Distinguished inductees in the 2026 Class of Fellows of the American Academy of Nursing

Roger D. Carpenter, PhD, RN, NE-BC, CNE (NUR ‘91) earned his Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) from Case Western Reserve University Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing in 1991, his BSN from Kent State University in 1987 and his PhD from West Virginia University in 2008. He is licensed as a registered nurse in West Virginia and is certified as a Nurse Executive and Nurse Educator.

Carpenter is currently a professor of nursing at the West Virginia University School of Nursing. During his 20-year tenure, he taught in all nursing programs offered by the school, maintained scholarly productivity in health promotion research for marginalized populations, mentored graduate students and faculty in teaching and research, and provided service to the West Virginia Nurses Association (WVNA) and the West Virginia Organization of Nurse Leaders (WVONL).

He has served the school in several administrative positions, including department chairperson, director of the Honors Program, director of Continuing Education and director of faculty and staff search and selection. Carpenter currently serves as the director of the PhD program in nursing. He has also served as associate editor for Applied Nursing Research from 2010 to 2020 and is currently serving as a handling editor for the Canadian Journal of Nursing. 

Amany Farag, PhD, RN (GRS '08, nursing) is a tenured associate professor at the University of Iowa College of Nursing and the co-director of the National VA Quality Scholars Program, Iowa City VA. She received her BSN and MSN from the University of Alexandria, Egypt, and earned her PhD in nursing from Case Western Reserve University Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, where she also completed a postdoctoral fellowship.

Farag is a health systems researcher with 20 years of substantive contributions to nursing workforce science and medication safety across the care continuum. Her work integrates human factors, workforce science and technology-enabled solutions to reduce medication errors, mitigate nurse fatigue and strengthen safety culture. She led interdisciplinary teams and used digital health and machine learning to generate essential knowledge to enhance nurses' well-being.

In her most recent work, Farag and her team developed and implemented an innovative electronic school medication administration system (eSMAR) to support school nurses or their delegates in delivering medication safely to K-12 children. This work translates evidence-based technology from acute care to schools and addresses a critical equity gap in safety infrastructure. The American Nurses Association recognized this work with its 2025 Individual Innovation of the Year Award. The American Organization for Nursing Leadership recognized her contribution to advancing health systems research and nursing leadership with its 2026 Researcher of the Year Award. Dr. Farag has sustained her funding for the past 15 years; her work has been funded through multiple federal and private organizations and governmental contracts.

Nicole George, PhD, RN, NEA-BC (Coldiron Fellow) is vice president and associate chief nursing officer at Press Ganey, where she partners with healthcare organizations across the United States to advance nursing excellence, workforce engagement and exceptional patient care. A globally recognized nurse executive, speaker and scholar, she earned her PhD in nursing from the University of Texas Medical Branch and completed executive leadership education through Case Western Reserve University Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing. 

She advises health system leaders on creating practice environments where nurses and patients thrive. George’s career spans clinical practice, nursing leadership, operations, research, credentialing and consulting. She previously served in leadership roles at the American Nurses Credentialing Center, where she helped shape the evolution of the Magnet Recognition Program® and advance national standards for nursing excellence. Her scholarship focuses on intergenerational leadership, social capital and healthy work environments, with multiple peer-reviewed publications and national presentations highlighting strategies to strengthen the nursing workforce.

George is passionate about mentoring emerging leaders and developing the next generation of nurse executives through sponsorship, leadership development and evidence-based practice.
 

Breanna Hetland, PhD, RN, CCRN (Postdoctoral fellow) is the Gail and Jim Anderson Professor in Nursing and associate professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Nursing, where she was awarded tenure in 2025. From 2019 to 2026, she served as a clinically embedded nurse scientist at Nebraska Medicine, leading research and innovation efforts in the ICU and the Innovation Design Unit. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Case Western Reserve University’s Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing and is a 2023 cohort member of the Betty Irene Moore Fellowship for Nurse Leaders and Innovators.

Her research focuses on designing and testing technology-driven interventions that reduce symptom burden and improve patient and family outcomes in the ICU, with a particular emphasis on engaging family caregivers.

Hetland is also co-founder and CEO of FamilyRoom, a digital health company that grew out of her research and her own experience as a family caregiver during a loved one's critical illness. FamilyRoom's platform is the first to let family caregivers chart directly into the patient's medical record, documenting their own self-assessment, bedside observations and patient comfort interventions in real time. The company has secured more than $3 million in nondilutive funding, including from the NIH, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses and the American Nurses Foundation, and recently received a Phase II STTR award, the largest ever granted by the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR).

Her work has earned national recognition, including UNMC's Faculty Entrepreneur of the Year, the Pennie Z. Davis Faculty Research Award from the Midwest Nursing Research Society and selection of the FamilyRoom health program as a 2026 American Academy of Nursing Edge Runner.

Christopher Imes, PhD, RN (CWR '00) is an associate professor and vice chair for administration in the School of Nursing and is a faculty member of the Center for Sleep and Circadian Science (CSCS) at the University of Pittsburgh. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) from Case Western Reserve University Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, his PhD from the University of Washington and completed postdoctoral training in genetics, genomics and sleep science at the University of Pittsburgh.

Imes’ research program focuses on multidimensional sleep health (MDSH), its impact on cardiometabolic health and wellness, and behavioral sleep interventions to improve MDSH. Additionally, he studies the impact of shift work on nurses and the use of fatigue countermeasures to reduce negative nurse and patient outcomes. His research is widely cited, and he has contributed to the American Nurses Association’s recent position statement addressing nurse fatigue and the American Heart Association’s clinicians’ toolkit on hypertension, sodium and sleep. As a training faculty member for T32 programs in genomics and using technology to improve patient outcomes in critical and chronic illnesses and the CSCS’s Sleep and Circadian Workshop on Indispensable Methods, Imes is strongly committed to training the next generation of scientists.

In addition to the American Heart Association and the American Nurses Association, Imes is a member of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society for Nursing (Sigma), the International Society of Nurses in Genetics and the Sleep Research Society.

Before his academic career, he served as a U.S. Army nurse, including deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Donna McCabe, DNP GNP-BC PMHNP-BC (NUR '09) is a clinical professor at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing and assistant director for education programs at the Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing (HIGN). A dual board-certified geriatric and psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, she earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) from Case Western Reserve University Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, a Master of Arts in Advanced Practice Nursing Geriatrics from New York University, a post-master's certificate in Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing from Stony Brook University and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Mount Saint Mary College. 

She leads educational initiatives that advance age-friendly care, behavioral health integration and workforce development across academic, community and long-term care settings. Her work centers on improving the health and well-being of older adults through innovative educational programs, interprofessional collaboration and the implementation of evidence-based practices.

In addition to her academic leadership, Dr. McCabe maintains an independent psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner practice providing care to adults and older adults. She serves on the Board of Directors of VNS Health, where she chairs the Home Care Committee and serves on the Behavioral Health Committee, contributing to the strategic oversight of one of the nation's largest nonprofit home- and community-based healthcare organizations.

Jeanne Marie Carney Moore, DNP, FNP-BC, CNE (NUR ’13) is an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. She earned a BS in computer science from the University of Virginia, a BSN and MSN from the University of Pennsylvania, and her Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) from Case Western Reserve University Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing. Her scholarship and leadership focus on curricular innovation, technology-enhanced learning and preparing nurse practitioners for contemporary models of care. Drawing on her interdisciplinary background in computer science, nursing and clinical practice as a family nurse practitioner, Dr. Moore has led innovative initiatives in online learning, telehealth integration, simulation-based education, multi-touch ebooks with international reach and competency-based frameworks for assessing clinical performance.

Before joining Johns Hopkins, Moore served as a clinical associate professor at The Catholic University of America, where she held several leadership roles, including associate dean for innovation and online learning, co-associate dean for master’s programs and director of the Family Nurse Practitioner Program. In these roles, she led large-scale curricular transitions, supported faculty innovation in online education and strengthened competency-based approaches across graduate nursing programs. Her academic-practice partnership work has advanced the preparation of nurse practitioners to care for veterans with complex health needs, while her interprofessional curricular work has supported Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) education across nursing and social work.

Moore's scholarship has been disseminated through peer-reviewed publications, digital educational works and national presentations at organizations including the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, the American Association of Nurse Practitioners and the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties. Her current work focuses on advancing competency-based education, strengthening practice-readiness assessment and integrating emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, to support ethical, innovative and evidence-informed approaches to nursing education.

Sara Mithani, PhD, RN (CWR '16) is an assistant professor in the Department of Research at UTHealth Houston Cizik School of Nursing. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) from Case Western Reserve University Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, her PhD in nursing science and a certificate in sleep medicine from the University of Illinois Chicago, and completed predoctoral and postdoctoral fellowships at the National Institute of Nursing Research, NIH. She leads a federally funded research program, supported by the Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs, focused on sleep disorders, traumatic brain injury biomarkers and precision health in military and veteran populations. Her work employs transcriptome sequencing, proteomic profiling and blood-based biomarker discovery to advance understanding of brain health, stress responses and biobehavioral outcomes across diverse populations.

She serves as deputy lead of the Global Mental Health Task Force within the Aga Khan Development Network, supporting mental health capacity building across a network of mental health programs in 22 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe and North America.  Mithani has been recognized as one of the Top 25 Nurses of South-Central Texas (2023) and received the Young Alumni Award for Excellence from Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University (2024). She is a Jonas Nurse Scholar and Heilbrunn Nurse Scholar alumna and currently serves as vice chair-elect of the Jonas Scholar Alumni Council. In 2024, she completed the Global Mental Health Disparities in Research T37 fellowship through Washington University, funded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. She is deeply committed to mentoring the next generation of nurse scientists, continuing this work through ongoing mentorship of high school, undergraduate and graduate students and early-career researchers in biobehavioral health science.

Ippolito Notarnicola (Coldiron Fellow) is a nursing scholar, educator and healthcare professional with over 30 years of clinical, management and research experience, who completed the Coldiron Senior Nurse Executive Fellowship at Case Western Reserve University Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing. He holds academic qualifications from several Italian institutions, including a PhD in nursing sciences from the University of L’Aquila (2016) and the Italian National Scientific Qualification in Academic Recruitment Field 06/M.

Notarnicola spent two decades in clinical care, beginning at Policlinico Umberto I (1992–1997) before joining the National Institute for Infectious Diseases “Lazzaro Spallanzani” (1997–2012). In 2012, he became the Nursing Coordinator for Research at the Regional Emergency Health Agency ARES 118, where he led research initiatives and professional development programs. In 2024, he was appointed Associate Professor at the University of Enna “Kore.” His international teaching experience spans Sapienza University of Rome, Catholic University “Our Lady of Good Counsel” in Albania, Saint Camillus International University of Health Sciences and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

A cornerstone of his scholarly work is the Nursing Theory of Complex Adaptive Systems (NTCAS), which frames healthcare environments as dynamic, adaptive networks to improve organizational resilience, care quality and professional competence. He has served on leadership boards including the European Nurse Directors Association, Sigma Theta Tau International (European Communications Committee) and as a scientific consultant to the Albanian Order of Nurses. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery) and a Fellow of the European Specialist Nurses Organisation. His research focuses on nursing competence, clinical reasoning, leadership and complexity science in healthcare.

Susanne A. Quallich, PhD, ANP-BC, NP-C (CWR ’94; NUR '96) completed her fellowship training at Case Western Reserve University Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing. She has been a nurse practitioner (NP) since 1996 and was promoted to assistant professor of urology in 2018, becoming the first NP to achieve this academic position at University of Michigan Health. She is an active clinician, researcher, editor and healthcare educator. Quallich is editor-in-chief for Urologic Nursing and has held many leadership positions related to the NP role and urology. She was instrumental in defining the urology NP role and its clinical competencies, salary and work environments. She has worked nationally to develop white papers reviewing the regulatory environments and guiding integration of NPs into urology practices.

Quallich was inducted as a fellow of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners in 2014 for her work on the specialty role of the urology NP and her promotion of men’s health education. Her clinical and research focus centers on men’s benign urology (sexual function concerns, male pelvic pain and testosterone) that represent considerable quality of life concerns for men.

Quallich received the Sigma Theta Tau, Rho Chapter, Excellence in Nursing Practice Award (2018) and the President’s Trophy (2020), Ardeth Hale Leadership Award (2022) and Member of the Year (2024) awards from the Society of Urologic Nurses and Associates. In March 2025, the American Urological Association named her Advanced Practice Provider of the Year.

Margaret Rafferty, DNP, MPH, MA, RN (NUR ‘09) is a professor of nursing at New York City College of Technology (City Tech), City University of New York (CUNY), where she previously served for many years as chair of the Department of Nursing. She earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) from Case Western Reserve University Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing. She remains actively engaged with the FPB nursing community through service with Dr. Joyce Fitzpatrick, Dr. Deb Lindell and the Marian K. Shaughnessy Nurse Leadership Academy.

Rafferty completed her pre-licensure nursing education at the State University of New York at Plattsburgh. She earned a Master of Arts in nursing from New York University, a Master of Public Health from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health (Columbia Mailman School), At City Tech, Rafferty collaborates with Dr. Emerson Ea, a fellow FPB alumnus and department chair, in support of CUNY’s mission to broaden access to higher education and promote upward mobility for students from historically underrepresented communities. Her professional work is grounded in social justice, public health and environmental health advocacy. She has provided testimony before the United States Congress on homelessness and before the New York State Senate and New York City Council on environmental issues. She received the Circle of Mercy Award from Mercy Center in the South Bronx in recognition of her community service. Dr. Rafferty continues environmental health advocacy through collaboration with FPB professor emerita Mary Quinn Griffin, presentations at ICN and AACN, publication in the Journal of Professional Nursing and membership in the Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education’s Global Nurses Working Group at the Columbia Mailman School.