Speakers

Daphne Delgado 
Vice President
Health Equity 

Daphne Delgado is Vice President of Health Equity at UsAgainstAlzheimer’s (UsA2), where she works to promote brain health equity through the organization's priorities, initiatives and programmatic activities. Additionally, she leads the Center for Brain Health Equity's work, including the Brain Health Equity Nurse Fellowship and UsA2's partnership with the CDC. Daphne has over a decade of experience in government relations, coalition building, and public health and chronic disease prevention policy, using her experience to advocate on behalf of patients, caregivers, and community-based organizations. Prior to joining UsA2, Daphne worked at Trust for America's Health, YMCA of the USA, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, and served as the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) Health Fellow for U.S. Representative Lucille Roybal-Allard. She was named as an Aspen Ideas Health Fellow in 2022. Daphne has a Bachelor of Arts in Cultural Anthropology, a minor in Biology from Duke University and a Master of Public Health in Health Behavior from University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. She lives in Nashville.

Angela E. Dykes, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC 

Angela E. Dykes is President of Essential Health & Wellness and Immediate Past President of the South Carolina Nurses Association. A board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner with more than 30 years of healthcare experience, she specializes in primary care, prevention, wellness, and patient education, with a focus on improving health outcomes in underserved communities throughout North Augusta and surrounding areas.  

Dr. Dykes is passionate about advancing brain health and healthy aging through education, early intervention, and risk reduction. She is a 2025 alum of t he UsAgainstAlzheimer’s Brain Health Fellowship, supported by the National Black Nurses Association and the National Hispanic Nurses Association, and works to educate communities and healthcare professionals about dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and strategies to reduce cognitive decline risk factors.

Nora Hernandez Pupo, PhD, RN, COI, TNCC, WCSI
Caritas Coach® & Caritas Leader®

Dr. Nora Hernandez Pupo is a nurse educator and leader with over 25 years of clinical experience and more than a decade in academic leadership. She is currently a faculty member at Nevada State University, where she contributes to nursing education and student development.

Dr. Pupo has held a range of clinical roles across multiple hospital settings and units, bringing a breadth of real-world experience into her academic work. Prior to joining Nevada State University in 2022, she served for seven years at Barry University as an Assistant Professor and Program Director for the undergraduate BSN program. Dr. Pupo has been actively involved with the National Association of Hispanic Nurses (NAHN) for over 12 years at both the local and national levels. She was selected as a 2025 Brain Health Equity Nurse Fellow.

Adriana Perez, PhD, CRNP, ANP-BC, FAAN, FGSA,  
Assistant Professor, UPenn School of Nursing   
Senior Fellow, UPenn Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics

Dr. Adriana Perez teaches Leadership Development in Health Care (NURS748) in the DNP program and has been acknowledged by Penn Nursing’s Graduate Student Organization with the Outstanding Nurse Educator Award. She has developed Social Justice sessions for ABSN students to foster dialogue and activate actions that address structural racism and advance health equity as students prepare to become nurses in today’s world. She is energized by Penn Nursing st udents and enjoys teaching, mentoring, and learning from them.

Speaker

Hussein Michael Tahan, PhD, RN, FAAN, FCM
Chief Nursing Officer and System Vice President
Nursing Professional Development, Workforce Management, and Academic Affairs
MedStar Health

Hussein M. Tahan is an internationally recognized nurse leader, scholar, and expert in case management and care coordination. He currently serves as Chief Nursing Officer & System Vice President for Nursing Professional Development, Workforce Management, and Academic Affairs at MedStar Health.

Hussein has led transformative initiatives in nursing practice, workforce strategy, and care delivery models across large health systems. With over 30 years of experience, he has significantly advanced the field of professional case management through research, education, and policy. He has authored over 110 publications, including award-winning textbooks and national research studies on the roles and functions of case managers. 

Hussein is a past commissioner and chair of the Commission for Case Manager Certification, editorial advisory board member of the Professional Case Management and CMSA Today journals. He just finished his term as the chair of the American Academy of Nursing-Institute of Nursing Leadership National Advisory Council; he is currently a member of the National Advisory Board of the Vizient/AACN New to Practice Nurse Residency Program, a member of the CNO Advisory group for Symplr, a member of the Aya Healthcare Workforce Technology Advisory Board, and a member of the CCNE Finance Committee.

Hussein is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and an inaugural fellow in case management conferred by the Case Management Society of America (CMSA). He is a two-time recipient of the American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year Award. In 2016, CMSA presented Hussein with the Lifetime Achievement Award and in 2025, the National Award of Service Excellence, both recognizing his unwavering contributions to professional case management practice.

Hussein received his Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from the American University of Beirut in Lebanon, his Master’s of Science degree in nursing administra tion from the University of Mount Saint Vincent in Riverdale, NY, and his Doctor of Philosophy from Columbia University in New York City, NY.
 

Speaker

Hussein Michael Tahan, PhD, RN, FAAN, FCM
Chief Nursing Officer and System Vice President
Nursing Professional Development, Workforce Management, and Academic Affairs
MedStar Health

Hussein M. Tahan is an internationally recognized nurse leader, scholar, and expert in case management and care coordination. He currently serves as Chief Nursing Officer & System Vice President for Nursing Professional Development, Workforce Management, and Academic Affairs at MedStar Health.

Hussein has led transformative initiatives in nursing practice, workforce strategy, and care delivery models across large health systems. With over 30 years of experience, he has significantly advanced the field of professional case management through research, education, and policy. He has authored over 110 publications, including award-winning textbooks and national research studies on the roles and functions of case managers. 

Hussein is a past commissioner and chair of the Commission for Case Manager Certification, editorial advisory board member of the Professional Case Management and CMSA Today journals. He just finished his term as the chair of the American Academy of Nursing-Institute of Nursing Leadership National Advisory Council; he is currently a member of the National Advisory Board of the Vizient/AACN New to Practice Nurse Residency Program, a member of the CNO Advisory group for Symplr, a member of the Aya Healthcare Workforce Technology Advisory Board, and a member of the CCNE Finance Committee.

Hussein is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and an inaugural fellow in case management conferred by the Case Management Society of America (CMSA). He is a two-time recipient of the American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year Award. In 2016, CMSA presented Hussein with the Lifetime Achievement Award and in 2025, the National Award of Service Excellence, both recognizing his unwavering contributions to professional case management practice.

Hussein received his Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from the American University of Beirut in Lebanon, his Master’s of Science degree in nursing administra tion from the University of Mount Saint Vincent in Riverdale, NY, and his Doctor of Philosophy from Columbia University in New York City, NY.
 

Speakers

Jennifer Lollar
Executive Director, Strategic Marketing & Communications
University of Alabama Birmingham

Jennifer Lollar is the Executive Director of Strategic Marketing and Communications for the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing. She has been with UAB since 2001, starting in UAB Public Relations & Marketing as a media relations specialist, first for the University side of campus and then from 2005 to 2013 for the health schools and medical center. She moved to the School of Nursing in 2013 and now leads an eight-member marketing and communications team that is responsible for all communications and marketing functions, with the exception of media relations, for the school. Prior to joining UAB she was a general assignment and business reporter for newspapers in the Birmingham area.

Speakers

Pamela Cone
Professor Emerita, US Fulbright Scholar
Graduate & Doctoral Nursing Programs, School of Nursing, Azusa Pacific University

Pamela Cone, born and raised in Haiti, has been a nurse for 50 years, a nurse educator for 34 years, and a nurse researcher for 31 years. She holds a BSN from Alderson-Broaddus College, an MSN from Azusa Pacific University, and a PhD in nursing from the University of California San Francisco. In 2008-2009, she was awarded a US Fulbright grant to Norway. Since then, she has collaborated with Norwegian nurse researcher Tove Giske to develop several grounded theories, presented their research in over 30 countries, written over a dozen journal articles, and published two books on their spiritual care work.

Tove Giske
Professor
Graduate & Doctoral Nursing Programs, School of Nursing, Azusa Pacific University

Dr. Tove Giske is a professor in nursing at the Institute of Nursing at VID Specialized University, Bergen, Norway. She is a registered nurse with her Master's and PhD in
Nursing from the University of Bergen. Dr. Giske enjoys teaching and doing research and collaborates with nurse educators and researchers in many countries such as Ghana, Sierra Leone, the Netherlands, the UK, and California. Her passion is education and research in spiritual care, and she has published extensively internationally and presented her work in many countries. She has published books in the areas of grounded theory and spiritual care. The most recent book was published in 2022 by Cone & Giske and is titled The Nurse’s Handbook of Spiritual Care.

Dr. Giske is a part of the EPICC network. She leads a research group at VID named SPIRCARE and an excellent research network named Spiritual Care Education and Practice Development (SEP) where she collaborates with international researchers.