Top awards for practice, diversity, research and mentorship announced
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Four members of the UIC Nursing community will be celebrated for their contributions to scholarly practice, diversity, research and mentorship at an awards ceremony on Sept. 21 at the 3rd Floor Event Center of the Chicago campus.
Meet the 2023 award winners
Meet the 2023 award winners Heading link
Judith Lloyd Storfjell Distinguished Practice Award
The college’s highest award for excellence in nursing practice, it was permanently endowed in 2022 with a gift from Storfjell.
Melissa Carlucci, DNP, MS ’10, FAANP, is the director of the UIC Nursing DNP program. She has an active clinical practice as a nurse practitioner in the division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Sleep and Allergy Medicine at the University of Illinois Hospital and Health Sciences System. Her clinical area of interest is sleep disordered breathing and noninvasive ventilation.
Julie & Mark Zerwic Diversity Award
Established to recognize a faculty member, student or staff member who has made a significant contribution to support diversity and foster equity and inclusion.
Charisse Franklin serves a multitude of leadership roles, including executive director of UIC Nursing’s Faculty Practice and Partnership Division. She promotes access to quality health care within nursing-led practices at the Mile Square Humboldt Park clinic and the UI Health Wellness Clinic at Center on Halsted, as well as through partnerships with the Department of Corrections, the UIC College of Dentistry and the Safer Foundation Adult Transition Center.
She has led important initiatives to provide care to vulnerable patient populations, including COVID-19 vaccinations for more than 4,000 patients in Humboldt Park.
Distinguished Researcher Award
Established to recognize a faculty member or alumnus who has made an outstanding contribution to nursing science and research.
Ulf Bronas, PhD, ATC, FSVM, FAHA, is a clinical exercise physiologist with a research program focused on the protective effect of exercise for patients with peripheral vascular disease, ischemic heart disease, kidney disease, diabetes, and those with cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s Disease. During his 15-year career, Bronas has obtained more than $31 million dollars in external funding. He is currently the principal investigator on two NIH R01 studies and an MPI on an NIH R21 in addition to serving as a co-investigator on other NIH-funded studies.
Distinguished Mentor of Faculty Award
The award recognizes a faculty member who has made an outstanding contribution to faculty mentorship.
Lauren Diegel-Vacek, DNP ’10, MS ’02, FNP-BC, CNE, FAANP, serves as executive associate dean and associate department head of Biobehavioral Nursing Science. She has previously served as director of the DNP program and specialty director of the Adult Gerontology Primary Care NP track. Diegel-Vacek is a dedicated mentor and has mentored numerous nurse faculty and advanced students facilitating their success and helping them achieve their professional goals.