Robin Austin, PhD, DNP, DC, RN, NI-BC, FAMIA, FAAN

Robin Austin, PhD, DNP, DC, RN, NI-BC, FAMIA, FAAN is an Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota, School of Nursing and Graduate faculty in the Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality and Healing. Dr. Austin’s research capitalizes on her clinical background as a chiropractor and a nurse and integrates it with informatics methods to examine patients’ biopsychosocial, whole-person needs. Through her research and expertise in consumer and clinical informatics, she seeks to empower individuals to better care for themselves, using technology to advance person-centered care and achieve better health and wellbeing. 

Dr. Austin has over 20 years of clinical healthcare experience, specializing in pain management, including complementary and integrative health (CIH) approaches. Her research capitalizes on her clinical background as a chiropractor and a nurse and integrates it with informatics methods to examine patients’ biopsychosocial, whole-person needs. Dr. Austin has been the PI or Co-PI of studies examining an application which she co-developed with Dr. Karen Monsen and stakeholder involvement. MyStrengths+MyHealth enables self-report of whole-person health including individuals' strengths and health challenges. 

PhD, University of Minnesota
Major: Nursing

DNP, Loyola University Chicago
Major: Nursing Informatics

DC, Northwestern College of Chiropractic

MS, Excelsior College
Major: Nursing Education
Minor: Graduate Certificate in Health Care Informatics

BES, St. Cloud State University
Major: Athletic Training

AS, Excelsior College
Major: Nursing

• Certified Empowered Relief Instructor, Stanford University
• Nursing Informatics Certification, American Nurses Credentialing Center
• Registered Nurse, Minnesota Board of Nursing

• Fellow, American Academy of Nursing, 2024
• Outstanding Graduate Advisor Award, University of Minnesota School of Nursing, 2024
• American Nurses Association Individual Innovation Award, 2023
• Daisy Award for Scholarship in Practice, University of Minnesota School of Nursing, 2021
• Fellow, National Academies of Practice, 2021
• Fellow, American Medical Informatics Association, 2020

• American Medical Informatics Association
• American Nursing Informatics Association
• American Nurses Association
• Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society
• Menopause Society
• Society of Nurse Scientists Innovators Entrepreneurs & Leaders
• Sigma Theta Tau

Austin, R. R., Alexander, S., Jantraporn, R., & Rajamani, S (2024). Thriving through pain: A whole-person and resilience comparative study using mHealth app technology for individuals with self-reported pain challenges. Pain Management Nursing, 26(1), 55-64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmn.2024.09.004 

Rajamani, S., Austin, R., Richwine, C., Britt-Lalich, M., Thakur, M., Odowa, Y., Jantraporn, R., & Marquard, J. (2024). Understanding patient portal sses and needs: Cross-sectional study in a state fair setting. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 8, e64085. https://doi.org/10.2196/64085 

Austin, R. R., McLane, T. A., Pieczkiewicz, D. S., Adam, T. A., & Monsen, K.A. (2023). Advantages and disadvantages of using theory-based versus data-driven models with social and behavioral determinants of health data. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 30(11), 1818-1825. https://doi.org/10.1093/jamia/ocad148 
 
Austin, R. R., Rajamani, S., Jantraporn, R., Pirsch, A., & Martin, K.S. (2023). Examining standardized consumer-generated social determinants of health and resilience data supported by Omaha System terminology. Journal of the American Medical Association, 30(11), 1852-1857. https://doi.org/10.1093/jamia/ocad143 

Pirsch, A. M., Austin, R. R., Martin, L., Pieczkiewicz, D., & Monsen, K. A. (2023). Using data visualization to characterize whole-person health of public health nurses. Public Health Nursing, 40(5), 612-620. https://doi.org/10.1111/phn.13224 

Austin, R. R., Van Laarhoven, E., Hjerpe, A., Huling, J., Mathiason, M., & Monsen, K. A. (2023). Algorithm development to improve intervention effectiveness for parents with mental health signs and symptoms. Public Health Nursing, 40(4), 556–562. https://doi.org/10.1111/phn.13190 
 
Austin, R. R., Lu, S. C., Jantraporn, R., Park, S., Geiger-Simpson, E., Koithan, M., Kreitzer, M. J., & Delaney, C. W. (2023). Documentation of complementary and integrative health therapies in the electronic health record: A scoping review. Journal of Integrative and Complementary Medicine, 29(8), 483-491. https://doi.org/10.1089/jicm.2022.0748 

Austin, R. R., Mathiason, M., & Monsen, K. A. (2022). Using data visualization to detect patterns in whole-person health data. Research in Nursing & Health, 45(4), 466–476. https://doi.org/10.1002/nur.22248 

Austin, R. R., Rajamani, S., Jones, R. C., Robinson, K., & Eder, M. (2022). A community-based participatory intervention using data to shift the community narrative from deficits to strengths. American Journal of Public Health, 112(S3), S275–S278. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2022.306852 

Austin, R. R., Jones, R. C., Dominguez, A., Hawkins, D., Ondara, C., Haynes, D., Monsen, K. A., & Eder, M. (2022). Shifting the opioid conversation from stigma to strengths: Opportunities for community-academic partnerships. Interdisciplinary Journal of Partnership Studies, 9(1), Article 2. https://doi.org/10.24926/ijps.v9i1.4671 

Austin, R. R. "Nursing's Pivotal Role in the Future of Health Care and Health Equity," American Acadmey of Nursing Health Policy Conference Keynote Panel, Washington, DC. (November 2024).

Rajamani, S., Austin, R. R., Gingerich, S., & Pechacek, J. "Unleashing the Power of Innovation and Partnership in Doctoral Education: Executive Nursing Leadership Meets Nursing Informatics," American Nursing Informatics Association Annual Conference, Chicago, IL. (May 2024). 

Austin, R. R., Jantraporn, R., Michalowski, M. & Marquard, J. "Examining the Intersection of Whole-person Health and Resilience in Adults with Cognitive Impairments," Midwest Nursing Research Society Annual Conference, Minneapolis, MN. (February 2024). 

Austin, R. R., Rajamani, S., Jantraporn, R., & Marquard, J. "An App Aided Approach to Collecting and Examining Patient-Generated Social Determinants of Health Data," American Nursing Informatics Association Annual Conference, Louisville, KY. (May 2023).

Austin, R. R., Jantraporn, R., Marquard, J., & Michalowski, M. "Designing Usable Technologies for Older Adults via Data-Driven Whole-person User Personas," AI+Tech and Aging (A2) National Symposium Artificial Intelligence and Technology Collaboratories (AITC), Bethesda, Maryland (March 2023).

Austin, R. R., & Rajamani, S. "Toward Clinical Adoption of Standardized mHealth Solutions," Health in the Digital Era Conference, Virtual. (March 2023).

Delaney, C. W., Shaw, H., Morais, E., Park, H., Austin, R. R., Segclini, S., Yas, M., Kunkel, D., Beyan, E., Rajamani, S., Martin, C., Michalowski, M., & Marquard, J. "Innovative Approaches to Informatics and Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Health," Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO), UN Commission on the Status of Women, Virtual. (March 2023). 
 
Austin, R. R. "Social and Behavioral Determinants and the Omaha System: Examining Implications and Use of Social Determinants of Health Data Workshop," American Medical Informatics Association Annual Symposium, Washington DC. (November 2022). 

Austin, R. R. "Social Determinants of Health and the Omaha System," Friends of the National Library of Medicine Virginia Saba Tribute, Virtual. (October 2022). 

Austin, R.R. "Leveraging Consumer-Generated Health Data to Examine Whole-Person Health: A Community-Led Initiative," Jockey Club Smart Health and Well-Being Project eHealth Seminar: Hong Kong Society of Rehabilitation, Virtual. (September 2022).

Award: COMBINI: connecting COmplementary Medicine evidence and BIological kNowledge to support Integrative Health
Principle Investigator: Zhang, Rui
Sponsoring Organization: University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign, National Institutes of Health
Award Dates: 2024 - 2025

Award: Reaching Rural Veterans: Applying Mind-Body Skills for Pain Using a Whole Health Telehealth Intervention
Principle Investigator: Evans, Roni
Sponsoring Organization: Center for Veterans Research & Education, National Institutes of Health
Award Dates: 2023 - 2025

Award: Exploring Consumer-Generated Health Data Using MyStrengths+MyHealth for Adults with Cognition Challenges
Principle Investigator: Austin, Robin
Sponsoring Organization: Minnesota's Discovery, Research, and InnoVation Economy (MnDRIVE) Research Computing Seed Grant 
Award Dates: 2023 - 2024

Award: Examining Whole-Person Health and Resilience of Aging Women in the United States and Turkey
Principle Investigator: Austin, Robin
Sponsoring Organizations: Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health (BIRCWH)/Center for Women’s Health Research (CWHR) and Global Health and Social Responsibility Global Health Seed Grant
Award Dates: 2023 - 2025

Award: Designing Usable Technologies for Older Adults via Data-Driven Whole-Person User Personas
Principal Investigators: Austin, Robin
Sponsoring Organization: University of Pennsylvania, NIH National Institute on Aging
Award Dates: 2022 - 2024

Award: Partners for Pain & Wellbeing Equity: A Randomized Trial of Community Supported Complementary and Integrative Health Self-Management for Back Pain
Principal Investigators: Evans, Roni & Leininger, Brent
Sponsoring Organization: National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health Institution 
Award Dates: 2022 – 2027

Award: Training in Informatics for Underrepresented Minority Students in PH (TRIUMPH) Consortium
Principal Investigator: Rajamani, Sripriya & Wurtz, Rebecca
Sponsoring Organization: DHHS Office of the National Coordinator for Health
Award Dates: 2021 - 2025