Directory

Sydney A. Axson
PhD, MPH, MHS, RN

Assistant Professor, CON; Research Associate, Rock Ethics Institute

University Park

Phone: 814-863-4204

Email: sba6003@psu.edu

Education

• PhD, University of Pennsylvania
• MHS, Yale University
• MPH, University of Pennsylvania
• BSN, University of Pennsylvania
• BA, Syracuse University

Awards and Honors

• SSRI Faculty Fellow, Penn State University, 2024
• Henry O. Thompson Prize in Ethics, University of Pennsylvania, 2020

Teaching

Courses Taughts

NURS587: Ethics in Health Research

Clinical Expertise and Areas of Specialization

• RN

Mentorship

• 7 MSN, DNP, or PhD students advised
• 2 Undergraduate students

Research

Research Interests and Areas of Expertise

• Empirical bioethics
• Informed consent
• Clinical trial transparency
• Opioid therapy
• Substance use
• Harm reduction

Presentations and Conference Involvement

• Consent form reporting on ClinicalTrials.gov, 2013-2023. (2025). Axson, S.A., Ramachandran, R., Lisenby, A., Giordano, N.A. ENRS 2025 Annual Conference.
• Current challenges and paths forward for clinicians amidst the rise of unregulated clinical decision support software: Our perspectives on NarxCare. (2024). Buonora, M.J., Axson, S.A., Cohen, S.M., Becker, W.C. Presentation to the Drug Safety Taskforce at Emory University.
• Exploring the feasibility of eye-tracking in a study of informed consent. (2024). Axson, S.A., Kadhim, B., Giordano, N.A. Accepted abstract. ENRS 2024 Annual Conference.
• Availability of informed consent documents over time on ClinicalTrials.gov. (2024). Axson, S.A. Presentation to the Rock Ethics Institute Colloquia, Rock Ethics Institute, Penn State.
• Long-term opioid therapy dosage trajectories in veterans with and without substance use disorder. (2022). Axson, S.A., Becker, W.C., Black, A.C. Presentation to the Drug Safety Taskforce at Emory University.
• Virtual reality compared to hybrid simulation for opioid related overdose and naloxone training. (2020). Hoyt-Brennan, A., Herbert, N., Cassidy, K., Whitney, C., Axson, S.A., Giordano, N. Podium presentation at the International Meeting for Simulation in Healthcare Annual Conference.

Research Funding and Grants

ONGOING:

• “Exploring the feasibility of mobile eye-tracking to study informed consent in older adults.”
  Social Science Research Institute (SSRI) at Penn State University
  Role: Faculty Fellow and PI

Publications and Scholarly Work

• Axson, S. A., Ramachandran, R., Lisenby, A., & Giordano, N. A. (2024). Consent Form Reporting on ClinicalTrials. Gov, 2013-2023. JAMA Network Open, 7(6), e2418895-e2418895. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2820239
• Buonora, M. J., Axson, S. A., Cohen, S. M., & Becker, W. C. (2024). Paths forward for clinicians amidst the rise of unregulated clinical decision support software: our perspective on narxcare. Journal of general internal medicine, 39(5), 858-862. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11606-023-08528-2
• Axson, S. A., Becker, W. C., Merlin, J. S., Lorenz, K. A., Midboe, A. M., & Black, A. C. (2024). Long-term opioid therapy trajectories in veteran patients with and without substance use disorder. Addictive Behaviors, 153, 107997. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306460324000467
• Giordano, N. A., Febres‐Cordero, S., Baker, H., Pfeiffer, K. M., Walsh, L. M., Gish, A., & Axson, S. A. (2023). Opioid‐involved overdose trainings delivered using remote learning modalities. Nursing Open, 10(6), 4132-4136. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/nop2.1615
• Krishnamurthy, N., Grimshaw, A. A., Axson, S. A., Choe, S. H., & Miller, J. E. (2022). Drug repurposing: a systematic review on root causes, barriers and facilitators. BMC health services research, 22(1), 970. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12913-022-08272-z
• Axson, S. A., Giordano, N. A., Compton, P., McDonald, C. C., & Pinto-Martin, J. A. (2022). Characterizing opioid prescribing to adolescents at time of discharge from a pediatric hospital over a five-year period. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 66, 104-110. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0882596322001361?casa_token=NXmrdOd2_jwAAAAA:wIQ2V-gh0MPWoCBgO-j2bsHZh94jCz1va8ptz2KG_1-uI_iuNs4UZmBw3ho5Lc-S1T9zFcOS
• Axson, S. A., Mello, M. M., Lincow, D., Yang, C., Gross, C. P., Ross, J. S., & Miller, J. (2021). Clinical trial transparency and data sharing among biopharmaceutical companies and the role of company size, location and product type: a cross-sectional descriptive analysis. BMJ open, 11(7), e053248. https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/11/7/e053248.abstract
• Axson, S. A., Giordano, N. A., Hermann, R. M., & Ulrich, C. M. (2019). Evaluating nurse understanding and participation in the informed consent process. Nursing ethics, 26(4), 1050-1061. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0969733017740175?casa_token=vuRMS0mz0DcAAAAA%3Aczcs_xxp4OKXZ-4HVIP82WenaaGvrG9incp85O_ANolW5i8Aad1YpRB0T9mqHPc0_iCXqGx16tM

Editorial and Peer Review Roles

• Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, Editorial Board

Service

Professional Organization Involvement and Fellowships

• American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics
• American Society for Bioethics and Humanities
• Eastern Nursing Research Society

Social Media Accounts

@sydaxson.bsky.social

Download Axson’s Curriculum Vitae »
Last updated 8/5/2025