By Laura Gasque

Four University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing faculty members and eight alumni have been named Fellows of the American Academy of Nursing. They join the more than 130 other FAANs affiliated with the School.

This year’s faculty inductees include Curry Bordelon, DNP, MBA, CRNP, CNE, ANEF, FNAP (DNP 2016); Heather Nelson-Brantley, PhD, RN, NEA‐BC, CNE; David House, DNP, CRNP, FNP‐BC, CNS, CNE, CHSE, FAEN, FAANP; and D'Ann Somerall, DNP, MAEd, CRNP, FNP-BC, FAANP (BSN 1995, MSN 1999, DNP 2011).

The UAB School of Nursing alumni inductees include Shameka L. Cody, PhD, AGNP-C, PMHNP-BC (MSN 2011, PhD 2017); Jennifer Coleman, PhD, RN, CNE, COI, ANEF (BSN 1976); Wendy Dusenbury, PhD, DNP, AGACNP-BC, FNP-BC, ANVP-BC (DNP 2014); Linda Gibson-Young, PhD, APRN, FNP-BC, CNE, AE-C, FAANP (MSN 2003, PhD 2012); Carolyn Harmon, PhD, DNP, RN, NI-BC (DNP 2014); Blake K. Smith, MSN, RN, FADLN (MSN 2017); Jacqueline B. Vo, PhD, RN, MPH (BSN 2014, PhD 2018); and Kathleen Wilson, PhD, APRN, CPNP, FNP-BC, BC-ADM, FAANP, FNAP (MSN 1980, PhD 1992).

The American Academy of Nursing will induct these nurse leaders into its 2025 Class of Fellows during its conference in October.

FACULTY:

Curry Bordelon, DNP, MBA, CRNP, CNE, ANEF, FNAP (DNP 2016)

Bordelon is an Associate Professor and Interim Chair of the Department of Family, Community and Health Systems. Over the past 30 years, Bordelon has worked as a nurse, a nurse practitioner, nurse educator, and educational leader. Bordelon is President-Elect of the American Association for Men in Nursing, Board Member at-Large for the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties, and Education Liaison for the Academy of Neonatal Nursing. In 2023, Bordelon was named to the UAB Excellence in Business Top 25 by the UAB National Alumni Society in recognition of outstanding efforts by UAB alumni in building sustainable business and professional organizations.

David House, DNP, CRNP, ENP-C, FNP-BC, CNS, CNE, CHSE, FAEN, FAANP

House is an Associate Professor at the School, has more than 24 years of experience in administrative and clinical roles, and has practiced as an Emergency Nurse Practitioner for more than 15 years. House serves as Board Chair on the Board of Directors for the American Academy of Emergency Nurse Practitioners and is a founding member of the organization. He has served as AAENP’s Lead Regional Director since 2019 and served as co-author of the 2021 ENP Competencies. House recently was selected for and completed the American Association of Nurse Practitioners Executive Leadership Program. House is a Scholar with the UAB Center for Interprofessional Education and Simulation and a Fellow of the 2019-2020 UAB Interprofessional Leadership program.

Heather Nelson-Brantley, PhD, RN, NEA‐BC, CNE

Nelson-Brantley is an Associate Professor and the Director of the Nurse Executive DNP and Nursing Health Systems Leadership MSN Pathways. She is President of the Association for Leadership Science in Nursing and previously served two terms as its Vice President of Research. In 2021, Nelson-Brantley co-developed the Nursing Leadership and Systems Science Council, the first formalized collaboration between ALSN and the American Organization for Nursing Leadership Foundation. Nelson-Brantley also is a Betty Irene Moore Nurse Leaders and Innovators Fellow. She has received several awards for her expertise in nursing leadership research and education, including the ALSN Early Careerist Award, Faculty Research Investigator Award and the DAISY Faculty Award.

D'Ann Somerall, DNP, MAEd, CRNP, FNP-BC, FAANP (BSN 1995, MSN 1999, DNP 2011)

Somerall is an Associate Professor, Co-Coordinator for the Family Nurse Practitioner Specialty Track and Co-Director of the School’s Health Policy Fellowship. She has been a faculty member at the School since 2002. From 2010 to 2017, she worked at the School’s nurse-managed clinic at The Foundry Ministries and currently is an NP at the nurse-managed PATH Clinic. She is a founding member of the National Association of Family Nurse Practitioners and serves on the executive board of the Nurse Practitioner Alliance of Alabama, where she previously held the role of President. This year, Somerall received the State Award for Outstanding Contributions from the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. In 2020, she was named an AANP Fellow and recently received the inaugural Meritorious Service Award from the Alabama State Nurses Association.

ALUMNI:

Shameka L. Cody, PhD, AGNP-C, PMHNP-BC (MSN 2011, PhD 2017)

Cody earned her Master of Science in Nursing in 2011 and her PhD in Nursing in 2017 from the UAB School of Nursing and is an Associate Professor at the University of Alabama Capstone College of Nursing. She is a board-certified Adult-Geriatric and Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner. Her research focuses on insomnia and comorbid conditions in older adults with HIV. Her interdisciplinary work is funded through the National Institute of Health and Health Resources and Services Administration. Cody is recognized as a Distinguished Educator in Gerontological Nursing by the National Hartford Center of Gerontological Nursing Excellence. She has more than 17 years of clinical experience and continues her role as an advanced practice nurse serving patients in rural Alabama.

Jennifer Coleman, PhD, RN, CNE, COI, ANEF (BSN 1976)

Coleman is a Professor at Samford University’s Moffett and Sanders School of Nursing. She is an onsite accreditation evaluator for the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education and an abstract reviewer for Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing and the National Black Nurses Association. She is past editor of NBNA News, the quarterly newsletter of NBNA and currently is regional coordinator of the NBNA Mini Nurse Academy, a national initiative focused on increasing nursing workforce diversity. Additionally, Coleman chairs the Birmingham Black Nurses Association mentorship program that provides nursing students with individual and group instruction, counseling and role modeling, as well as opportunities for professional growth and socialization into the nursing profession. She is a Fellow in the National League for Nursing Academy of Nursing Education. Coleman was named one of UAB School of Nursing’s 70 Visionary Leaders in 2021.

Wendy Dusenbury, PhD, DNP, AGACNP-BC, FNP-BC, ANVP-BC (DNP 2014)

Dusenbury earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice from the UAB School of Nursing in 2014 and is an Assistant Professor at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix. Dusenbury is a well-respected stroke nurse practitioner with experience in patient care, teaching and research. She has previously served as President of the Association of Neurovascular Clinicians, and she has presented nationally and internationally on topics surrounding stroke care and has publications on clinical localization, mobile stroke units, systems of care, and nursing care of stroke patients.

Linda Gibson-Young, PhD, APRN, FNP-BC, CNE, AE-C, FAANP (MSN 2003, PhD 2012)

Gibson-Young is a Professor at Auburn University College of Nursing and a nationally recognized expert in rural and pediatric population health. She earned both her Master of Science in Nursing and PhD from the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing. Her academic and clinical focus centers on addressing rural health disparities through school-based health education, pediatric asthma management and community-engaged research. Gibson-Young leads multiple initiatives that integrate undergraduate and graduate students into outreach, practice and research efforts aimed at improving population health outcomes in underserved communities. Her professional accolades include induction as a Distinguished Fellow in the National Academies of Practice in Nursing in 2021, Fellowship in the American Association of Nurse Practitioners in 2016 and recognition as a Leadership for Academic Nursing Program Fellow through the American Association of Colleges of Nursing in 2016. In 2015, she received the Outstanding Research Award from the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties.

Carolyn Harmon, PhD, DNP, RN, NI-BC (DNP 2014)

Harmon earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice from the UAB School of Nursing in 2014 and is a Professor and Director of the Healthcare Leadership and Nursing Informatics Programs at the University of South Carolina College of Nursing. Harmon’s clinical experience includes cardiac, open-heart recovery, and emergency practice. Her specialty practice is leadership and informatics. Harmon previously served as the inaugural Dean of Nursing at Belmont Abbey College, and was the inaugural chair of BSN Nursing at the Carolinas College of Health Sciences School of Nursing. Harmon is Past President of the American Nursing Informatics Association.

Blake K. Smith, MSN, RN, FADLN (MSN 2017)

Smith is an alumnus who leads nationally in men’s health awareness advocacy, male inclusion in the nursing profession and previously served as President of the American Association for Men in Nursing. Smith earned a Master of Science in Nursing in Nursing Health Systems Administration from the School in 2017 and is a Clinical Documentation Sr. Analyst at Nebraska Medicine. Smith is the Consulting COO for Next Level TRT Men's Health Clinic in Dallas/Fort Worth, TX and the President-elect for the Nebraska Nurses Association. In 2023, the UAB National Alumni Society recognized Smith by naming him to the Excellence in Business Top 25. In 2023, He was named one of the School’s 70 Visionary Leaders. In 2024, Smith was inducted as a Fellow into the inaugural class of the Academy of Diversity Leaders in Nursing.

Jacqueline B. Vo, PhD, RN, MPH (BSN 2014, PhD 2018)

Vo earned her BSN from the UAB School of Nursing in 2014 and her PhD in 2018, and she earned her MPH from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in 2019. Vo is currently a Tenure-Track Investigator at the National Cancer Institute’s Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genetics. In 2022, Vo made history as the first nurse to be appointed as an Assistant Clinical Investigator within the National Cancer Institute. Vo has received numerous awards, including the Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program Research Award, the Coleman Research Innovation Award, the DCEG Fellow's Cancer Research Award, the NCI Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program Merit Award, and the NCI Director’s Awards for Emerging Leader and Outstanding Mentor. In 2023, Vo was selected for the competitive NIH Distinguished Scholars Program in recognition for her scientific accomplishments and mentorship.

Kathleen Wilson, PhD, APRN, CPNP, FNP-BC, BC-ADM, FAANP, FNAP (MSN 1980, PhD 1992)

Wilson is dually certified as a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner and a Family Nurse Practitioner and is a Clinical Professor/Specialized Teaching Faculty in the Graduate Program at the Florida State University College of Nursing. As an APRN clinician, she practices in the FSU Health Lifestyle Medicine Clinic, the nation’s first college-based, nurse practitioner-led lifestyle medicine clinic. Over more than 40 years as an APRN, she has held positions in nurse practitioner education, research, and administration, along with extensive experience in chronic disease prevention and management, and community program development. Wilson also is serving a 2-year (2024 - 2026) appointment on the Florida Center for Nursing's inaugural Wellbeing Advisory Board, a multidisciplinary statewide board that provides advisement on policy matters that apply to nurses and future nurses in the state of Florida.