Dr. Rebecca Trotta is the Director of Nursing Research and Science and the Director of the Geriatric Nursing Program at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP), and an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing since 2011. Dr. Trotta provides leadership for advancing nursing research capacity and partners with academic faculty to support the conduct of empirical studies in the clinical setting. She also maximizes the translation of evidence into practice by applying rigorous scientific principles to various methodologies of inquiry. She has served as the chair of the annual Penn Medicine Nursing Research Conference since 2015 and launched a formal nursing research fellowship program in 2018. Dr. Trotta established the Geriatric Nursing Program at HUP in 2013 with a $1.5 million grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration. Over the past 6 years she led an interprofessional approach to comprehensive geriatric care in the hospital and home care settings. Dr. Trotta is currently funded by Independence Blue Cross and the Alliance for Home Health Quality and Innovation to develop and evaluate an innovative hospital to home continuity of care model for supporting older adults at risk (SOAR). Prior to this role, Dr. Trotta practiced in primary care and long-term care as a geriatric nurse practitioner.

Dr. Trotta serves as a reviewer for the Journal of Gerontological Nursing, Geriatric Nursing, and Qualitative Health Research. Dr. Trotta received her bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate degrees from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing.