Patricia Kinser, Ph.D., WHNP-BC, RN, FAAN has been appointed to lead VCU School of Nursing as interim dean effective April 15, 2024. She is an endowed professor and currently serves as assistant dean for Research in Scholarship, and Innovation in the school. She is an alumnus of VCU and joined the faculty in 2012. 

Kinser's program of research is focused on the overall vision of helping mothers, families, and children thrive, with ongoing funded research on biobehavioral mechanisms of and interventions for perinatal depression, long-term sequelae of SARS-COV-2, and methods to improve screening for and prevention of depression symptoms. Her teaching centers on intervention research, qualitative and mixed-methods research, and women’s health. She is a frequent guest speaker and a mentor for students and trainees within and beyond VCU regarding research methods, symptom self-management, and mind-body interventions for various clinical populations. She maintains an active clinical practice as a board-certified Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner. In 2022, Kinser received the Rosalind Franklin Society Mary Ann Liebert Award in Science. She was appointed by the Governor of Virginia in 2017 to contribute clinical expertise on the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Board of Health and is currently serving a second four-year term. She is a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing.

Kinser succeeds Jean Giddens, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, who served as dean since 2013, and recently was named dean of the University of Kansas School of Nursing.

"We are incredibly grateful for Dr. Gidden’s service to VCU and the school and wish her all the best. I would like to thank Dr. Kinser for her willingness to serve as interim dean during this transitional period," said Marlon Levy, M.D., interim senior vice president of VCU Health Sciences and interim CEO of VCU Health.

A national search for a permanent dean will be initiated in the near future.