Honorific Titles Will be Presented at the Health Policy Conference in October

September 1, 2021 (Washington, DC) — The American Academy of Nursing (Academy) will officially name four distinguished experts as Honorary Fellows at the Academy’s Health Policy Conference, which is being held in a hybrid format October 7-9, 2021. Noteworthy within their fields, these outstanding individuals have demonstrated extraordinary and lasting contributions to nursing and health care throughout their career.

“As we have seen throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and in the implementation of its vaccines, interdisciplinary approaches to addressing health directly improves patient outcomes and provides invaluable support to our healthcare workers. This is true not just in the hospital, but in research, academic, policy, and community settings as well. We celebrate the diversity of thought and talent when interprofessional teams come together to advance sustainable solutions,” said Academy President Eileen Sullivan-Marx. “The Academy is proud to recognize these four individuals as Honorary Fellows for their tremendous efforts to advance the public’s health, improve work environments, and elevate the nursing profession.”

This distinction is only given to dedicated leaders who have demonstrated a firm commitment to nursing and to transforming health policy. Each individual selected for this recognition is a true champion of science, innovation, and leadership – signature initiatives of the Academy – as well as the organization’s vision of healthy lives for all people.

Harriet Udin Aronow, PhD, is an accomplished researcher, steadfast supporter of her colleagues, and generous mentor whose interprofessional expertise is advancing the nursing profession as well as patient outcomes. An incredibly supportive leader and Research Scientist IV at Cedars-Sinai, Dr. Aronow led the Collaborative Alliance for Nursing Outcomes (CALNOC), applying its reports and database to improve care reinforced by data. Partnering with nurse scientists, she created a Nursing Research Council at Cedars-Sinai through which she cultivated and supported over 600 projects, contributing to the medical center’s 6th consecutive Magnet Designation, as well as the Inspiring Writing in Nursing (IWIN) program to engage clinicians and support them in getting published. In addition to advancing nurse-led, team-based care, Dr. Aronow’s research also focuses on improving quality of life for younger adults with disabilities as well as older adults with complex health and social needs. She designed the interprofessional protocol “Systems Addressing Frail Elder (SAFE) Care” and will begin a study on “Elders Preserving Independence in the Community (EPIC)” in fall 2021. Her pioneering leadership, collaborations, and research have particularly emphasized the needs of vulnerable groups.

David Auerbach, PhD, is a renowned researcher who has been integrally involved in predominant studies and publications on the nursing workforce for decades. His application of the Buerhaus/Staiger/Auerbach forecasting cohort model to the nursing workforce, which predicted national nursing shortages of over 500,000 by 2020, was highly influential in the creation of the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action as well as the development of the Nurse Reinvestment Act in 2002. His work has created the most complete, longitudinal national datasets on the nursing workforce within the US. Dr. Auerbach’s work has been instrumental in the Medicare Payment Advisory Council’s recommendation to eliminate the practice of physicians’ incident-to billing, ensuring accurate representations of the nursing workforce in the Health Resources and Services Administration’s national nursing survey, and the elimination of many states’ practice authority restrictions for nurse practitioners. He has held influential positions in government, research firms, and in policy organizations. Currently, Dr. Auerbach is the Senior Director for Research and Cost Trends for the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission.

Felicia Marie Knaul, PhD, MA, is a tireless advocate who has dedicated her career to reducing inequities and access to health care for vulnerable groups globally through the use of innovative research methods combined with a strong commitment to social justice. She has produced numerous academic and policy publications related to violence against women and children, closing the global pain and cancer divide, the caregiving economy and strengthening health systems. While serving in senior federal government positions within the Mexican Ministries of Education and Social Development and the Colombian Department of Planning, she advanced health reform as well as social development. Dr. Knaul maintains a collaborative global research and advocacy program in Mexico, where she leads a research team at the Mexican Health Foundation and founded an NGO, Tómatelo a Pecho, dedicated to improving women’s health in the region. She also spearheads a Latin American Observatory of COVID-19 Containment Policies, that includes over 40 researchers and 8 countries. In her current role as Director of the Institute for Advanced Study of the Americas and through her professorial appointments at the Miller School of Medicine and the School of Nursing and Health Studies at the University of Miami, Dr. Knaul continues her incredibly important work to improve health equity in the Americas.

Winifred V. Quinn, PhD, FAANP(h), is a dedicated nursing champion whose commitment has led to numerous, highly influential policy changes that have directly improved the profession. Dr. Quinn currently serves as the Director of Advocacy and Consumer Affairs for the Center to Champion Nursing in America (CCNA), an initiative of AARP, the AARP Foundation, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. As a result of her work at CCNA, 10 states have fully removed statutory barriers to nursing practice for nurse practitioners and over 15 additional states have modernized laws to improve access to care by advanced practice nurses. At the federal level, Dr. Quinn led AARP’s efforts to grant full practice authority for three of the four advanced practice nursing roles within the Veterans Health Administration, was instrumental in changing policy so that Advanced Practice Registered Nurses can approve home health for Medicare beneficiaries, and supported the Medicare Graduate Nursing Education Demonstration that was funded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Her unwavering passion is evidenced in her incredibly impactful work to advance nursing education, eliminate practice barriers, and promote workforce development. 

About the American Academy of Nursing
The American Academy of Nursing serves the public by advancing health policy and practice through the generation, synthesis, and dissemination of nursing knowledge. Academy Fellows are inducted into the organization for their extraordinary contributions to improve health locally and globally. With more than 2,800 Fellows, the Academy represents nursing’s most accomplished leaders in policy, research, administration, practice, and academia.