Landry named Sim Lab leader

Instructor Kennessa Landry, MSN, RN-BC, has been appointed assistant dean for the Simulation and Clinical Performance Laboratory at Cizik School of Nursing at UTHealth Houston effective Oct. 16, 2025.

She succeeds Assistant Professor Vuong Prieto, who held the position since it was established in June 2024.

“Vuong has made great strides over the past year in developing policies and procedures that improved sim lab operations and support our accreditation goals,” said Dean Diane Santa Maria, DrPH, MSN, ACRN, PHNA-BC, FAAN. “Kennessa’s experience in oncological nursing, leadership, and simulation makes her well qualified to continue these efforts.”

Landry joined Cizik School of Nursing as a nurse educator in the sim lab in 2016 after working at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center for 11 years. She was promoted to Instructor in 2019 and has served as junior-level coordinator for the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program. She was honored as an Outstanding Nurse in 2022 by the Texas Nurses Association District 9 and in the Houston Chronicle’s Salute to Nurses in 2020.

Landry is on track to earn her Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing from The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston in December. She holds a Master of Science in Nursing from Texas Tech University Health Science Center and a post-master’s certificate in nursing education from Chamberlain School of Nursing. She received her Associate of Applied Science in Nursing from San Jacinto College-South.