Dr. Sharon Sonenblum is dedicated to improving patient outcomes and enhancing the lives of individuals with disabilities through the application of data-driven insights to clinical practice and engineering innovation. After 20 years at the Georgia Institute of Technology, she joined the Center for Data Science, bringing her unique ability to bridge research and clinical practice to the School of Nursing. Her research program spans pressure injury prevention, detection, and etiology, and wheelchair seating and mobility. She employs advanced approaches to investigate how tissues respond to loading considering differences across diverse skin tones, and has conducted influential studies on the impact of real-world behavior on pressure injury development and technology's role in behavior modification.

A current focus of her work is the early detection of pressure injuries using non-invasive imaging approaches. This research is grounded in close collaboration with nurses throughout all phases of the project, including design and implementation, and is committed to developing tools that perform equitably across all patient populations.

Dr. Sonenblum is an alumnus of the National Pressure Injury Advisory Panel's board of directors and a member of the Prophylactic Dressing Standards Initiative and the Wound Care Collaborative Community Tools Workgroup. She holds a Ph.D. in Bioengineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, an ScM in Bioengineering and an ScB in Mechanical Engineering from Brown University. 

• T. Vos-Draper, K. Jordan, M. Morrow, E. Udulutch, and S. E. Sonenblum. Monitoring of wheelchair use in long-term memory care units. Geriatric Nursing, vol. 69, p. 103808, Apr. 2026, doi: 10.1016/j.gerinurse.2026.103808.
• S. E. Sonenblum, M. Shea-Stifel, K. Waugh, and T. Dyson-Hudson. Quantifying seated buttock tissue response to commercial wheelchair cushions through MRI and pressure mapping analyses. Journal of Tissue Viability, vol. 35, no. 1, p. 100983, Feb. 2026, doi: 10.1016/j.jtv.2026.100983.
• K. Jordan, G. T. John, A. Chung, M. Asare-Baiden, V. S. Hertzberg, J. C. Ho, and S. E. Sonenblum. Impact of skin tone and cupping on erythema and thermal imaging measurements. Sci Rep, vol. 15, no. 1, p. 42575, Nov. 2025, doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-24823-w.
• Oropallo, A., Ortega-Loayza, A.G., Korzendorfer, H., James, F., Dotson, P., Khimchenko, A., Driver, V., and Sonenblum, S.E. Advancing Chronic Wound Care with Near-infrared Spectroscopy Imaging: Clinical Applications, Measurement Parameters, and Insights into Healing Dynamics. Wounds, vol. 37, no. 10, pp. 375–383, 2025, doi: doi:10.25270/wnds/25041.
• T. Vos-Draper, E. Vinoski Thomas, E. Graybill, M. Morrow, K. A. Jordan, P. R. Manley, and S. E. Sonenblum. Stakeholder Perspectives on mHealth Technologies to Prevent Sitting-Acquired Pressure Injuries in Long-Term Care Facilities: Mixed Methods Study. JMIR Form Res, vol. 9, p. e59590, Sept. 2025, doi: 10.2196/59590.
• Y.-T. Tzen, B. Delmore, K. M. Bogie, S. E. Sonenblum, D. Newton, D. Vargo, J. Ronin, A. Hester, C. Gillespie, A. Tescher, V. Iyer, and D. Brienza. State-of-the-Art Review of Current Technology in Pressure Injury Early Detection. Advances in Skin & Wound Care, p. 10.1097/ASW.0000000000000358, Oct. 2025, doi: 10.1097/ASW.0000000000000358.
• Bates-Jensen BM, Jordan K, Jewell W, Sonenblum SE. Thermal measurement of erythema across skin tones: Implications for clinical identification of early pressure injury. J Tissue Viability. 2024 Aug 22;S0965-206X(24)00126-8. 
• Portoghese C, Deppisch M, Sonenblum S, Samson B, Munro C, Capasso V, et al. The Role of Shear Stress and Shear Strain in Pressure Injury Development. Adv Skin Wound Care. 2024 Jan 1;37(1):20–5. 
• Delmore B, Deppisch M, Cox J, Newton D, Gillespie C, Todd J, Sonenblum SE. Necessary Products for the Prevention and Treatment of Pressure Injuries: Lessons Learned That Translate Beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic. Adv Skin Wound Care. 2023 Jul 1;36(7):361-369.
• Sonenblum SE, McDonald A, Maurer CL, Bass A, Watson M, Zellner H. Reducing pressure with the goal of improving outcomes: a retrospective chart review of cushion evaluations and recommendations at one seating clinic. Disabil Rehabil Assist Technol. 2023 May 12:1-9.
• Sonenblum SE, Feng C, Sprigle S. The relationship between in-seat movement and pressure ulcers in wheelchair users with SCI/D. J Spinal Cord Med. 2022 Oct 19:1-9.
• Gadhoumi K, Sonenblum SE, Kennerly SM, Alderden J, Sharkey PD, Horn SD, Yap TL. Movement Patterns of Transient and Prolonged Positioning Events in Nursing Home Residents: Results from the TEAM-UP Trial. Adv Skin Wound Care. 2022 Dec 1;35(12):653-660.
• Sonenblum SE, Measel M, Sprigle SH, Greenhalgh J, Cathcart JM. An Exploratory Analysis of the Role of Adipose Characteristics in Fulltime Wheelchair Users' Pressure Injury History. Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2021 Nov 29;9:753897.
• Padula WV, Cuddigan J, Ruotsi L, Black JM, Brienza D, Capasso V, Cox J, Delmore B, Holden-Mount S, Munoz N, Nie AM, Pittman J, Sonenblum SE, Tescher A; National Pressure Injury Advisory Panel (NPIAP). Best-practices for preventing skin injury beneath personal protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic: A position paper from the National Pressure Injury Advisory Panel. J Clin Nurs. 2023 Feb;32(3-4):625-632.
• Sprigle S, McNair D, Sonenblum S. Pressure Ulcer Risk Factors in Persons with Mobility-Related Disabilities. Adv Skin Wound Care. 2020 Mar;33(3):146-154.
• Sonenblum SE, Seol D, Sprigle SH, Cathcart JM. Seated buttocks anatomy and its impact on biomechanical risk. J Tissue Viability. 2020 May;29(2):69-75.
• Sonenblum SE, Maurer CL, Hanes CD, Piriano J, Sprigle SH. Everyday use of power adjustable seat height (PASH) systems. Assist Technol. 2021 Nov 2;33(6):297-305. 

My teaching philosophy centers on empowering nursing students to be not just consumers of technology, but makers of technology. Successful healthcare innovation happens when clinicians bring deep knowledge of patient needs, workflows, and lived experience to the design table. I aim to cultivate that mindset in my students, encouraging them to see themselves as problem-solvers, innovators, and collaborators who can shape the tools and systems of tomorrow's healthcare. Through hands-on engagement with emerging technologies and real-world design challenges, I help students build the confidence and skills to drive meaningful change at the intersection of nursing and innovation.