Fourteen from the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing (JHSON) have been selected for fellowship in the American Academy of Nursing in recognition of their exceptional careers and impact to advance health.
“We are so proud of these nurses,” says JHSON Dean Sarah Szanton, PhD, RN, FAAN. “Their work helping people live healthier lives has culminated in this career milestone as FAAN inductees and will open doors for their impact to be felt even further.”
The 2023 Hopkins Nursing inductees include:
Michelle Kahn-John, PhD, RN, PMHNP-BC, GNP
Research Associate
Kahn-John, a citizen of the Diné (Navajo) Nation, is a psychiatric and geriatric nurse practitioner with nearly 30 years of clinical experience working with the Navajo Nation and Alaska Natives. Kahn-John’s research focuses on the physical and psychological health related protective factors of American Indian culture (Indigenous knowledge, ceremony, spirituality). Her current research collaboration is focused on prevention of American Indian Youth suicide in the Great Plains region.
Binu Koirala, PhD, MGS, RN
Assistant Professor and Alumna
Koirala is a researcher, educator, and leader whose work has significantly contributed to cardiovascular and chronic care. Her research expertise includes cardiovascular disease, multimorbidity, palliative care, and global health. Her active research focuses on implementing care coordination and symptom management intervention for patients living with multimorbidity. She collaborates with global experts to establish sociodemographic and clinical factors influencing prevention and management of cardiovascular and chronic diseases.
Tamar Rodney, PhD, MSN, RN, PMHNP-BC, CNE
Assistant Professor and Alumna
Rodney is a board-certified psychiatric nurse practitioner who has worked in trauma and psychiatry. Her research looks at biomarkers for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in veterans with a traumatic brain injury. Her career goal is to change the way health care professionals approach diagnosis and treatment planning for individuals with mental health needs. Her other areas of specialty include substance use, addiction, trauma, and military health.
Erin Wright, DNP, MS, RN, CNM, APHN-BC
Assistant Professor
Wright is a certified nurse-midwife and a board-certified advanced practice holistic nurse who provides clinical care in Baltimore City. Her areas of expertise include mind-body medicine, Centering Pregnancy, labor support, breastfeeding, adolescent pregnancy, and non-pharmacologic pain relief in labor. She is currently researching the integration of resilience and ethics in practicing nurses, midwives, and students.
Raji Koppolu, MSN, MSL, BSN, BS, CPNP-PC/AC, RN, NPD-BC
DNP Executive Leadership Student and Alumna
Koppolu serves as Manager of Advanced Practice Professional Development at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health. In this role, her primary areas of impact are in the development of strategic programs which support subspecialty pediatric professional practice through education, service, and advocacy. She is a dually board-certified primary and acute care pediatric nurse practitioner who has experience providing direct care to complex pediatric surgical and cardiac patients. Koppolu is a past president for the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners and serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of the Journal of Pediatric Healthcare.
Irvin Ong, EdD, MHPEd, RN, LPT, FPSQua
DNP Student
As a leader, educator, and researcher, Ong has over 15 years of professional experience in the fields of nursing, healthcare, and education. He currently serves as the 2023-2025 President of Phi Gamma, the ONLY virtual chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing. He is an adjunct nursing faculty at Elmhurst University in Illinois, USA, and a research specialist at Our Lady of Fatima University, Philippines..
Vanessa Battista, DNP, MBA, MS, RN, CPNP-PC, CHPPN, FPCN
Alumna
Battista is a board-certified pediatric nurse practitioner (PNP) and currently serves as Senior Nursing Director of Palliative Care at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Previously, she practiced as a PNP on the Pediatric Advanced Care Team at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She served as clinical faculty at The Boston College Connell School of Nursing where she developed the Pediatric Palliative Care Masters subspecialty program. Battista was a Jonas Nursing Scholar and the recipient of the ELNEC Award for Excellence, the DNP Leadership Award from JHSON, and more.
Trudy Gaillard, PhD, RN, CDCES, FAHA
Alumna
As a nurse scientist, Gaillard’s focus area is on risk factors associated with prediabetes, type 2 diabetes and cognitive impairment in older adults. Through her current research, she is promoting recruitment and enrollment of diverse older adults into aging research and implementing a statewide registry of African American, Latino/Hispanic and Caribbean older adults educated and ready to participate in NIA-funded clinical research.
Sherri Johnson Wilson, DNP, MPA, RN
Alumna
Johnson Wilson is director of partnership development and a career pathways SME at Stride, Inc. She is also founder of The Institute for Health and Social Equity, Inc. Her focus is on advancing a diverse nurse workforce. Throughout her career, she has held a variety of leadership positions including operations director at Kaiser Permanente and nursing administrator with the Fairfax County Health Department in Virginia. She is currently board president of the Virginia Nurses Association, the leading professional organization representing the interests of nurses in Virginia.
Sara Rodriguez, MSN, MPH, RN
Alumna
Rodriguez is currently serving as Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin. She has experience in public health, as a small business owner, vice president of a Fortune 100 company, and as an executive of a large local health care system. In Rodriguez’s earlier career, she served as an epidemic intelligence officer with the Center for Disease Control, where she led national and international outbreak investigations.
Melinda Sawyer, DrPH, MSN, RN, CNS-BC
Alumna and adjunct faculty
Sawyer is vice president and chief quality and patient safety officer at UnitedHealth Group. In this role she is responsible for developing and driving a highly reliable health system for patients, clinicians and payers by eliminating preventable harm and achieving optimal clinical quality outcomes for the 146 million people UnitedHealth Group serves. She is a board-certified clinical nurse specialist.
Katherine Scafide, PhD, RN
Alumna
As a forensic nurse and scientist, Scafide focuses on advancing equity in the medical identification and forensic documentation of injuries, particularly for patients of color, through innovative technology. In addition, her published research was used to support the 2022 Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act. Scafide is currently developing and evaluating clinical guidelines to support the implementation of this technology into forensic nursing practice.
Janet Selway, DNSc, AGNP-C, CPNP-PC, FAANP
Alumna
Selway is a nurse practitioner and associate professor at the University of Maryland School of Nursing. She serves as the director of the DNP Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse practitioner specialty. Selway also served as JHSON faculty where she took a leading role in helping students see the influence they can have as policy advocates.
Martha Sylvia, PhD, MSN, MBA, RN
Alumna
Sylvia is a distinguished leader in healthcare analytics and DNP educator focused on teaching evidence-based practice, informatics, and clinical analytics. She developed the first textbook in clinical analytics focused on the needs of the DNP in translating evidence into practice and the only guidebook of its kind for all health-related disciplines, Population Health Analytics. As the founder and CEO of ForestVue Healthcare Solutions, she provides expertise in population health analytics, strategy, systems and program level interventions, and outcomes optimization.
All honorees will be inducted at the AAN’s policy conference taking place October 5-7.
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Located in Baltimore, the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing is a globally-recognized leader in nursing education, research, and practice. In U.S. News & World Report rankings, the school is No. 1 nationally for its DNP program and No. 2 for its master’s. In addition, JHSON is ranked as the No. 3 nursing school in the world by QS World University. The school is a five-time recipient of the INSIGHT Into Diversity Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award and a four-time Best School for Men in Nursing award recipient. For more information, visit www.nursing.jhu.edu.