (2024). Study protocol for the development of a real-time interface showing the availability of breast and cervical cancer services in Ghana. PloS one, 19(10), e0312150. (Read full article)
  85. Nie Z, Gao S, Chen L, Yang R, Edelman LS, Sward KA, Jiang Y, Demiris (2024). Social media use and mental health among older adults with multimorbidity: the role of self-care efficacy. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 31(10), 2210-2216. (Read full article)
  86. Tiase VL, Sward KA, Facelli J (2024). A Scalable and Extensible Logical Data Model of Electronic Health Record Audit Logs for Temporal Data Mining (RNteract): Model Conceptualization and Formulation. JMIR nursing, 7, e55793. (Read full article)

Book Chapter

  1. Sward, (2014).

Conference Proceedings

  1. Sward, (2019). Making the connection: Integrated sensor systems research.
  2. Lundrigan, (2018). EpiFi: An in-home IoT architecture for epidemiological deployments.
  3. Gouripeddi, (2019). An architecture for metadata-driven integration of heterogeneous sensor and health data for translational exposomic research.
  4. Moore, (2018). Managing in-home environments through sensing, annotating, and visualizing air quality data.
  5. Luo, (2019). Using Temporal Features to Provide Data-Driven Clinical Early Warnings: Rationale and Methods. JMIR research protocols, 3,
  6. Tiase, (2019). Navigating the Search for Patient Generated Health Data. Studies in health technology and informatics, 264, 1992.

Editorial

  1. Sward KA, DeVito Dabbs (2020). The Expanding Science of Sensor Technology in Research. Nursing outlook, 68(6), 689-692. (Read full article)
  2. Tiase VL, Kawamoto K, Sward K (2023). Supporting Nursing Efficiency by Understanding Workload: A Critical Need. Mayo Clinic proceedings. Digital health, 1(4), 629-631. (Read full article)

Letter

  1. Thompson CB, Sward K, Lyons (2000). Using a relational database to support nursing research. Computers in nursing, 18(4), 155-6. (Read full article)

Other

  1. Won (2008).