Awards

2011 Distinguished Nurse Alumna

Janet L. Larson, PhD, RN, FAAN

Dr. Janet Larson is a professor and division chair of the Division of Acute, Critical, and Long-term Care at the University of Michigan, School of Nursing. She received a PhD from the University of Illinois at Chicago, an MN from the University of Washington, and her BSN from Wayne State University. She is an expert in the pulmonary rehabilitation of people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and she maintains an active program of research, studying factors that influence symptoms, physical activity, and quality of life for people with COPD. Currently, she is conducting studies to examine daily physical activity and the effects of an exercise intervention to increase physical activity in those who suffer from COPD.
Dr. Larson has received numerous honors and awards including the Service Award and Founders Award from the Respiratory Nursing Society, the Distinguished Contribution to Research in the Midwest Award from the Midwest Nursing Research Society, and the University Scholar award from UIC. She has also been inducted as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing. She is a member of the American Thoracic Society, the Respiratory Nursing Society, the Midwest Nursing Research Society, and the American College of Sports Medicine.
In addition, Dr. Larson mentors many students in her research laboratory and regularly teaches  research seminars for graduate students and lectures on topics of respiratory physiology and pathophysiology to undergraduate and graduate students. She also conducts research workshops for nurses in Russia, which are sponsored by the Russian Nurses Association.