 | Shannon N. Zenk, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN
Council Chair
Dr. Zenk is the Director of the National Institute of Nursing Research. |
 | Elizabeth Tarlov, PhD, RN
Executive Secretary
Dr. Tarlov is the Director of NINR's Division of Extramural Science Programs. |
 | Robert L. Atkins, PhD, RN, FAAN (2025)
Dr. Robert (Bob) Atkins is the acting dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University-Camden where he is an associate professor of nursing and childhood studies. Prior to this role, Bob served the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation as national program director of New Jersey Health Initiatives a statewide grantmaking program of RWJF. Dr. Atkins is a former school nurse in the city of Camden and has spent his adulthood working to build healthier, more equitable and more resilient communities through service, scholarship, and education. Dr. Atkins has published in journals ranging from Research in Nursing & Health to Psychological Science to the Journal of Public Health Dentistry. |
 | Guadalupe X. Ayala, PhD, MPH (2026)
Dr. Guadalupe X. Ayala is a professor at the San Diego State University (SDSU) School of Public Health, director of the Institute for Behavioral and Community Health, co-director of the SDSU HealthLINK Center, and co-director of the Imperial County Clinical Research Network. Her combination of masters’ degrees in experimental social psychology and health promotion, and doctoral degree in clinical health psychology reflect her interest in identifying effective solutions for reducing health disparities. Dr. Ayala’s research focuses on the development and adaptation of family and system-based interventions to prevent and control obesity, diabetes, and asthma among Latinos and other underserved populations, including in rural communities. A secondary line of research examines the intersection of social, cultural, and contextual influences on health. |
 | Betty Bekemeier PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN (2025)
Betty Bekemeier is a professor at the University of Washington (UW) School of Nursing and Director of the UW School of Public Health’s Northwest Center for Public Health Practice. She is a distinguished public health systems researcher focused on improving the effectiveness of our public health systems. Her studies on the public health workforce, data standardization, financing, and outcomes regarding public health systems are conducted in partnership with public health practice leaders and have been immediately relevant to addressing policy issues and better allocating resources to address health inequities. She is also a national public health nursing leader and has served in significant leadership positions in organizations that include the American Public Health Association and the American Academy of Nursing. |
 | Daniel E. Dawes, JD (2025)
Professor Dawes serves as executive director of the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine and a professor of health law, policy, and management. He is a health equity scholar, health policy expert, educator, and researcher whose work focuses on health reform, health equity, mental/behavioral health inequities, social and political determinants of health, and health system transformation. He is the author of two groundbreaking health policy books, 150 Years of ObamaCare and The Political Determinants of Health, both published by Johns Hopkins University Press. Professor Dawes is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and an elected fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine. |
 | Anne M. Fitzpatrick, PhD, RN, CPNP (2025)
Dr. Fitzpatrick is a Professor of Pediatrics and Nursing at Emory University. Her research has established that pediatric asthma is more heterogeneous than previously thought, leading to varied responses to one-size-fits-all treatment approaches. She advocates for pediatric asthma patients and for "personalized" or "precision" medicine, through roles in national and international organizations. Her work on biomarker identification is leading to new and more effective ways to manage treatment-resistant pediatric severe asthma, which can improve healthcare outcomes and decrease healthcare costs. |
 | Vincent Guilamo-Ramos, PhD, MPH, LCSW, ANP-BC, PMHNP-BC, FAAN (2027)
Dr. Vincent Guilamo-Ramos is Executive Director of the Institute for Policy Solutions, Director of the Center for Latino Adolescent and Family Health, and the Leona B. Carpenter Chair in Health Equity and Social Determinants of Health at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. He is a nurse practitioner dually licensed in adult health and psychiatric-mental health nursing. Widely regarded as a scholar and leader in social determinants of health and developing, evaluating, and translating family-based interventions, his research has been funded for two decades by NIH, CDC, and various federal agencies. His work has been published in leading scientific journals, including: The Lancet HIV, JAMA Pediatrics, and the American Journal of Public Health. He serves as co-chair of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS, and is a member of the NASEM Committee on Unequal Treatment Revisited and the CDC/HRSA Advisory Committee on HIV, Viral Hepatitis and STD Prevention and Treatment. |
 | Patricia W. Stone, PhD, RN, FAAN (2025)
Dr. Patricia Stone is the Centennial Professor in Health Policy at Columbia University School of Nursing. Stone directs the School of Nursing’s Center for Health Policy and the NIH funded Center for Improving Palliative Care for Vulnerable Adults with Multiple Chronic Conditions. Stone’s research aims to enhance the quality of care for vulnerable adults, including preventing healthcare-associated infection and improving infection management and end-of-life care. Her program of research has contributed to policy changes like state and federal legislative mandates that hospitals report infections. Dr. Stone’s passion is teaching the next generation of nurse scientists how to lead interdisciplinary research teams that generate knowledge, influence health policy, and improve patient and population health. |
 | Jing Wang, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN (2027)
Dr. Wang is Dean and Professor of the Florida State University College of Nursing. She serves on the Board of Trustees at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the HCA Florida Capital Hospital and on the Board of Directors at the National Coalition of Ethnic Minority Nurses Associations. She is Board Chair and Immediate Past President of the Asian American/Pacific Islander Nurses Association. Her research uses mobile and connected health technologies to optimize multiple-behavior lifestyle interventions and improve patient-centered outcomes among the chronically ill and aging populations with multiple chronic conditions, especially among the rural, underserved, and minority populations. Recently, she led interdisciplinary research that uses digital twin artificial intelligence to develop health care data analytics methods to characterize the dynamic pathways to the emergence of common multiple chronic conditions in Latinx populations and optimize multiple-behavior intervention through smart and adaptive clinical trials. |
Ex Officio: |
 | Cubby L. Gardner, PHD, FNP-C
Dr. Gardner is a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Air Force, Senior Service Advisor to the Dean and Assistant Professor in the Daniel K. Inouye Graduate School of Nursing at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. Lieutenant Colonel Gardner also serves as Consultant to the Surgeon General of the Air Force and is the Career Field Manager for Nursing Research. He completed his BSN and MSN at Texas Woman’s University and his PhD from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. He received a direct commission into the Air Force Medical Service as a Family Nurse Practitioner in August 2008, after a cold-war era enlistment as a medical services specialist, followed by a civilian career in Texas local public health. After returning to active duty, he supported contingency operations in Afghanistan. He is an active member of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States, Sigma Theta Tau International, American Medical Informatics Association, American Academy of Nursing, and the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. |
 | Sheila Sullivan, PhD, RN
Dr. Sullivan is the Director of Research, Evidence Based Practice, and Analytics for the Veterans Affairs Central Office of Nursing Services. Dr. Sullivan’s program of research focuses on aging veterans in recuperative care, and she is co-investigator on a study of missed nursing care in long term care facilities for Veterans. She completed her BSN at Harding University, MSN at the University of Virginia, and her PhD from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. |
