Leadership in Action: Alumni, Faculty, Staff and Student Milestones

Nursing Leaders

Jan. 15, 2021

By School of Nursing Communications

Sandy Staveski Joins Board of Global Pediatric Organization

Sandy Staveski Sandy Staveski, assistant professor in Family Health Care Nursing, has been elected to the board of the World Federation of Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care Society, which represents all pediatric societies globally. Staveski’s term began Dec. 7 and will continue until the WFPICCS 2022 Congress in Cape Town.

Abbey Alkon Named Among Top 25 Pediatric Nursing Professors

Abbey Alkon, professor in Family Health Care Nursing, was named one of the top 25 pediatric nursing professors nationwide on the Nurse Practitioners Schools website. Abbey Alkon The list features pediatric faculty who were selected based on peer recognition, dedication to nursing practice and involvement in advanced level courses to train nurse practitioners and those pursuing a Doctorate of Nursing Practice.

Natalie Wilson, Students Provide COVID-19, Health Screenings to Oakland Residents

Natalie Wilson Natalie Wilson, assistant professor in Community Health Systems, partnered with the 24th Annual Turkey Drive to provide free health screenings for COVID-19, HIV and Hepatitis C to the East Oakland community at Verdese Carter Park. Over 1,300 turkeys were given away. In addition, 225 COVID-19 tests and over 80 HIV and HCV tests were performed. AGPCNP students Mat Sommers and Adam Fuller volunteered to provide test results and counseling.

Carol Dawson-Rose to Lead Home Visiting Model

Carol Dawson-Rose, professor in Community Health Systems, will lead the evaluation component of an innovative program that will be implemented across three Bay Carol Dawson-Rose Area counties.

The California Department of Public Health, Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health Division, California Home Visiting Program awarded a three-year innovation grant to The San Francisco Home Visiting Consortium (San Francisco, Napa and Sonoma counties) to launch a new trauma-informed home visiting model, the “Trauma-Informed Approach in Public Health Nursing." The goal is to mitigate the impact of adverse childhood events and toxic stress, encourage resilience, and optimize health among enrolled clients.

DNP Alum Merry Taheri Appointed to SEIU Committee Advising Biden COVID Team

Merry Taheri Merry Taheri, DNP '19, has been appointed by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) to the SEIU Healthcare Worker COVID Advisory Committee, which will advise the Biden COVID Transition Team. The committee will represent all SEIU health care workers' interests related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the appointment recognizes Taheri's expertise with COVID-19 management and operations.

A graduate of UCSF's first DNP student cohort, Taheri has more than 22 years of health care experience in family, emergency and trauma care. As a clinical commander, she oversaw the opening and daily operations of three quarantine isolation COVID-19 sites for the Los Angeles Department of Health Services. In addition, she is the chief executive officer at Rising Health, Inc., and currently serves as an SEIU Nurse Alliance of California Steering Committee member and SEIU 721 Registered Nurse Professional Council delegate.'

School's Faculty Named 2021 Population Health & Health Equity Scholars

Assistant professors, Carrie Chan, Orlando Harris and Jennifer James were named 2021 UCSF Population Health & Health Equity Scholars and will receive funding to support their

Carrie Chan, Orlando Harris, Jennifer James innovative research projects.

Chan's project is "PrEP Facilitators, Barriers, and Preferences: Perspectives from San Francisco Bay Area Youth." This project aims to triangulate youth barriers, facilitators and preferences through formative qualitative research.

Harris's project is “Our Lives Matter”: Exploring Barriers and Facilitators to COVID-19 vaccination and the Impact of the Pandemic on Black/African American Sexual Minority Men. The study will explore the impact of COVID-19 and shelter-in-place orders on access to care, resource security, well-being, and identify multilevel factors affecting COVID-19 vaccination acceptance and uptake.

James's project is "Community Engaged Research on Aging, Incarceration, and Health: The Development of an Inside- Outside Prison Advisory Board." She proposes to develop an innovative, community-academic partnership which will include currently and formerly incarcerated people, family and loved ones, and correctional healthcare professionals.

DNP Students Complete Program of Study in Virtual Ceremony

Amid applause and robust cheers, enabled by web-conferencing due to the COVID-19 public health and campus restrictions, the second cohort of Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) students celebrated their program completion at a Dec. 9, 2020 virtual Completion Ceremony.

The 2020 DNP graduates represented diverse practice roles and scholarly interests. See the program from the ceremony and a brief presentation of the quality improvement projects the graduates led.

In the News: Faculty Research and Expertise Featured

Elena Portacolone and Julene Johnson were quoted in a Jan. 6, 2021 UCSF press release "Seniors Living Alone With Cognitive Impairment Hit Hard by COVID-19 Pandemic" about their research study.

Monica McLemore was quoted in The Atlantic’s Dec. 29, 2020 feature story “Where Year Two of the Pandemic Will Take Us”

Kristen Harknett was interviewed and her research cited in the Huffington Post’s Dec. 17, 2020 article “Workers At These Companies Say They’re Still Not Safe From COVID-19” about worker safety during the pandemic.

Stacy Torres was quoted about the need for greater transparency in The San Francisco Chronicle’s Dec. 15, 2020 article “The Bay Area Is More Skeptical of COVID-19 Lockdowns This Time. Why?”

Accreditation Agency Accepting Comments on School's Midwifery Specialty

The University of California San Francisco Nurse-Midwifery Program is scheduled to be reviewed by the Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education (ACME), Board of Review (BOR) for continuing accreditation in April 2021. As part of the ACME accreditation process, there is opportunity for the program’s constituents and other interested parties to submit, in writing, comments concerning the program’s qualifications for accreditation. Using the ACME Third-Party Comments form in print or electronically, we invite you to submit written comments. Comments must directly relate to the continuing accreditation of this program and the ACME Criteria for Programmatic Accreditation, (May 2019 (revised August 2020)).

Written comments: ACME, Attn: Third Party Comments, 8403 Colesville Road, Suite 1550, Silver Spring, MD 20910-6374.

Email comments: ACME Board of Review via Angela Smith, ACME Executive Director, [email protected]

The deadline for comment submission is April 5, 2021.

Natalie Wilson Organizes Symposium in Honor of World AIDS Day

In honor of World AIDS Day, Natalie Wilson, assistant professor in Community Health Systems, planned a Dec. 5, 2020 symposium with community partners to translate information about HIV and COVID-19 for communities of color. Sessions covered topics to promote sexual health, including Sex over 50, Mental Health in the Black Community, and Gender Expression and Sexual Identities, HIV 202, and Implicit Bias and Social Binaries. This first symposium drew 50 participants.

The community partners were APEB, Oakland East Bay Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Gilead Sciences, Alameda County Health Services, and RSS Consulting.

Sound Health Network Launches Jan. 26

On Jan. 26, the National Endowment for the Arts and UCSF will launch the Sound Health Network with a free online event highlighting the impact of music on health and wellness. Julene Johnson Associate Dean Julene Johnson is principal investigator and co-director, with professor Charles Limb from the School of Medicine.

The 60-minute event will bring together scientists and researchers, along with world class musicians with an interest in the intersection of music and health, such as Esperanza Spalding, Renée Fleming, and Quetzal Flores. Learn more and register to join the event.

Monica McLemore’s Book Named Finalist for Best of 2020

Monica McLemore A book co-edited by Monica McLemore, associate professor in Family Health Care Nursing, has been named a second-place finalist for the 2020 Book of the Year Awards from the American Journal of Nursing. The book, Policy and Politics in Nursing and Health Care, received the accolade in the “Professional Issues” category for being one of the most valuable texts of the year.

She was also the recipient of the Distinguished Leadership Award from The College of New Jersey’s School of Nursing, Health and Exercise Science. The award recognizes and celebrates McLemore’s commitment to the profession and students.

McLemore, who earned her BSN from the college, was honored during the school’s 50th Anniversary Virtual Gala on Nov. 13, 2020. View a screenshot of the award presentation from the event.

Ifeyinwa Asiodu Recommended for Coronavirus Task Force

Ifeyinwa Asiodu, assistant professor in Family Health Care Nursing, was among a list of public health nursing experts that the Council of Public Health Nursing Organizations Ifeyinwa Asiodu recommended for President-Elect Joe Biden's Coronavirus Task Force.

The council issued its request in a Nov. 13, 2020 letter to Congressman Al Lawson in which it called for the inclusion of public health nurses and scientists to join the task force and provide their expertise. Read the letter on the council's website.

SON faculty have issued public statements on the vital role of nurses in the pandemic response and the importance of adding nurses to the task force. These include the Nov. 23, 2020 op-ed, "Nurses Are Crucial to the Pandemic Response. Why Aren’t They on Biden’s COVID-19 Board?" in The Los Angeles Times by Stacy Torres and Andrew Penn, as well as the Nov. 16, 2020 column, "We Need Nurses on the COVID Transition Team," on the UCSF Institute for Global Health Sciences website by Kimberly Baltzell and Stella Bialous.

Mijung Park Reappointed to MFP National Advisory Committee

Mijung Park Mijung Park, associate professor in Family Health Care Nursing, has been reappointed as a member of the Minority Fellowship Program National Advisory Committee by the American Nurses Association Board of Directors. Her new term is from Jan. 1, 2021 to Dec. 31, 2023.

The MFP's core mission is to increase the number of post-baccalaureate behavioral health nurses from underrepresented ethnic minority groups and to eliminate health disparities in behavioral health disorders. Since its inception in 1974, the program has enhanced the academic resources and provided a nurturing support system for more than 500 fellows who are providing leadership in the areas of research, clinical practice, education, administration and policy in a variety of settings.

Nikki Lanshaw Named Institute Fellow

Nikki Lanshaw, project director for ACTIONS, has joined the 18th cohort of the Women’s Policy Institute’s State Fellows as part of its Reproductive Health, Rights and Justice Team. Nikki Lanshaw Lanshaw has worked in administrative, communications and policy analyst roles throughout her career. She received her MPH from UC Berkeley, where she focused on integrating health equity and social justice into health policy proposals and research.