DETROIT, March 2008 - Wayne State University College of Nursing Associate Professor April Hazard Vallerand, PhD, RN, FAAN, one of the nation's leading authorities in pain management, has been named recipient of the 2008 "Advancing the Science of Nursing Award" from the Pain & Symptom Management Research Section of the Midwest Nursing Research Society (MNRS).

The award will be presented at the 32nd MNRS annual conference, "Nursing Research: At the Crossroads of Global Health," Saturday, March 29, in downtown Indianapolis.

"To receive this honor as the recognition of my work by my peers in pain research means a great deal to me, " says Dr. Vallerand, a member of the WSU College of Nursing faculty since 1999. "I am very honored to receive this award."

Headquartered in Colorado, the Midwest Nursing Research Society is a premier research organization whose purpose is to support, encourage and improve the quality of nursing research. With more than 1,300 members across a 13-state Midwest region, MNRS has moved to the forefront of promoting, disseminating, and utilizing nursing research, profoundly influencing the enormous growth in quality and quantity of nursing research over the last 20 years.

The MNRS honor marks the second major recognition Dr. Vallerand has received in the past four months. Last December, she learned she had won a 2007 Davey Award, an international prize saluting the best work by small creative firms worldwide, for a DVD produced during her presentation at the national American Society of Pain Management Nursing conference.

In addition to her extensive research in the treatment and management of complex pain and impressive body of publications and presentations, Dr. Vallerand, a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing, is co-author of Davis's Drug Guide for Nurses, Nurses Med Deck and Med Notes: Nurses' Pocket Pharmacology Guide. She has been elected to the Pain and Disparities Special Interest Group Advisory Committee of the American Pain Society, and sits on the Board of Directors for the Midwest Pain Society.