Speakers

Rita F. D’AOust, PhD
Associate Professor; Director, DNP/PhD Program
Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing 

Dr. Rita F. D'Aoust is an Associate Professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing and Director of the dual DNP/PhD program, with a joint appointment in the School of Medicine's Department of General Internal Medicine. As a military spouse and family member, Dr. D'Aoust has experienced military life from the sidelines. As a nurse practitioner, she has cared for veterans in community settings. These experiences have informed her significant contributions to educating nurses in veteran care. Dr. D'Aoust co-authored "Caring for Veterans and Their Families: A Guide for Nurses and Healthcare Professionals." She co-directed the Veterans Affairs Nursing Academy (VANA) and subsequent Veterans Affairs Nursing Academic Partnerships (VANAP) at the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital and University of South Florida. She is a member of the American Association of Nursing, Military/Veteran Expert Panel. Her innovative work includes developing the Veteran to Bachelor of Science Program, which recognizes prior learning through American Council of Education (ACE) transcript evaluation for military medics and corpsmen. She also created an online course, "Introduction to Military and Veteran Healthcare." Dr. D'Aoust's research focuses on the impact of military service on veteran health. She has studied novel therapies like Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) for treating PTSD in homeless veterans and those with Military Sexual Trauma. She has also researched fibromyalgia symptomology in community-dwelling women veterans. As a mentor, Dr. D'Aoust has guided numerous doctoral students on veteran policy issues, nurse practitioner roles in veteran care, and quality improvement initiatives in VA settings. Her contributions have been recognized with the Jonas Faculty Mentor Award and the Jonas Nursing and Veterans Healthcare Distinguished Faculty Award in 2021. 

Catherine G. Ling, PhD
Associate Professor
Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing 

Dr. Catherine Ling is a nurse scientist, practicing Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP), and certified nurse educator focusing on improving access to quality, primary care.  She works to improve culturally competent care for military families and is actively involved in community focused interventions to improve wellness at a local and global level. She is also creating innovative, engaging strategies to prepare DNP students for advanced practice. She received her BSN from the University of Tennessee Knoxville, her MN from Emory University and her PhD from the Medical University of South Carolina. Dr. Ling is a Fellow in the American Association of Nurse Practitioners and the American Academy of Nursing. She is currently an Associate Professor and inaugural CNO of Service within the COMPASS Center at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. 

Alicia Gill Rossiter, DNP
Associate Professor
University of South Florida

Dr. Alicia Gill Rossiter is an Associate Professor at the University of South Florida College of Nursing and serves as Chief Officer of Military and Veteran Affairs and Director of the V-CARE Veteran to BSN Pathway. She is a Family Nurse Practitioner board certified in Pediatric Primary Care. Dr. Rossiter served in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps on active duty for four years which included two deployments - a combat deployment to Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm and a humanitarian mission to Honduras, Central America. She transferred into the U.S. Air Force Reserve in 1995 and served as an Individual Mobilization Augmentee until retiring in 2015. Her military experience is the impetus behind her research which includes women veterans and military sexual trauma, effects of parental military service on military-connected children, and transitioning needs of medics and corpsmen into the professional role of nursing. During her doctoral program, she was selected as a Bob Woodruff Jonas Veteran Healthcare Scholar. She was a member of the inaugural cohort of AAN Jonas Policy Scholars with the Military/Veteran Health Expert Panel. She was inducted as a Fellow in the American Association of Nurse Practitioners in 2014 and in the American Academy of Nursing in 2018 where she served as the Co-Chair and Chair of the Military/Veteran Health Expert Panel from 2018-2022. She recently co-authored her first book,?Caring for Veterans and their Families: A Guide for Nurses and other Healthcare Professionals. 

Speakers

Jean Watson, PhD, RN, AHN-BC, FAAN, LL
Founder –Director
Watson Caring Science Institute

Dr. Jean Watson is known around the world for her Theory of Human Caring and advancement of Caring Science as disciplinary context for Nursing’s future. She is the Founder of the Non-profit, Watson Caring Science Institute and Distinguished Professor  Dean Emerita University of Colorado Denver. She is the author, co-author, or editor of over 30 books on Caring Science and Unitary Caring. Her latest book is titled Metaphysics of Unitary Caring Science. A Cosmology of Love, (2025 pub. by Springer).  Her work is used globally, promoting academic and clinical partnerships toward theory-guided caring science curriculum and professional Caritas Practice, Research, and Leadership. Watson is the recipient of numerous national and international awards and honors including 15 Honorary Doctorates; she is designated as a Living Legend by the American Academy of Nursing, its highest honor.  View full bio.

Sara Horton-Deutsch, PhD, RN, FAAN, ANEF, SGAHN
University of San Francisco
Director of USF/Kaiser Permanente Partnership and Faculty Associate
Watson Caring Science Institute

Dr. Sarah Horton-Deutsch has led in academic and practice settings for over 30 years as an advanced practice psychiatric/mental health nurse, teacher/practitioner, consultant, program director, caring science endowed chair, coach, and academic/practice partnership director. In 2022, she was inducted into the Global American Holistic Nursing. She has contributed to evidence-informed knowledge development throughout her academic and practice career to ensure compassionate, safe, and quality care. As a reflective leader, she focuses on inward development to positively influence change. She has co-authored several books on Reflective Practice, Caring Science, and Caritas Coaching. She i s a Caritas Coach & Leader, Reiki Practitioner, and Healing Circle Facilitator. Through her journey, she has learned the necessity of connecting to one’s inner sources of wisdom, power, and healing, as well as the arts and humanities that once defined the discipline of nursing. She is passionate about facilitating critical, deep, and authentic connections that support regeneration, renewal, and the profession’s evolution. Her latest books, Visionary Leadership in Healthcare (2022) and Reflective Practice: Reimagining Ourselves, Reimagining Nursing (2024), were published through SIGMA, the former winning an AJN 1st place book of the year award in Leadership. She is currently a champion for the ANCC Essentials within the USF School of Nursing and Health Professions. She is co-director of the Caritas Leadership Program for the Watson Caring Science Institute.

Danny G. Willis, DNS, RN, PMHCNS-BC, FAAN
Dean and Professor
University of Rhode Island College of Nursing

Dr. Danny G. Willis serves as Dean of the University of Rhode Island College of Nursing. He Caritas® Leader Faculty. In his 20-year academic career, he has served as Dean at Saint Louis University Valentine School of Nursing, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Nursing, and Department Chair at Boston College, Connell School of Nursing. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and has chaired the Expert Panel on Theory-Guided Practice and is a member of the Expert Panel on Violence. His program of research and scholarship primarily focuses on wellbeing and healing in the aftermath of traumatic experiences. His work has been recognized with many awards, including the Eastern Nursing Research Society "Rising Star" Award, American Psychiatric Nurses Association Nancy Valentine "Leadership" Award, and R-level research funding as Principal Investigator from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He has mentored undergraduate, masters, and PhD students from nursing, social work, child and human development, and counseling psychology. Dr. Willis has published widely in nursing and other health- related journals on qualitative research methods, foundations of the discipline, child maltreatment, the aftermath of hate crime, school children being bullied, child witness to violence, mental health, sleep, and healing. He has served as chair of the American Psychiatric Nursing Association (APNA) Research Council and currently co-chairs the Eastern Nursing Research Society (ENRS) Qualitative Research Interest Group. His publication explicating a central unifying focus for the discipline of nursing ‘facilitating humanization, meaning, choice, quality of life, and healing in living and dying,” published in Advances in Nursing Science, garnered national and international recognition for its relevance to nursing. Dr. Willis enthusiastically shares his work nationally and internationally with invited papers and presentations in the United States, Chile, Colombia, Ireland, England, Portugal, and Japan. 

Speaker

Sarah Oerther, PhD, MEd, RN, FNP-BC, FNAP, ANEF
Assistant Professor
Goldfarb School of Nursing
Barnes-Jewish College

Sarah Oerther is an Assistant Professor at Goldfarb School of Nursing at Barnes-Jewish College. To promote climate resilience, Dr. Oerther seeks to create culturally appropriate tools that can help individuals assess their risk and take necessary action to protect their health. By doing so, her program of research is expected to reduce the economic burden caused by preventable climate-related illnesses and ensure a healthier and more productive society. She is currently part of the 2024 cohort for Environmental Health Research Institute for Nurse and Clinician Scientists (EHRI-NCS) and was recently selected as a CHARTER fellow for 2024 with the Woodruff Health Sciences Center at Emory University.

Speakers

Gregory Knapik, PhD, DNP, MA, PMHCNSBC, ANP-BC
Associate Professor of Nursing
Notre Dame College

Dr. Gregory Knapik has been an RN since 1984 working in a variety of settings, mostly primary care and psych/mental health in Cleveland and Akron, in northeast Ohio. He has his doctorates in nursing (DNP, PhD), and has ANCC certifications as a CNS in psych/mental health and ANP (Adult Nurse Practitioner). Gregory has worked as an advanced practice nurse in primary care and/or mental health since 1998 along with teaching either FT or PT. He helped operate an academic and urban-based free healthcare clinic, managed by advanced practice nurses. Gregory most recently worked (clinically-based) in home health care managing pts in their home, group home, assisted living, and other community-based facilities. Gregory also benefits from the privilege of having gone on 6 health-related mission trips to Central America.

He tries to incorporate the "holistic" approach of considering the body, mind, and spirit in each patient encounter, and treat or care for the person, not the disease or disorder. He has also taught for about 12 years in several places and capacities in the discipline of nursing. He values the experience, knowledge, and wisdom of the students he has in class, and appreciate comments, anecdotes, and experiences shared in the lived experience of nursing. He values the importance of research and ongoing evidence-based practice, along with adaptability and “thinking outside the box.”

Sr. Anne Victory, MSN, RN
Leadership Team Member
Sisters of the Humility of Mary

Sr. Anne Victory is currently serving as a member of the Leadership Team of the Sisters of the Humility of Mary. She served as Director of Education for the Collaborative to End Human Trafficking, Cleveland, OH from 2010-2021 and is now a volunteer for the organization. A nurse by profession, she served for 32 years as a clinician, educator, and administrator in nursi ng and as Vice President for Mission and Director of Staff Education at St. Joseph Hospital, Lorain, OH, (now named Mercy Health and part of the Bon Secours Mercy Health System). Sr. Anne is one of the founding members of the Alliance to End Human Trafficking (formerly US Catholic Sisters Against Human Trafficking) and past president of the board. She has given presentations to a wide variety of audiences on the issue of human trafficking. One of the lenses through which Anne views human trafficking is as a public health issue--one that requires a collaborative, trauma-based approach involving multiple systems and service providers. She holds a BSN from St. John College, Cleveland, and a MS in Nursing from Ohio State University.

Kathleen Hackett, MSN, RN, SANE-P
Forensic Program Coordinator
UH Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital

Kathleen Hackett has been a nurse for over 30 years with 20 years of emergency room experience, and is certified through the International Association of Forensic Nurses as a pediatric sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE-P). Kathleen is currently the Pediatric Forensic Program Coordinator for University Hospitals, Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital since its launch in 2010, in Cleveland, OH. Kathleen earned her Master of Science in Nursing (Forensic Track) at Cleveland State University in 2017. Kathleen provides ongoing education within her medical facility, and area undergraduate and graduate programs on such topics as sexual abuse/assault, human trafficking, non-fatal strangulation, and trauma-informed care, for medical students, physicians, and nurses. Kathleen also collaborates with community partners to provide better-quality care for pediatric victims of crime.

Speakers

Margaret P. Moss, PhD, JD, RN, FAAN
Professor and Associate Dean for Nursing and Health Policy
Katherine R. & C. Walton Lillehei Chair in Nursing Leadership
University of Minnesota School of Nursing

Dr. Margaret Moss is an enrolled member of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation in North Dakota. She is the first and only American Indian to hold both Nursing and Juris Doctorates. She has been a nurse for 35 years and an academic for 24 years across 4 universities including the University of Minnesota (twice) where she has returned as Professor in Nursing and Associate Dean of Nursing and Health Policy, Yale University, SUNY Buffalo and the University of British Columbia (UBC). Just prior she was at UBC 2018-2023, as a Professor, School of Nursing, Interim Associate Vice President Equity & Inclusion for the University, and Director of the UBC First Nations House of Learning, a strategic Indigenous leadership position under the Provost. She co-led the development and launch of the UBC Indigenous Strategic Plan (2020) one of the only comprehensive plans in No. America. Dr. Moss was named to the inaugural Forbes 50 over 50 Impact List, 2021. She was elected to the American Academy of Nursing’s Board 2021 and has been elected a member of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) (2022). She sits on a Board of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. She has contributed to 2 NAM consensus studies- Federal Policy to Advance Racial, Ethnic, and Tribal Health Equity (2022), and currently The Use of Race and Ethnicity in Biomedical Research. Dr. Moss wrote an award-winning text, American Indian Health and Nursing (2015) followed by Health Equity and Nursing (2020). In other experiences, Dr. Moss was a RWJF Health Policy Fellow and staffed the Senate Special Committee on Aging. She was a Fulbright Research Chair at McGill University on Indigenous Life Across the North American Context. She is asked to speak often on Indigenous, health, aging, diversity and policy issues with academics, health professionals and other groups nationally and internationally.

Speakers

Andra Davis, PhD, MN, RN
Associate Professor
University of Portland
School of Nursing and Health Innovation

Dr. Andra Davis (she/her) is an Associate Professor with palliative care expertise (educational and instrument development). She is a co-investigator with the End-of-life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC) and leads a national effort to advance palliative care education in schools of nursing. With her colleague Dr. Lippe, she has developed instruments to evaluate student learning related to palliative care education. In addition to this work, she has participated in revision of national palliative care competency statements intended for use in schools of nursing. Dr. Davis has worked with an international team of researchers to explore provider experiences in caring for persons at the end of life in Thailand. Other work includes nurse-led symptom support for persons receiving cancer treatment and development of national family caregiver competencies within a national consortium of nurse educators.

Megan Lippe, PhD, MSN, RN, ANEF, FAAN
Associate Professor
University of Texas Health San Antonio
School of Nursing

Dr. Megan Lippe is an Associate Professor with tenure and a palliative care expert. She is a national leader for palliative nursing care education with published works in areas related to palliative care education, simulation, interprofessional education, and social justice. She is a co-investigator of the End of Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC) focused on advancing palliative care education in schools of nursing throughout the country. Dr. Lippe is the lead author for AACN-endorsed national palliative care competence statement revisions for undergraduate and graduate education (CARES and G-CARES, respectively) and the ELNEC Undergraduate/New Graduate curr iculum.

Speakers

Melissa McLaren, DNP, MBA, MSML, RN
Administrative Director Graduate Nursing
Interim Department Chair RN-BSN
Western Governors University

Dr. Melissa McLaren is an Administrative Director of Graduate Nursing and Interim Department Chair for RN-BSN at the Leavitt School of Health at Western Governors University. She serves on several committees and projects related to DEI work at the Leavitt School of Health. Dr. McLaren began her advocacy work over 13 years ago with the recognition that her very young child was transgender. What started as talking to teachers and school nurses at her child’s school grew to talking to educators and healthcare providers at a national level. Melissa and her family have engaged with lawmakers at the local and state level, as well as the Congressional LGBTQ Equality Caucus and the US Department of Health and Human Services in support of gender-affirming care and other LGBTQIA+ rights. They have spoken at state and national conferences to educate on the importance of family support when raising a transgender child. Dr. McLaren has partnered with organizations such as the Human Rights Campaign, Welcoming Schools, PFLAG, the ACLU, TransOhio, Equality Ohio, and many others to advocate for transgender youth.

Dr. McLaren currently serves on the Human Rights Campaign Parents for Transgender Equality National Council. She is a board officer for Equality Ohio and the Vice President for her county LGBTQIA+ organization. She is a member of the AACN DEI Leadership Network Communications Committee.

Ahnyel Burkes, DNP, RN-BC, NEA-BC
Executive Director - Louisiana State Nurses Association and Louisiana Nurses Foundation
Adjunct Nursing Faculty - Louisiana State University
Chief Executive Officer - Culture of Care LLC

Dr. Ahnyel Burkes is the Executive Director of the Louisiana State Nurses Association and Louisiana Nurses Foundation. She is a nurse entrepreneur and ser ves as the Chief Executive Officer at Culture of Care LLC. She is an Adjunct Nursing Faculty at Louisiana State University. She has served in numerous nursing leadership roles ranging from local, statewide, and national. Dr. Burkes received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Dillard University, a Master of Science in Nursing with a Healthcare Systems Management concentration from Loyola University in New Orleans, and a Doctor of Nursing Practice with a Nurse Executive Leadership concentration from Chamberlain University. Dr. Burkes is certified in Medical-Surgical Nursing and as an Advanced Nurse Executive. In her previous role as the Director of Health Policy and Advocacy for the Louisiana State Nurses Association she led the association’s legislative agenda. Dr. Burkes is the chair of the Louisiana Nursing Supply and Demand Council and Chair of the Louisiana Healthcare Workplace Violence Task Force.

One of her most notable contributions was spearheading Louisiana first Workplace Violence Law in 2022. Dr. Burkes completed the American Nurses Advocacy Institute in 2022. Dr. Burkes also led initiatives to make Louisiana the 12th state to enact Surgical Smoke Evacuation legislation. She is passionate about Health Policy and has served on various governmental boards, committees and taskforces focused on the healthcare workforce, healthy healthcare work environments and nursing practice.

Dr. Burkes has received numerous awards. She was inducted into the Louisiana Great 100 Nurses in 2018 and selected as a City Business 2021 Health Care Hero. In addition, she was awarded the Louisiana State Nightingale Registered Nurse of the Year Award in 2018, the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s 2019 Certified Nurse Award in Medical Surgical Nursing and the New Orleans District Nurses Association’s Legacy award in 2022. In 2021 she was recognized by Ochsner Health for Outstanding Community Achievement by a Nurse. She was recognized as a 40 under 40 honoree at her alma mater, Dillard University and recognized as the National inaugural 2022 Chamberlain University Emerging Caregiver. Dr. Burkes was listed on the 2022 and 2023 Becker’s Hospital Review Black Healthcare Leaders to Know. Dr. Burkes was acknowledged as a Health Impact Daisy Nurse Leader in 2023 for her dedication to advancing compassion through policy. Dr. Burkes is a lifetime member of the National Black Nurses Association, a member of the American Nurse Association (Louisiana Nurses Associat ion) and serves on the National Committee for Nursing Practice Standards as well as the National Committee on Workplace Violence. She serves on the National Black Nurses Association’s Health Policy Committee. She is also a member of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing, and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc.

Teri A. Murray, PhD, PHNA-BC, RN, ANEF, FAAN
Professor
Dean Emerita
Inaugural Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer
Trudy Busch Valentine School of Nursing
Saint Louis University

Dr. Teri Murray is a professor, dean emerita, and the inaugural chief diversity and inclusion officer at the Trudy Busch Valentine School of Nursing, Saint Louis University. She is also the project director for a Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resource and Service Administration, Nursing Workforce Diversity Grant. Dr. Murray works tirelessly to advance diversity in nursing education and the nursing workforce. She has been actively involved in workforce development and governmental affairs at the state and national levels. Her research and policy interests are focused on the social and structural determinants of health, the interconnections among the social and political environments, and health equity.

She is the Chair of the American Academy of Nursing’s Expert Panel on Health Equity. Dr. Murray is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, the Academy of Nurse Educators, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Executive Nurse Fellows Program, a recipient of the Saint Louis American Foundation Excellence in Healthcare Award for Stellar Performance, the Exemplary Leadership Award by the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, and the recipient of the Distinguished Black Alumni and Woman of the Year Awards from Saint Louis University. Dr. Murray has garnered significant external funding, presented nationally, and has numerous publications.

Speakers

Tammy Cupit, PhD, RN-BC
Director, Nursing Research & Evidence-Based Practice
University of Texas Medical Branch

Dr. Tammy Cupit has been a registered nurse for over 25 years. She currently serves as an Associate Chief Wellness Officer for UTMB Health, directs a Nursing Science & Innovation division and has faculty appointments with the UTMB SON as well as the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. Her background is primarily in Behavioral Health nursing. She received her PhD from the UTMB School of Nursing and the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. She is a certified Instructor in Communication and Crisis De-escalation from the Crisis Prevention Institute. Dr. Cupit also holds certifications in Emotional and Social Intelligence Coaching from the Institute for Social and Emotional Intelligence and is a certified specialist in Restorative Practices from the National Educators for Restorative Practices (NEDRP). She has conducted local and multi-site social and behavioral research and has spoken regionally, nationally and internationally on her work. Dr. Cupit works with educators, students, healthcare teams and individuals to optimize well-being and joy and to improve professional relationships.

Speakers

Micki Englert, DNP, FNP-BC, CNE
Professor and Graduate Chair
Rasmussen University

Micki Englert is a Family Nurse Practitioner and Certified Nurse Educator. She completed her bachelor’s and master’s preparation at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, PA, and her DNP at the University of North Florida. Micki’s practice focuses on preventive medicine, nutrition, environmental health, and climate change. She is also passionate about nursing education and has completed a certificate in E-Learning Instructional Design and Oregon State University. Micki has been teaching nursing students for 10 years and is currently a professor and graduate program chair at Rasmussen University.

Kathryn P. Jackman-Murphy, EdD, MSN, RN, CHSE
Professor of Nursing
Naugatuck Valley Community College and Charter Oak State University

Kathy Murphy received her nursing degree from St. Mary’s Hospital School of Nursing, Associate Degree in Science from Mattatuck Community College, her BSN from Southern Connecticut State University, and her MSN and Doctorate in Education from the University of Hartford. The topic of her dissertation was the Confidence of New Nurse Graduates in the Application of Environmental Health in the Nursing Process.

Dr. Murphy has a vast experience in pediatric nursing, working in pediatrics at Yale-New Haven Hospital, Waterbury Hospital, and St. Mary’s Hospital in Ct, as well as a Public Health Nurse for the City of Waterbury. She has considerable experience in OB nursing having worked in the Family Birthing Center of Waterbury Hospital providing care to new families. She has taught OB clinical experiences for NVCC, Gateway Community College, Yale University and the University of Connecticut.

Dr. Murphy is a Professor of Nursing at Naugatuck Valley Community College (NVCC), an adjunct fac ulty at Charter Oak State College and the University of Hartford where she teaches courses on Environmental Health and Nursing and Climate Change.

Dr. Murphy has several publications on environmental health and climate change and has presented at many conferences on these topics. She is an active member of the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, co-chair of the Education Workgroup and a member of the Steering Committee. She is one of the editors of the second edition of ANHE’s free online text: Environmental Health and Nursing and has contributed several sections to this publication.

Jennifer J. Wasco, DNP, RN
Assistant Professor, Acute & Tertiary Care
Director of Professional Development & Continuing Education
University of Pittsburgh

Dr. Jennifer J. Wasco is an Assistant Professor of Nursing and the Director of Professional Development & Continuing Education at the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing. Her scholarly agenda is bifurcated, focusing on environmental health and climate change and nurses' professional development and continuing education at all educational levels.

She has visited Capitol Hill to meet with Congressional leaders to educate them on climate change and human health. She was an invited guest lecturer for the 2019 UCLA Carbon Neutrality Faculty Course Curriculum Workshop and most recently was a panelist for the Oncology Nursing Society Advocacy Webinar discussing implementation science, climate change and the role of the oncology nurse along with congressional members, and leaders from ONS, American Cancer Society (ACS), and the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

Dr. Wasco has published manuscripts on curriculum, pedagogy, online learning, and teaching strategies and has authored a chapter in the 2nd edition of the Environmental Health in Nursing textbook published by the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments. She is currently the primary investigator for a study to identify best practices for incorporating environmental and climate change topics into existing academic coursework while mapping to the newly released ANCC Essentials.

Through advanced quality education initiatives an d programming for nurses, Dr. Wasco hopes to improve the health of the world's people.

Jaclyn McPheeters, MSN, APRN, CCRN, FNP-BC
Family Nurse Practitioner
Integrative Health Group

Jaclyn McPheeters is an AACN board certified Family Nurse Practitioner. She graduated with her Master of Science in Nursing from Lewis University. She practiced as a registered nurse for 12 years in intensive care and is an AACN board certified critical care registered nurse. She previously was a full-time tenure track assistant professor of nursing and taught advanced medical-surgical nursing at Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights.

She is a member of Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments. For scholarship she works on her passion of climate change and environmental health advocacy works. In her current role, she directly cares for patients impacted by climate change and she both treats their conditions and helps them to achieve their most optimal state of health through preventative care.

Shanda Demorest, DNP, RN, PHN
Associate Director Climate Engagement & Education
Health Care Without Harm

Shanda Demorest, DNP, RN, PHN is the Associate Director for Climate Engagement and Education at Health Care Without Harm and Practice Greenhealth, where she supports decarbonization and climate-smart health care delivery throughout the sector. Dr. Demorest earned her Doctorate of Nursing Practice in Health Innovation and Leadership from the University of Minnesota, and she holds the LEED Green Associate credential through the U.S. Green Building Council. A cardiovascular nurse with horticultural training by background, Shanda is co-founder of the Nurses Climate Challenge: A national campaign to educate 50,000 health professionals about the health impacts of climate change. Dr. Demorest sits on the Global Climate Change Committee for the Alliance of Nurses for Heal thy Environments and is a former Executive Board member of Minnesota-based Health Professionals for a Healthy Climate. She is a co-PI in the development of CHANT: The Climate and Health Tool, which measures health professionals’ awareness and engagement with climate change globally. Dr. Demorest serves as an Affiliate Faculty member at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing and has published works on environmental sustainability in health care and the health impacts of climate change in local, state, and national journals.

Speakers

Kathleen Amos, MLIS
Director, Academic/Practice Linkages
Public Health Foundation

Kathleen Amos, MLIS, serves as the Director, Academic/Practice Linkages for the Public Health Foundation. In this role, she supports collaborative public health workforce development initiatives designed to strengthen connections between academia, public health practice, and healthcare. She coordinates the Council on Linkages Between Academia and Public Health Practice and its initiatives, including the Academic Health Department Learning Community and Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals, as well as other performance improvement efforts related to workforce development. Kathleen holds a Master’s degree in library and information studies, with post-graduate training in health sciences information services.

Nola Martz, EdD, MSN, RN
Assistant Professor of Nursing
Truman State University

Nola earned her BSN and MSN (with clinical specialty in Public Health) from the University of Missouri - Columbia (MU). Nola completed her Doctorate of Education with William Woods University where her dissertation research was on the impact of accreditation to public health funding in Missouri. Following her early nursing practice in NICU, rural community hospital and physician practice settings, she has spent the majority of her career in public health nursing in rural and suburban local public health agencies, and with the State health department in Missouri at programmatic and administrative levels. Nola joined the Truman State University (TSU) Nursing Department in Fall of 2021 as an Assistant Professor of Nursing. She currently teaches the NU485 – Rural and Public Health Nursing course and the NU250 Life Span Development course. She has also taught Pharmacology I and II for TSU. Prior to joining the TSU Nursing faculty, Nola taught for 6 years as adjunct instructor and full time as Visiting A ssistant Professor for the graduate Master in Public Health (MPH) online program at MU where she instructed Applied Epidemiology in Community Assessment, and Introduction to Research Methods courses. At MU, she additionally served as a Public Health Consultant for the MU Extension Community Health Team. Nola currently serves on the Missouri Public Health Association Board.

Joann Hoganson, MSN, RN
Director of Community Wellness
Kent County Health Department

Joann Hoganson is the Director of Community Wellness at the Kent County Health Department in Grand Rapids, MI. Prior to this, Joann, along with her husband and four kids, served in Brazil, South America as a missionary nurse for sixteen years. A primary focus of her efforts in Brazil was providing holistic and redemptive care to children and families living on the streets of Salvador, Bahia. Through this experience, she honed her administrative skills, learned the importance of community collaboration, and deepened her passion and commitment to bringing quality, holistic care to those who most need it. Additionally, she has worked as a Nursing Instructor at Grand Valley State University and Davenport University.

Joann is originally from Danbury, Connecticut, and received her Bachelor’s Degree from Cedarville University in Ohio, majoring in Biology and Chemistry. She then received a Master’s Degree in Nursing from Pace University in Pleasantville, NY, just outside of New York City. Joann has a deep commitment to the future generations of nurses and finds joy in passing her acquired knowledge on to future nurses who are diverse, well-prepared, innovative, and culturally competent. These are the people she hopes will carry the nursing torch after her retirement.

Moderator:

Susan M. Swinder, PhD, PHNA-BC, FAAN
Professor
Community, Systems and Mental Health Nursing
Rush University

Susan Swider is a Professor in the Department of Community, Systems and Mental Health Nursing at Rush University in Chicago. Dr. Swider has practiced in acute care, home health care and public health settings over the past thirty years. Her research has focused on program development and evaluation of community health workers, engaging urban communities in health promotion, and health policy to support health promotion efforts. She has taught public health nursing at the pre-licensure and graduate/specialty level at several universities, and co-directed 10 years of HRSA supported work to develop an online doctoral program in Advanced Public Health Nursing, ensuring that it met the Quad Council competencies for Public Health Nursing practice. She is a member of a number of public health and public health nursing organizations, and is a past president of the Association of Community Health Nursing Educators (ACHNE). In her role with ACHNE, she served on the Quad Council for Public Health Nursing organizations, and was a member of the Task Force that revised the Competencies for Public Health Nursing (2010-2012). In 2011, Dr. Swider was appointed by President Obama to the Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion and Integrative and Public Health, a group designed to advise on the development and implementation of the National Prevention Strategy. She is also a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and of the Institute of Medicine of Chicago. In 2016, she was appointed to serve on the Community Preventive Services Task Force of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Speakers

Cecilia Sorensen, MD
Director, Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education
Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health
Associate Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine
Columbia University

Cecilia Sorensen, MD is the Director of the Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education at Columbia University, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at Columbia Irving Medical Center and Associate Professor of Environmental Health Sciences at Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University. Dr. Sorensen received her Doctor of Medicine from Drexel University College of Medicine and completed a four-year emergency medicine residency at Denver Health. Following residency training, she completed a 2-year fellowship in climate change and human health policy with the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). Her work focuses on the intersection of climate change and health and how policy solutions, clinical action and education can build resilience in vulnerable communities. She currently serves on the working group for the National Academy of Medicine’s Climate and Human Health Initiative. She was an author for the U.S. Fourth National Climate Assessment and serves as a technical advisor for the Lancet Climate and Health U.S. Policy Brief. She is the co-editor of the textbook Climate Change and Human Health: From Science to Practice.

Teddie M. Potter, PhD, RN, FAAN, FNAP
Clinical Professor/Coordinator, Doctor of Nursing Practice in Health Innovation and Leadership
Director of Planetary Health; Pauline A. Vincent Chair of Public Health
Directorate, Katharine J. Densford International Center for Nursing Leadership
School of Nursing
University of Minnesota

Dr. Potter is deeply committed to climate change education including co-founding Health Professionals for a Healthy Climate, membership in the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, and membership on the American Academy of Nursing Environment and Public Health Expert Panel. She is a member of the Coordinating Committee of Columbia University’s Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education and a Fellow in the Institute on the Environment at the University of Minnesota. She chairs Clinicians for Planetary Health (C4PH) and is a member of the Steering Committee of the Planetary Health Alliance at Harvard.

At the University of Minnesota, Dr. Potter designed and co-teaches an interdisciplinary course titled “The Global Climate Challenge: Creating an Empowered Movement for Change”. In addition, she co-leads a Health Sciences initiative titled, “Climate Change and Health: An Interprofessional Response”. In 2019, Dr. Potter was appointed the first Director of Planetary Health for the School of Nursing.

In addition, Dr. Potter is Executive Editor for the Interdisciplinary Journal of Partnership Studies; a peer-reviewed, open-access, online journal promoting interdisciplinary collaboration as a solution for solving society’s grand challenges.

Dorothy Biberman, MPH, CPH
Director of Global Engagement and Executive Initiatives
Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health

Speakers

Gerry Altmiller,EdD, APRN, ACNS-BC, ANEF, FAAN
Professor of Nursing
The College of New Jersey

Gerry Altmiller, EdD, APRN, ACNS-BC, ANEF, FAAN, is a professor of nursing at The College of New Jersey, a clinical nurse specialist consultant for Einstein Healthcare Network in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and has pioneered the integration of quality and safety competencies in nursing education since 2006 when she served as a faculty leader for one of the 15 pilot schools for the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) Collaboration. She currently is a national consultant for QSEN and director of the Quality and Safety Innovation Center at The College of New Jersey. She leads the QSEN Academic Task Force, creating opportunities for its 110 members to network, share ideas, and conduct academic focused research. Dr. Altmiller authored the Teamwork and Communication Module of the National Council of State Boards of Nursing’s Transition to Practice program and in 2014 she received a Lindback Award for distinguished teaching. Her work on constructive feedback led to the development, testing, and dissemination of support tools for nurse educators and learning tools for students to view feedback as an opportunity. Dr. Altmiller was co-editor of a special QSEN issue of Nurse Educator and currently serves on the journal’s editorial board. Her research focuses on clinical evaluation, QSEN integration, and communication challenges in educational and practice environments.

Speaker

Gwen Sherwood, PhD, RN, FAAN, ANEF
Professor Emeritus
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

Dr. Gwen D. Sherwood was a Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Nursing. Her program of scholarship evolved from a model for caring relationships which led to examination of patient satisfaction with pain management, particularly from a multicultural perspective and the development of a Spanish Language tool, the Houston Pain Outcome Instrument. She also applied the caring model to spiritual dimensions of care and the impact on healthy work environments and helped develop the Methodist Caring Tool to examine patient satisfaction with caring. Through her work at the University of Texas at Houston School of Nursing she was co-investigator with the Medical School’s Center for Patient Safety to examine teamwork as a variable in patient safety.

Dr. Sherwood is co-investigator on Phases I, II, III, and IV of the award winning Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) initiative funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to transform nursing curriculum to prepare nurses in quality and safety for redesigned health care systems. She was a nursing leader for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University Inter-professional Patient Safety Education Collaborative to measure effectiveness of teaching modalities for interdisciplinary teamwork training involving nursing and medical students. She participates in the annual Telluride Science Institute on interprofessional education with the University of Illinois at Chicago and is a member of the National Patient Safety Foundation Research Committee. She has been a leader in developing nursing education across borders, working with nursing faculty in China, Thailand, Macau, Mexico, England, and Kenya.

She is Past President of the International Association for Human Caring and served two terms as Vice President of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society for Nursing.

Speakers

Margaret Rauschenberger, MSN, RN
Professor, Dean of Nursing Emerita, and Associate Dean
School of Adult Learning and New Initiatives
Alverno College

Peg Rauschenberger, MSN, RN, is an associate dean in the School of Adult Learning and New Initiatives in charge of health related programming, and the dean emerita of Alverno College's JoAnn McGrath School of Nursing and Health Professions. She has been consulting and lecturing since 1997, and has presented numerous workshops nationally and internationally on topics including ability-based education, nursing education, child and adolescent mental health care, nursing in corrections, conflict resolution, stress management and the effects of stress on health.

Judeen Schulte, PhD, RN
Professor
JoAnn McGrath School of Nursing and Health Professions
Alverno College

Judeen Schulte, PhD, OSF, is a professor of Nursing at Alverno College where she has taught since 1980. In addition to her nursing expertise, Schulte has given presentations on Alverno’s abilities-based curriculum across the country, as well as around the world. She has also served as a consultant to several universities here and abroad on performance assessment, student learning and abilities-based curricula.

Ann Van Eerden, MSN, MS, RN
Associate Professor
JoAnn McGrath School of Nursing and Health Professions
Alverno College

Ann Van Eerden, MSN, MS, RN, CNE, NCSN, is an associate professor of nursing in the JoAnn McGrath School of Nursing and Health Profe ssions at Alverno College. She also serves as the director of both the Undergraduate Nursing Program and the Health Education Program. She has nearly 40 years of nursing experience and has been teaching since 2008.

Speaker

Colleen Leners, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, FAAN FAANP
Director of Policy
American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN)

Dr. Colleen Leners is the Director of Policy at the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), which serves as the national voice of academic nursing. Dr. Leners was selected as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellow in the office of Senator John Thune (R-SD) of the Senate Finance Committee. She has maintained an active family nurse practitioner practice for over 25 years and has served our country in the United States Army Nurse Corps, which after multiple deployments overseas was honorably discharged. She has many notable achievements both civilian and military, she has been inducted as a Fellow Academy of Nursing, Fellow in the American Association of Nurse Practitioners and awarded the Bronze Star for her service overseas.

Dr. Leners has served as the Traumatic Brain Injury Program manager, created a nurse-managed primary care clinic for Wounded Warriors at Navy Medical Center San Diego. She has also been a registered nurse and nurse practitioner for three decades. She received her DNP in Leadership from Case Western Reserve University, MSN FNP from University of San Diego and her BSN from California State University Dominguez Hills.

Panelists

Susan Swider, PhD, PHNA-BC, FAAN
Professor and Program Director
DNP tracks in Advanced Public Health Nursing and Transformative Leadership: Population Health
Rush University

Dr. Swider is a Professor in the Department of Community, Systems and Mental Health Nursing at Rush University in Chicago. Dr. Swider has practiced in acute care, home health care and public health settings over the past thirty years. Her research has focused on program development and evaluation of community health workers, engaging urban communities in health promotion, and health policy to support health promotion efforts. She has taught public health nursing at the pre-licensure and graduate/specialty levels at several universities and co-directed 10 years of HRSA-supported work to develop an online doctoral program in Advanced Public Health Nursing, ensuring that it met the Quad Council competencies for Public Health Nursing practice. She is a member of a number of public health and public health nursing organizations and is a past president of the Association of Community Health Nursing Educators (ACHNE). In her role with ACHNE, she served on the Quad Council for Public Health Nursing organizations and was a member of the Task Force that revised the Competencies for Public Health Nursing (2010-2012). In 2011, Dr. Swider was appointed by President Obama to the Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion and Integrative and Public Health, a group designed to advise on the development and implementation of the National Prevention Strategy. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and of the Institute of Medicine of Chicago. In 2016, she was appointed to serve on the Community Preventive Services Task Force of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Panelists

Eileen M. Sullivan-Marx, PhD, RN, FAAN
Dean & Erline Perkins McGriff Professor
New York University
President, American Academy of Nursing

Dr. Sullivan-Marx is Dean of NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing and the Erline Perkins McGriff Professor of Nursing. She is a renowned nursing leader, educator, and clinician known for her work on innovative approaches to primary care and payment methods for nurses, particularly through Medicaid and Medicare. She is also known for her work on developing healthcare policies in community-based settings.

Dr. Sullivan-Marx holds fellowships in the Gerontology Society of America and the New York Academy of Medicine. From 2010-12, she was an American Political Science Congressional Fellow and Senior Advisor to the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services Office of Medicaid and Medicare Coordination where she worked to bring models of care to scale.

Dr. Sullivan-Marx was the first nurse to serve as the American Nurses Association representative to the American Medical Association’s Resource Based Relative Value Update Committee, where she was able to demonstrate that the work of nurse practitioners and physicians can be valued equally through various payment structures. She received the Hippensteel Founders Award for Excellence in Practice Award (2011), and the Doris Schwartz Gerontological Nursing Research Award (2013). She is recipient of the Distinguished Alumni of the University of Rochester School of Nursing and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing.

Dr. Sullivan-Marx assumed the presidency of the American Academy of Nursing in October 2019 where she is both a fellow (1997) and Edge Runner.

Susan Bakewell-Sachs, PhD, RN, FAAN
Oregon Health & Science University
AACN Board Chair, 2020-2022

Dr. Bakewell-Sachs is Vice President for Nursing Affairs, Professor, and Dean at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) School of Nursing. Dr. Bakewell-Sachs has a clinical background as a pediatric nurse practitioner and is a nationally recognized scholar and clinical expert in the care of prematurely born infants, as well as a recognized expert in nursing education.

Dr. Bakewell-Sachs was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Executive Nurse Fellow, Cohort 2007, where her leadership development focused on strategic effectiveness and nursing education. Prior to joining OHSU, Dr. Bakewell-Sachs served as Dean and Interim Provost at The College of New Jersey, and also served as the Program Director for the New Jersey Nursing Initiative, an RWJF program aimed at addressing the nurse faculty shortage through new curriculum models, faculty development, and academic-practice partnerships.

Panelists

Roberta Lavin, PhD, FNP-BC, FAAN
Professor
University of Tennessee Knoxville

Roberta Lavin, is Professor and Executive Associate Dean of Academic Programs at the University of Tennessee Knoxville, College of Nursing. She spent twenty years as U.S. Public Health Service officer. She began her career at St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, DC on an acute psychiatric admission unit for those who were homeless. In her work she has coordinated mass migrations in Guatemala, managed health care in an immigration detention center in Batavia, New York before becoming the Chief of Field Operations of the Division of Immigration Health Services, worked for the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Tucson, Arizona, and spent a few months “tooling around” the South Pacific on a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research vessel.

Dr. Lavin has served as the as the President and Secretary of the Federal Nurses Association, Director of the Society for the Advancement of Disaster Nursing, and the designated federal officer for the National Commission on Children and Disasters. She has received funding for her work in disaster research and program development from ANCC and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, FEMA, and OPRE. She has been funded by HRSA and FIPSE for DNP program development and the inclusion of cultural competency.

Joanne C. Langan, PhD, RN,CNE
Professor
Coordinator, Disaster Preparedness & RN Return to Practice
Saint Louis University

Dr. Langan’s clinical expertise is in Adult Medical/Surgical and Community-based nursing. Her research and interests involve disaster preparedness, response and recovery and qualitative methods.

Panelists

Jason E. Farley, PHD, MSN, MPH, RN, FAAN, ANP-BC, AACRN
Professor
Director, PhD Program / REACH Initiative
Co-Director Clinical Core, Hopkins Center for AIDS Research
Past President, Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (ANAC)

Professor Jason Farley is a nurse practitioner for the Division of Infectious Diseases AIDS Service within the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. His portfolio of research includes the development of multi-component interventions designed to improve HIV treatment and prevention across the cascade of care. Through innovative technological solutions, improvements and advancement of task-sharing approaches, or nurse and/or peer case management interventions, Dr. Farley’s work has a large clinical impact on care and prevention of HIV and tuberculosis.

Learn more on the Johns Hopkins University Website.

Speakers

Carol Fowler Durham
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Carol F. Durham, EdD, RN, ANEF, FAAN, FSSH
Professor
Director, Interprofessional Education & Practice
Director, Education-Innovation-Simulation Learning Environment
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Nursing

Dr. Fowler Durham, seamlessly integrates excellence in teaching with long experience in practice and scholarship to improve the ways faculties prepare the future nursing workforce. As a member of the RWJFs Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) project, she developed simulation-based educational experiences that reflect cutting-edge pedagogy. Dr. Durham has made significant and sustained contributions in IPE and is a leader in preparing faculty to integrate quality and safety into their curriculum and their teaching.

Learn more on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill website.

KT Waxman
California Simulation Alliance

KT Waxman DNP, MBA, RN, CNL, CENP, CHSE, FSSH, FAONL, FAAN
Director of the California Simulation Alliance
Immediate Past President for the Society for Simulation in Healthcare

Dr. KT Waxman is a nurse leader with over 30 years of experience in health care and corporate settings. She is a tenured Associate Professor at the University of San Francisco, and is the Director of the Executive Leadership DNP program. She is the Director of the California Simulation Alliance (CSA) at HealthImpact. An internationally known speaker and author, Waxman is also a past president of the Association of California Nurse Leaders (ACNL) and past board member, serving as Treasurer, for the American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE). She is active in numerous committees for the Society for Simulation in Healthcare (SSH) and serves on the Finance Committee for the International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning (INACSL).

Learn more on the University of San Francisco website.