KUDOS!

FACULTY

Adjunct clinical instructor Susan McMullan has been selected as the 2026 John F. Garde Researcher of the Year, awarded by the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology Foundation (AANAF).

Lori Chapman, adjunct clinical instructor on the Springfield campus, received the Silver Circle Award for Teaching Excellence at the 2026 spring commencement ceremony.

Clinical assistant professor Summer Park was selected as the 2026 recipient of the Judith Lloyd Storfjell Distinguished Award for Scholarly Practice.

Associate professor Sarah Abboud was selected as the 2026 recipient of the Julie and Mark Zerwic Diversity Award.

Research assistant professor Chang Park was selected as the 2026 recipient of the Distinguished Mentor of Faculty Award.

Associate professor Shannon Halloway was selected as the 2026 UIC College of Nursing Distinguished Researcher.

STUDENTS

At the 2026 commencement ceremony:

Pei Chen, PhD ’26, received the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research;

Roshni Lotwala, BSN ’26, received the Cardew-Mullane Award for Clinical Excellence and Leadership;

Thanakrit Jeamjitvibool, PhD ’26, received the Graduating Student Recognition Award;

Rianca Argenal, BSN ’26, and Katelyn Osterbauer, MSN ’26, received the Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Honor Society, Alpha Lambda Chapter Awards;

Juliana Green, DNP ’26, received the Department of Biobehavioral Nursing Science Superior Academic Achievement Award;

Carla Johns, DNP ’26, received the Department of Population Health Nursing Science  Superior Academic Achievement Award;

Courtney Jean Davis, DNP ’26, received the Department of Human Development Nursing Science Superior Academic Achievement Award

STUDENTS

PhD student Bright Tamakloe was selected to receive the Laurette Kirstein Scholarship for International Students, administered by the Office of International Services. He is one of seven UIC students to receive the award this year.

PhD student Pia Lenon was selected for the Scholars for Applied Research and Impact (SARI) program, a one-year training initiative supported by the National Institute of Nursing Research.

PhD student Thanakrit (Ten) Jeamjitvibool has been selected as the 2026 recipient of the Midwest Nursing Research Society (MNRS) Gerontological Nursing RIIG Student Publication Award.

FACULTY

Denise Kent, assistant professor in the Department of Biobehavioral Nursing Science, was awarded the 2026 Janet A. Deatrick Award for Assistant Professors, which provides $2,500 in seed funding to early tenure-track investigators.

Liz Aquino, associate dean of academic affairs, was selected as one of only three faculty members from UIC to serve on the search committee for the next president of the University of Illinois System. Alumna Mary Maryland, PhD ’94, was selected as the UIC Alumni Association representative.

Professor Anne Fink and clinical associate professor Katie Vanderzwan are 2026 graduates of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing’s Elevating Leaders in Academic Nursing (ELAN) program, a year-long fellowship that equips participants with the skills, knowledge and network needed to lead nursing academic units.

Rebecca Vortman, DNP, RN, CNOR, NEA-BC, director of the Health Systems Leadership DNP program, has been elected to a two-year term as secretary for the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN).

Carolyn Dickens, PhD ’17, MBA, FHFSA, FAAN, FAANP, associate dean for faculty practice and partnerships, was elected Illinois state liaison for the American Association of Nurse Practitioners.

Associate professor Kamal Eldeirawi, PhD, RN, FAAN, was selected for the Senior Career Award from the Health Promoting Behaviors Across the Lifespan RIIG at the 2026 Midwest Nursing Research Society conference.

Associate professor Shannon Halloway, PhD, RN, FAAN, FAHA, was selected as the 2026 recipient of two awards at the Midwest Nursing Research Society annual conference: the Mid-Career Award from the Health Promoting Behaviors Across the Lifespan RIIG and the Mid-Career Working Group Excellence Award.

Assistant professor Sadandaula Rose Muheriwa-Matemba, PhD, MScMid, BScNEd, DipN, RNM, was selected for the Early Career Award from the Implementation and Translational Science RIIG at the 2026 Midwest Nursing Research Society conference.

FACULTY

Professor and Urbana campus director Krista Jones, DNP ’11, MSN ’07, PHNA-BC, FNAP, FAAN, and clinical associate professor and Springfield campus director Sara McPherson, PhD, RN, CNE, were selected for the Nurse Educator Fellowship Program from the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

Clinical assistant professor Katie Stephens, DNP ’21, APRN, FNP-C, and clinical associate professor Katie Vanderzwan, DNP ’17, MS ’06, APRN-FPA, ACNP-BC, CHSE, were recognized at an awards ceremony on March 9 for the 2025 I-TEAM award, which recognizes interprofessional collaboration across UIC’s seven health science colleges. They were selected for their work on the ICU Simulation Education Experience, along with faculty in the doctoral occupational therapy program in the College of Applied Health Sciences.

FACULTY

Clinical assistant professor Stacy Arriola, DNP ’21, MSN ’16, has been selected as a 2026 Nurse Educator Fellow by the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE). She is also a recipient of UIC’s 2026 Teaching Recognition Program Award.

STUDENTS

PhD student Eric Peprah Osei was selected for the Emory Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Advanced Research Training Fellowship Program for the 2026–2027 academic year.

PhD student Ayo Bodunde is one of two 2026 recipients of the Deborah E. Trautman Future Nurse Scholarship from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.

DNP student Lindsay Baukert, MSN, WHNP-BC, APRN-FPA, co-authored a paper in the Journal of Nurse Practitioners, “Self-Managed Abortion and the Role of the Nurse Practitioner.”

FACULTY

Clinical assistant professor Leah Burt co-presented an AACN webinar on competency-based education simulation design on Jan. 28.

Assistant professor Ellen Goldstein, PhD, and associate professor Sarah Abboud, PhD, RN, FAAN, were selected for funding from UIC’s Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy as co-principal investigators on,“Trauma-Informed Healthcare among Sexual and Gender Diverse Black, Indigenous, and People of Color with a History of Childhood Adversity: A Mixed Methods Study.” Associate professor Wendy Bostwick, PhD, MPH, is a co-investigator.

Assistant professor Denise Kent, PhD, APRN, was awarded a Coleman Foundation award for her project “Toolkit for Returning Understandable Screening Test Results in Chest CT” (TRUST-CT).

Carolyn Dickens, PhD, MBA, APRN-FPA, ACNP-BC, FAANP, FAAN, associate dean for faculty practice and partnerships, was selected as the Illinois recipient of the 2026 AANP State Award for Outstanding Contributions. Only one individual per state is honored.

Associate professor Sarah Abboud, PhD, RN, FAAN, was named the college’s Helen K. Grace Endowed Faculty Scholar, effective Jan. 16.

Health Policy: Assessment and Analysis in a Changing Landscape, a book to which professor Laura Monahan, DNP ’16, MS ’12, OFS, MBA, RN, contributed a chapter, earned third place in the American Journal of Nursing’s 2025 Book of the Year Awards, History and Public Policy category. Her chapter, co-authored with alumna Julie Hoff, PhD ’99, MSN ’93, RN, FNAP, FAAN, is “Leadership Principles and Theoretical Frameworks.” Dr. Monahan is also director of the UIC Nursing-Rockford campus.

STUDENTS

DNP students Rachael Ijaodola, Julia Christian and Kristina Sacketos won 1st, 2nd and 3rd place awards, respectively, for their DNP project presentations at the Poster Day on Friday, Dec. 5.

PhD student Ayo Bodunde has received two honors: She was selected as a fellow for the 2026 cohort of the University of Michigan Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention Summer Research Fellowship Training Program. Also, she received a 2026 Dissertation Research Grant from the UIC Institute for Research on Race & Public Policy.

FACULTY

Ardith Doorenbos, PhD, RN, FAAN, professor and Harriet H. Werley Endowed Chair for Nursing Research, received the inaugural Outstanding Nurse Researcher Award from Wayne State University’s College of Nursing at its 80th anniversary celebration.

STUDENTS

PhD student Ayo Bodunde has been awarded a 2026 Dissertation Research Grant from the UIC Institute for Research on Race & Public Policy.

DNP student Victoria Aladeokin was named a 2025 Public Health Nursing Section Scholar, in partnership with the organization DNPs of Color, at the American Public Health Association’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

PhD student Folarin Olanrewaju was selected for the American Nurses Association/Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (ANA/SAMHSA) Minority Fellowship Program (MFP): a nationally competitive and highly prestigious award.

FACULTY

At the American Public Health Association’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C.:

• Clinical associate professor Shannon Simonovich received the Public Health Nurse Creative Achievement Award.
• Clinical Professor and director of the UIC Nursing-Urbana campus Krista Jones received the Ruth B. Freeman Award, the highest individual honor given by the APHA’s Public Health Nursing Section.

At the 2025 Power of Nursing Leadership event on Nov. 7:

• Elizabeth “Liz” Aquino, associate dean for academic affairs, was awarded the Joan L. Shaver Outstanding Illinois Nurse Leader Award.
• Clinical assistant professor Mitchell Kordzikowski received the Early Career Leader Award.

STAFF

Jojo Galvan Mora, archivist for the Midwest Nursing History Research Center, was a major contributor to Aqui en Chicago a new exhibit at the Chicago History Museum, where Jojo is Digital Humanities Fellow.

FACULTY

Rohan Jeremiah received the honorable mention for UIC’s 2025-26 Piergiorgio L.E. Uslenghi Global Engagement Award. The award recognizes faculty who have gone beyond their essential faculty responsibilities to make significant contributions to global engagement, and it especially honors those whose work has had a significant impact on students’ development.

Anne Fink, Katie Vanderzwan and Liz Aquino were selected for the Elevating Leaders in Academic Nursing, a year-long fellowship of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN).

STAFF

Triana Hickman, administrative assistant to the head of the Department of Human Development Nursing Science, has been selected to receive the 2025 Janice Watkins Award for Distinguished Civil Service. This university-level award recognizes civil service staff who extend themselves beyond the performance of their regular duties and participate in campus and community activities or organizations that are beneficial to the well-being of UIC.

FACULTY

Ardith Doorenbos, PhD, RN, FAAN, Harriet H. Werley Endowed Chair for Nursing Research, is receiving the 2025  Distinguished Mentor of the Faculty Award.

Rohan Jeremiah, PhD, MPH, associate dean for global health, is receiving the 2025  Julie and Mark Zerwic Diversity Award.

Professor Pamela Martyn Nemeth, PhD, RN, FAHA, FPCNA, FAAN, is receiving the 2025 Distinguished Researcher Award.

Associate professor Rebecca Singer, DNP, RN, is receiving the 2025 Judith Lloyd Storfjell Distinguished Award for Scholarly Practice.

Tracey Curtner Ogdon, DNP, PNP-AC/PC, has been named specialty director for the pediatric primary care nurse practitioner program.

FACULTY

Gloria Barrera, MSN, RN, PEL-CSN, was named director of the RN to BSN program. She has served as co-director since 2022.

STUDENT

PhD student Eric Peprah Osei was selected for the Schweitzer Fellowship Program.

FACULTY

Associate dean for academic affairs Liz Aquino, PhD, RN, FAAN, was appointed to the Quality Oversight Committee of the American Heart Association for a term beginning July 1, 2025, and ending June 30, 2027.

Clinical associate professors Robin Shannon and Catherine Yonkaitis are senior editors on the 4th edition of “School Nursing: A Comprehensive Text,” and clinical assistant professor Karen Madura is an associate editor and chapter co-author.

Professor Pamela Martyn-Nemeth was inducted into the International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame of the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society for Nursing.

Three faculty were included in the Illinois Nurses Foundation 2025 class of 40 Under 40 Emerging Nurse leaders: clinical assistant professor Lexxie Gramke, teaching assistant professor Jennifer Maffucci, and visiting clinical instructor Michael Solomon.

FACULTY

Clinical practice nurse educator Mitch Kordzikowski, DNP, MBA, APRN, PMHNP-BC, PMH-BC, NE-BC, and clinical associate professor Cynthia Handrup Taylor, DNP, APRN, PMHCNS-BC, FAAN, each have a chapter in the new edition of Psychiatric Mental Health Management for Nurse Practitioners.

Gloria E. Barrera, co-director of the online RN to BSN program, was awarded the National Association of School Nurses Advocacy Scholarship to attend Healing Politics in July.

STAFF

Robyn Nisi received the 2025 STAR Award, given annually to a UIC Nursing staff member who consistently displays the attributes of Service, Teamwork, Attitude and Reliability (STAR).

Admissions and records supervisor Jon Reyes received the Undergraduate Staff Award of Excellence, an honor bestowed by graduating senior students.

Associate director of advising Heather Sadilek, LPC, received the The Compass Award, an honor bestowed by graduating senior students to an exceptional staff advisor.

STUDENTS

PhD student Eric Peprah Osei received the Provost’s Graduate Internship Award for summer 2025 from the UIC Graduate College.

PhD student Karie Stewart, MS ’17, CNM, MPH, is one of only six nursing students selected from a national pool for a March of Dimes Nursing Scholarship.

FACULTY

Professor and Rockford Campus Director Laura Monahan, DNP ’16, MS ’12, OFS, MBA, RN, co-authored a book, Health Policy: Assessment and Analysis in a Changing Landscape, that recently received publication. Alumna Julie Hoff, PhD ’99, MSN ’93, RN, FNAP, FAAN, who was recently named provost of Rush University, co-edited the book.

Visiting clinical instructor Catherine G. Leipold, MS, RN, was selected by graduating seniors to receive the Silver Circle Award.

Teaching assistant professor Julie Schwind, DNP, RN, received the Undergraduate Faculty Award of Excellence, an honor bestowed by graduating senior students.

Teaching assistant professor Jennifer Maffucci, EdD, RN, ACNS-BC, received the Bedside Chronicles Award, an honor bestowed by graduating senior students to a faculty member who shared “unforgettable” stories.

Clinical assistant professor Karla Lebedoff, DNP, APRN, CPNP-PC, received the Heart of Nursing Award, an honor bestowed by graduating senior students to recognize a faculty member who leads with compassion, confidence and joy.

STAFF

Carol Sieck, PhD, RN, executive director of Faculty Practice and Partnerships, was lead author on a paper published in the Journal of the American Association for Nurse Practitioners, “Developing a nurse-led reproductive health mobile health unit in rural Illinois: Opportunity to promote faculty practice and student training.” Co-authors were UIC Nursing’s Kelly Rosenberger, Summer Park, Laura Monahan and Carolyn Dickens.

FACULTY

Assistant professor Hongjin Li received the Best Oral Presentation (Clinical Research) at the 2025 International Research Conference of the Society of Acupuncture Research, which also named her to the their governing board.

STUDENTS

Rebecca Quaid, DNP ’25, has been selected to receive the 2025 Cardew-Mullane Award for Clinical Excellence and Leadership.

Janna Janthapaiboonkajon, BSN ’25, has been selected to receive the 2025 Graduating Student Recognition Award, which honors academic excellence and initiative in actively supporting the College of Nursing.

The following DNP students, graduating in May, were each recognized with the Superior Academic Achievement Award from their respective departments: Marissa Bernardino (Dept. of Population Health Nursing Science), Bridget Cler (Dept. of Biobehavioral Nursing Science) and Meli Vargas (Dept. of Human Development Nursing Science).

PhD student Heather Nimmagadda received the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research.

PhD student Thitinan Duangjina received the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research, as well as the Deiss Award for Graduate Research for her project, “Psychological Factors, Health Behaviors, and Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Family Caregivers of Thai Older Persons with Dementia.”

PhD student Thanakrit Jeamjitvibool received the Award for Graduate Research for his project, “Ecological Momentary Assessment of Sleep, Fatigue, and Physical Activity among Thai Older Adults Receiving Hemodialysis.”

FACULTY

A manuscript co-written by professor Pamela Martyn-Nemeth, PhD, RN, FAHA, FPCNA, FAAN, was referenced in the 2025 ADA Standards of Medical Care, published annually by the American Diabetes Association.

STAFF

Associate director of advising Heather Sadilek has been named an “Advisor on Fire” for February by the UIC Office for Advising Development, which says the honor recognizes academic advisors “who are lighting the way with their red-hot achievements.”

STAFF

HR associates Rafat Adewusi and Quinatzi Gonzalez earned the certification to deliver Mental Health First Aid, making them a resource for faculty and staff who believe they are developing a mental health problem.

FACULTY

Pamela Pearson, DNP ’18, CNM, FACNM, clinical assistant professor and director of the nurse-midwifery program, was selected as one of the Chicago Defender’s 2025 Women of Excellence.

Melissa Carlucci, DNP, MS ’10, APRN, FAANP, clinical associate professor and DNP program director, was elected to the board of directors of the Illinois Sleep Society.

Clinical assistant professors Afrodita Salievska, DNP, FNP-BC, and Susan Tracy, DNP ’23, RN, have been selected as 2025 Nurse Educator Fellows by the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE).

Krista Jones, DNP ’11, MSN ’07, RN, PHNA-BC, FAAN, Urbana campus director and the Jean C. Stout Endowed Faculty Scholar, was selected for induction as a Distinguished Faculty Scholar Fellow of the National Academies of Practice. Laura Monahan, director of the Rockford campus, was accepted as a professional member.

Associate professor Anne Fink, PhD ’11, MS ’08, RN, CNE, FAHA, and assistant professor Jennifer Maffucci, EdD, RN, ACNS-BC, were selected by their peers to receive the 2025 Teaching Recognition Program Award.

STAFF

Director of enrollment strategy Sean Boettcher was selected by AACN to serve on the NursingCAS Advisory Group. Nursing CAS is the Centralized Application Service for Nursing that provides accredited nursing colleges a free, robust admissions platform.

FACULTY

Clinical associate professor Shannon D. Simonovich, PhD, RN, was appointed associate director of the Midwest Nursing History Research Center.

School Nurse Certificate program director Eileen Moss, DNP ’19, MS ’11, RN, PEL-CSN, NCSN, was installed as president of the Illinois Association of School Nurses.

Associate professor Shannon Halloway, PhD, RN, FAAN, FAHA, received the Marie Cowan Award from the American Heart Association’s Council on Cardiovascular and Stroke Nursing.

Professor emerita Holli Devon, PhD ’02, MS ’82, received the Katheryn A. Lembright Award and Lecture from the American Heart Association’s Council on Cardiovascular and Stroke Nursing.

Clinical associate professor Liz Aquino, PhD, RN, associate dean for Academic Affairs, was appointed to a four-year term on the National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).

FACULTY

Several UIC Nursing faculty members have received recent federal, state or association awards. They include:

• Pam Martyn Nemeth, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (R01)
• Shannon Halloway, National Institute on Aging RF1 (R01)
• Sarah Abboud, National Institute of Mental Health (R34)
• Mary Hannan, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (R34)
• Kylea Liese, Illinois Department of Public Health
• Cynthia Fritschi, Chicago Housing Authority

Associate professor Rosalba Hernandez, PhD, associate dean for equity and inclusion, was elected as a fellow of the American Heart Association (FAHA).

Professor Pamela Martyn-Nemeth, PhD, RN, FAHA, FPCNA, FAAN, and her team received the Journal of Psychosomatic Research’s Editor’s Choice Award.

STUDENT

Suzanne Phipps, a DNP student in the psychiatric-mental health NP specialty, has been accepted to the prestigious Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Minority Fellowship Program for 2024-25. The fully funded fellowship aims to reduce health disparities and improve behavioral health outcomes for underserved racial and ethnic populations.

STAFF

Heather M. Sadilek, LPC, associate director of advising, received fall 2024 SAC Professional Development Award.

Administrative assistant Alisha Turner from the Springfield campus received this year’s STAR Award–given to nursing staff members who have consistently excelled in their position and made outstanding contributions in the area of service and dedication to UIC College of Nursing.

FACULTY

Professor Judith M. Schlaeger, PhD, CNM, LAc, FACNM, FAAN, received the 2024 UIC College of Nursing Distinguished Researcher Award.

Professor Barbara McFarlin, PhD, CNM, RDMS, FACNM, FAAN, received the UIC College of Nursing’s 2024 Distinguished Alumni Award.

Professor and Urbana campus director Krista Jones, DNP, MSN, RN, PHNA-BC, FAAN, was named the inaugural Jean C. Stout Endowed Faculty Scholar.