The three Cizik School of Nursing at UTHealth Houston faculty members recently became Fellows of the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN), honored for their sustained and outstanding impact on health and health care. Emily A. Barr, PhD, CPNP-PC, CNM; Jessica S. Coviello, DNP, ANP-BC; and Allison P. Edwards, DrPH, MS, CNE, CDDN, were inducted at the academy’s annual Health Policy Conference on Oct. 7, 2023, in Washington D.C.

The academy recognizes the most accomplished nursing leaders in policy, research, administration, practice, and academia. Also inducted were alumna Sherry Adkins, MSN, ANP-C, and Cynthia Weston, DNP, RN, FNP-BC. Adkins is a researcher and supervisor of advanced practice providers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. She was part of the research team whose work led to the first U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved CAR T cell therapy for the treatment of lymphoma. Weston is dean of the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth College of Nursing.

“Having three distinguished faculty members and two alumni inducted in the same year is a testament to the innovative contributions Cizik School of Nursing is making to education, research, and practice,” said Dean Diane Santa Maria, DrPH, MSN, RN, FAAN. “Congratulations to all on this well-earned honor.”

Barr, an assistant professor in the Department of Research, joined Cizik School of Nursing in 2022. Her research has had a significant impact on children, young adults, and pregnant and breastfeeding people living with HIV. Previously, she was an assistant professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, where she managed the pediatric/perinatal HIV and COVID-19 research program and developed the transition clinic for youth moving to adult HIV care. Barr was named Researcher of the Year by the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care in 2022, and her focus is on understanding intellectual humility and building patient-provider trust to support engagement in care. She is currently studying telehealth use and home testing for sexually transmitted infections in youth with HIV in Houston and tele-lactation consultation in breastfeeding people with HIV. Barr earned her PhD from the University of Colorado College of Nursing.

Coviello, the Patricia L. Starck/PARTNERS Endowed Professor in Nursing, serves as associate dean of faculty development at Cizik School of Nursing. Since joining the school in 2021, she has worked with interprofessional teams to develop an innovative advanced cardiovascular nursing educational series) as well as a program for faculty growth, development, and mentoring. Previously, she held a joint appointment as an associate professor at the Yale School of Nursing and as an adult nurse practitioner in cardio-oncology at the Smilow Cancer Hospital in New Haven, Connecticut. At Smilow Cancer Hospital, she wrote the needs assessment to support funding for the cardio-oncology program and assisted in its development. At Yale New Haven Hospital, she created the Take Heart Cardiac Rehabilitation Program. She received her Doctor of Nursing Practice from the Massachusetts General Hospital Institute for Health Professions in Boston.

Edwards, an assistant professor in the Department of Undergraduate Studies, teaches in the Pacesetter Bachelor of Science in Nursing program at Cizik School of Nursing. Her many accomplishments since joining the school in 2007 include establishing the Joan and Stanford Alexander Fellowship in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in 2017, a selective co-curricular opportunity that trains senior nursing students in the care of people with a variety of prevalent disabilities. She has developed clinical affiliation agreements with many local clinics and agencies focused on caring for people with disabilities. The fellowship earned Cizik School of Nursing the 2022 Innovations in Professional Nursing Award in the Academic Health Centers category from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. Edwards has served on the Texas Board of Nursing since her appointment by Governor Greg Abbott in 2015 and is in her second term as its vice president. She earned her DrPH from UTHealth Houston School of Public Health. 

Faculty Fellows

Academy of Emergency Nursing (FAEN)
Academy of Nursing Education (ANEF)
American Academy of Nursing (FAAN)
American Academy of Behavioral Health (FAAHB)
American Association of Nurse Practitioners (FAANP)
American College of Critical Care Medicine (FCCM)
American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE)
American College of Nurse-Midwives (FACNM)
American Heart Association (FAHA)
American Organization for Nursing Leadership (FAONL)
National Academies of Practice (FNAP)
Association of Diabetes Care and Education Specialists (FADCES)
Clinical Nurse Specialist Institute (FCNSI)
Gerontology Society of America (FGSA)
Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine (FSAHM)

Daniel Arellano, FAANP, FCCM
Jennifer Beauchamp, FAAN
Veronica Brady, FADCES
Linda Cole, FCNSI
Maja Djukic, FAAN
Joan Engebretson, FAAN
Catherine A. Giegerich, FACHE
Deanna Grimes, FAAN
Sandra Hanneman, FAAN
Daphne Hernandez, FAAHB
Joanne Hickey, FAAN, FCCM
Constance Johnson, FAAN
Carina Katigbak, FAHA
Thomas Mackey, FAAN, FAANP
Riza V. Mauricio, FCCM
Melanie McEwen, ANEF, FAAN
Janet Meininger, FAAN
Sharon Ostwald, FGSA
Elda Ramirez, FAAN, FAANP, FAEN
Leissa Roberts, FACNM
Cathy Rozmus, FAAN, FNAP
Susan Ruppert, FAAN, FAANP, FCCM, FNAP
Diane Santa Maria, FAAN, FSAHM
Geri Wood, FAAN
Maja Djukic, FAAN
Linda Roussel, FAAN
Patricia Starck, FAAN

The University of Texas Kenneth I. Shine, MD, Academy of Health Science Education 
(Inductees designated as Distinguished Teaching Professor)

Vaunette Fay, PhD, RNC, FNP, GNP (2011)
Deanna Grimes, DrPH, RN, FAAN (2008)
Sandra Hanneman, PhD, RN, FAAN (2022)
Melanie McEwen, PhD, RN, CNE, ANEF, FAAN (2020)
Janet Meininger, PhD, RN, FAAN (2007)
Cathy Rozmus, PhD, RN, FNAP, FAAN (2021)
Susan Ruppert, PhD, RN, FNP-C, ANP-BC, FCCM, FNAP, FAANP, FAAN (2019)
Geri Wood, PhD, RN, FAAN (2007)

The University of Texas System Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award (ROTA) Recipients

Amy Calvin, PhD, RN (2016)
Sandra Hanneman, PhD, RN, FAAN (2022)
Joanne Hickey, PhD, ACNP, FAAN, FCCM (2014)
Melanie McEwen, PhD, RN, CNE, ANEF, FAAN (2017)
Cathy Rozmus, PhD, RN, FNAP, FAAN (2013)
Susan Ruppert, PhD, RN, FNP-C, ANP-BC, FCCM, FNAP, FAANP, FAAN (2018)