2025
5.28
An active psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, associate professor, and the School’s associate dean for strategic wellness and opportunity, a funded scholar, AACN Leadership Institute alumna, and winner of the Virginia Nurses Association’s 2024 VNF Nurse Researcher Award, earlier this spring, Melissa Gomes (CERTI-PMHNP ’13) earned another accolade: winner of the University of Pennsylvania’s 2025 Penn Nursing Alumni Social Justice and Health Equity Award.
5.30
Dean emerita Jeanette Lancaster, of Suwanee, GA, stopped by the School for a special visit with Dean Marianne Baernholdt just after UVA's 2025 graduate and final exercises. Pictured in front of the School's historic silver tea service (used daily in the McKim Hall dormitory from the 1920s to the 1960s "to put a little polish on nursing students," according to the late nurse historian and professor emerita Barbara Brodie), the two shared a laugh over their mutual love of polishing silver—a fitting reflection of their common appreciation for tradition, care, and attention to detail.
7.1
Amy Boitnott (DNP ’08), assistant professor, has been named co-director of UVA Health's Mobile Health Unit. Together, with Teresa Babineau, a primary care physician with Family Medicine and Specialty Care Crozet and UVA Health University Medical Center, she will co-lead the regular care UVA Health provides to greater Charlottesville communities, including Southwood and Fifeville.
"This is a milestone in our academic-practice partnership with the Medical Center, housed in the Synergy Center," said Dean Marianne Baernholdt, "and part of our strategic plan Goal 2: Co-create and enhance partnerships to improve health and healthcare."
7.2
Three UVA School of Nursing faculty will be inducted as Fellows of the American Academy of Nursing this October: Windy Alonso, the School’s incoming associate professor and department of nursing research chair, who begins her role Jul. 25, Kim Elgin (MSN ’11), a part-time faculty member and director of advanced practice providers at UVA Health, and Emma Mitchell (MSN ’08, PhD ’11), associate professor and an NIH-funded nurse scientist.
Five alumni of the School of Nursing will also be inducted as American Academy of Nursing Fellows, including:
- Andrea Knopp (PhD ’10), James Madison University School of Nursing
- Eunhee Park (MSN ’13, PhD ’15), University of Buffalo School of Nursing, SUNY
- Bethany Robertson (BSN ’89), Wolters Kluwer Health, Learning, Research, and Practice Division
- Amy Sawyer (BSN ’02), University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing
- Sheila Cox Sullivan (MSN ’96), U.S. Department of Veterans' Affairs, Office of Nursing Services
New inductees will be celebrated at the group’s annual Health Policy Conference in Washington, D.C., Oct. 16-18, 2025. The School will co-host a reception Oct. 17 with nursing deans from Old Dominion University, Virginia Commonwealth University, and James Madison University at the Marriott Marquis Hotel.
7.22
Associate dean for nursing research Jeanne Alhusen - disability rights advocate, a family nurse practitioner, and an NIH-funded nurse scientist - spoke out July 22 on Capitol Hill with colleagues including alumnus Michael Cary (PhD ’12), Duke University School of Nursing, Dean Toni Villarruel, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, and patient advocate, Ms. Joseph, on the inextricable ties between quality patient care and nursing science.
The group was joined by Illinois Congressional Rep. Lauren Underwood, a fierce champion of nursing science, nurses, and health, at the event, "Powered by Evidence," which was organized by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing and the American Academy of Nursing. Learn more about the Academy's SAVE campaign (SCIENCE ADDS VALUE FOR EVERYONE).
Photos courtesy of EPNAC and the American Academy of Nursing.
8.1
Joel R. Anderson (MSN ’08, PhD ’22) begins in his new role as an assistant professor and co-director, with Ann Kellams, MD, of the Wisdom & Wellbeing program, on August 1, 2025. The School’s inaugural cohort of postdoctoral research fellows - Alanna Bergman, Crystal Chu (BSN ’15, PhD ’23), Victoria Petermann, and Maria McDonald (PhD ’23) - officially become assistant professors on Aug. 25, 2025. READ MORE
8.25
Lauren Catlett (MSN ’16, PhD ’25) has been appointed a postdoctoral research fellow at the School, effective Aug. 25, joining the Office of Nursing Research team and mentor Virginia LeBaron (BSN ’96), the Kluge-Schakat Associate Professor of Compassionate Care.
With degrees in studio art and Russian language and literature, and keen and expansive interests in health equity, healthcare for older adults, as well as end-of-life, hospice, and palliative care, Catlett's research focuses on the aging and healthcare experiences among older adults, including advance care planning—areas that are congruent with the School’s research foci on aging and social determinants of health. Skilled in both qualitative and quantitative research skills, Catlett has published in five peer-reviewed journals over the past two years alone and earned grants from the School’s Compassionate Care Research program, the American Psychological Foundation Springfield Research Fund, and the UVA provost.
An accomplished artist, Catlett has published three books—including Shared Doings and Sayings (2010), stories by people living with dementia, Little Star (2015), which they created with the late Carmelita Estrellita, and Arts Fusion Expressions (2016), a care handbook for partners and caregivers of people with dementia—and helped create the art installation on McLeod Hall’s second floor in concert with the Compassionate Care Initiative.
8.25
Bradford Pelletier, PhD, was appointed the School's second Mellon Race, Place, and Equity Postdoctoral Research Associate in the History of Nursing and Healthcare, effective Aug. 25.
Pelletier will be mentored by Bjoring Center director and professor Dominique Tobbell, and, as a Mellon postdoctoral research associate, is part of a UVA-led initiative developed in 2020 with a five-year, $5 million grant from the Mellon Foundation that prepares new and emerging faculty scholars for tenure-track roles at UVA and elsewhere.
Pelletier’s research examines the struggle for medical civil rights during the 20th century with a particular focus on the influence of African American activism on American psychiatric practices in the South. During the course of the two-year fellowship, Pelletier will expand his dissertation research into a book while also developing new research on the history of nurses’ strikes and their role in advancing equity in healthcare. He’ll also help develop teaching modules that use content from the “Race in Healthcare” web site and work to help faculty members at the School integrate its lessons into both undergraduate- and graduate-level courses.
Pelletier earned a PhD in history at the Graduate Center, CUNY, an MA in European history and literature from Columbia University, an MA in American history from the College of Charleston, and a BA in history and French from Roanoke College. He has published several articles, presented nationally and internationally, and received numerous fellowships, including a Rockefeller Archives Center Fellowship, and brings considerable teaching experience to UVA.
9.8
The School will host a Double Take Storytelling event featuring eight faculty, staff, and students who will speak around the theme of building bridges. Featured speakers include:
- Ashley Apple, assistant professor and VNA commissioner on government relations
- Symaah Banawoe, UVA Facilities Management staff
- Sharon Bragg, assistant professor
- Geanette Boggs, BSN student
- Helennith Jurado, BSN student
- Janice Lavoie, DNP student and nurse practitioner
- Reanna Panagides, PhD student and nurse
- Richard Ridge, assistant professor and nurse practitioner
8.2
From Distress to Dialogue: Strengthening nursing culture and resilience through communication
by Janet Jumper (BSN ’97, MSN ’05)
A virtual presentation by Jumper, a Washington, D.C. nurse practitioner and regular guest on the "Gutbliss" podcast. Part of the School's "Nursing Alumni Spotlight" series and a Continuing Education event.
8.2
Understanding the emotional and physical stress from caregiving
by Paula Sherwood, PhD, RN, CNRN, FAAN, professor
One out of every five people in the United States is a family caregiver, providing functional, financial, and emotional support to persons with chronic illnesses. The stress of providing care is persistently linked to both poor emotional and physical health. We will discuss how emotional stress impacts physical health and how caregiver health can be maintained. At this continuing education event, nurse scientist Paula Sherwood, a neuro-oncology nurse, will share perspective from her lengthy, expansive career studying patients with brain tumors and their family caretakers, the incidence and impact of stress on these caregivers, and discuss future research plans that seek to alleviate the strain of caregiving a patient with brain cancer.
Part of the School's "Updates from the Experts" CE series. Sept. 11, 4-5 PM EST on Zoom. LEARN MORE
8.2
Are you aspiring to prescribe medication, operate your own clinical practice, mentor nurses, teach future RNs, or drive change as a nurse scientist? Whatever your ambitions, we have the perfect program tailored to fit your schedule, family commitments, and financial needs. And as an alumnus/a, you're already guaranteed admission to UVA School of Nursing's wealth of post-master's, BSN to DNP, and MSN to DNP programs!
At this special Zoom event designed exclusively for current UVA nursing students and alumni, a select group of alumni will share their inspiring journeys to graduate school. Discover how earning a graduate degree transformed their careers and set them on new, exciting paths in nursing. We warmly invite you to connect with your UVA School of Nursing community and explore the possibilities that await you here. LEARN MORE