Research Advisory Council

Nursing Professional Development – Research Specialist
Education, Professional Development & Research Department
Sarasota Memorial Health Care System

Jen Bonamer works as a Nursing Professional Development – Research Specialist at Sarasota Memorial Health Care System in Sarasota, Florida. She leads the nursing research and evidence-based practice programs and is actively focused on supporting healthy work environments and clinician well-being.

Jen received her BSN from the University of Florida, and both her master's of science degree (nursing education) and PhD (nursing) from the University of South Florida. Her clinical background is pediatric hematology/oncology, and she is certified in advanced holistic nursing and nursing professional development. Jen also serves as adjunct faculty in the DNP program at Florida State University and a peer reviewer for the Magnet program.

Corporate Director of Nursing Science, Emory Healthcare Center for Care Delivery and Innovation
Assistant Professor, Emory University Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing

Dr. Monique Bouvier is Corporate Director of Nursing Science at Emory Healthcare’s Center for Care Delivery and Innovation and Assistant Professor at Emory University’s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing. She bridges practice and academia to ensure frontline nursing voices are integrated into research and innovation.

Her research explores how technology, artificial intelligence, and digital tools impact nursing practice, patient care, and workforce outcomes. She has published widely and frequently presents on the intersection of technology and nursing science.

Dr. Bouvier is recognized as a leader in clinically based research and is committed to advancing system-wide evidence-based practice and mentoring nurses in applying science to real-world challenges.

Director of Nursing Practice Innovation, MedStar Montgomery Medical Center

Dr. Corey Byrge is Director of Nursing Practice Innovation at MedStar Montgomery Medical Center, where he leads the Magnet Program, nursing practice, outcomes, and research. He advances nurse-led innovation, collaborative governance, and evidence-based practice to improve patient and workforce outcomes.

Since joining MedStar Health in 2017 as a clinical nurse, Dr. Byrge has progressed through leadership roles in patient experience, advocacy, and quality. His work emphasizes empowering nurses with real-time data from Nursing Excellence metrics and the electronic health record to drive continuous improvement. His key areas of focus include fall prevention, safe patient handling, and EBP empowerment.

Dr. Byrge earned his BSN and DNP in Nurse Executive Leadership from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and holds certifications in Progressive Care (PCCN) and Evidence-Based Practice in Healthcare (EBP-CH). He also completed the Wharton Nursing Leaders Program at the University of Pennsylvania and holds a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt.

He is an active member of AACN, Sigma Theta Tau, SONSIEL, and AONL, and is recognized as a strong advocate for advancing nursing innovation and leadership.

Professional Development Specialist, Denver Health
Adjunct Professor, University of Colorado, College of Nursing
Adjunct Faculty, Colorado Christian University

Kathy Casey, PhD, RN, NPD-BC, is nationally and internationally known for her Casey-Fink Survey design work supporting graduate nurse role transition, nurse retention, and readiness for professional practice.

Kathy is certified in Nursing Professional Development, and currently serves as a Professional Development Specialist at Denver Health, in Denver, Colorado. She is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Colorado College of Nursing and Adjunct Faculty teaching EBP and Research at Colorado Christian University.

In March 2023, Kathy received the Association for Nursing Professional Development's Marlene Kramer Lifetime Achievement Award for her contributions and research on survey development for use in education and practice programs. In October 2023, Kathy was inducted as a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing.

Kathy received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Pacific Lutheran University, her Master's Degree in Nursing Administration from the University of Colorado, College of Nursing, and her Doctorate in Nursing Education from the University of Northern Colorado, School of Nursing.

Associate Health Policy Researcher at RAND

Dr. Kortney Floyd James is a PhD prepared nurse and Associate Health Policy Researcher at RAND Corporation. Her research focuses on improving access to quality reproductive health services to minoritized populations. Dr. Floyd James is also the Associate Editor of the Nursing for Women's Health Journal, a role in which she is committed to recruiting and supporting manuscripts and research that reflect diverse perspectives and identities. Dr. Floyd James recently completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the National Clinician Scholars Program, a continuation of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, in the School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles. During her postdoctoral fellowship Dr. Floyd James has published several manuscripts in high impact journals. Select publications include "NIH funding: Hone efforts to tackle structural racism" featured in Nature and "Factors associated with postpartum maternal functioning in Black women," featured in Journal of Clinical Medicine. Dr. Floyd James also received $200,000 from the American Nurses Foundation to implement an educational intervention to support ambulatory care nurses and other healthcare staff to care for Black pregnant and postpartum people’s mental health needs with culturally relevant resources.

Dr. Floyd James has a wide range of clinical experience in acute inpatient care, primary care, and public health. Dr. James is a pediatric nurse practitioner with over a decade of experience in acute newborn care and pediatric primary care. She has extensive experience in perinatal care due to her time as a registered nurse in the highest volume birthing hospital in the country with an average of around 25,000 births a year (and counting). Dr. Floyd James has also held an executive leadership position in the Office of Nursing, Maternal Child Health, and Infectious Disease divisions at the Georgia Department of Public Health in Atlanta, GA.

Ultimately, Dr. Floyd James' mission is to co-create solutions with Black women and people capable of pregnancy to achieve health equity.

Senior Nurse Scientist, Connecticut Children’s
Research Professor, University of Connecticut School of Nursing
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, University of Connecticut School of Medicine

Dr. Katie Hinderer is Senior Pediatric Nurse Scientist at Connecticut Children’s Institute for Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Practice and Associate Chair for Nursing Research in the Connecticut Children’s Research Institute. She earned her BSN and PhD from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and an MSN in Nursing Leadership from Wilmington University. She is ANCC Board Certified as a Nurse Executive-Advanced and a Certified Nurse Educator.

With more than 25 years in nursing, Dr. Hinderer brings expertise in nursing research, evidence-based practice, and interprofessional education across clinical and academic settings. Her work centers on pediatric mental and behavioral health, end-of-life decision-making, cultural aspects of advance care planning, and workforce well-being.

A 2024 Nightingale Award recipient and 2025 Heilbrunn Nurse Scholar Awardee, Dr. Hinderer is currently validating a pediatric emergency nursing assessment tool for children in crisis and leading studies on school nurses’ roles in child mental health and pediatric advance care planning. She is deeply committed to mentoring pediatric nurses and interprofessional colleagues in research and implementation science.

Associate Nurse Executive, Nursing Excellence
Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Cathy Ivory, PhD, RN-BC, NEA-BC, FAAN, Associate Nurse Executive, oversees the Office of Nursing Excellence for the Vanderbilt Health System. Through collaboration across all VUMC and Vanderbilt University entities, The Office of Nursing Excellence is responsible for professional, evidence-based nursing practice, VUMC’s shared governance and Magnet activities, and all aspects of inquiry that translates evidence into practice and improves quality, safety, patient experience, and the delivery of cost effective care across settings. Dr. Ivory facilitates nursing research activities and connects nurse investigators with collaborators across the broader research enterprise at Vanderbilt.

Dr. Ivory has more than 25 years of experience as a staff nurse, clinical specialist, system-level nursing administrator, educator, and health services researcher. Dr. Ivory’s clinical focus is perinatal nursing and she served as the 2014 President of the Association of Women’s Health, OB and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN), representing more than 300,000 nurses who care for women and newborns. She also holds two ANCC board certifications, one as an informatics nurse (RN-BC) and one as an advanced nurse executive (NEA-BC). She was inducted as a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing in 2017.

Dr. Ivory holds a BSN, an MSN in nursing administration/healthcare informatics, and a PhD in nursing science. Her research interests include implementation science and using data generated by nurses to quantify their role in patient care, patient safety, and patient outcomes. She is passionate about the nursing profession, nursing informatics, evidence-based nursing practice, and research.

Dr. Dan Kelleher is an Assistant Professor of Health Services Research at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. He conducts health economics and health services research using econometrics methods and mixed methods approaches using primary or secondary data.

His research portfolio spans nursing work environments, rural and minority patient healthcare access, patient and provider preferences, health economic evaluations, and patient-reported outcome measures. His work at Mayo Clinic has focused on examining nurse-led strategies to improve well-being, work environments and retention. This research assesses how nurses want to prioritize improvements in their work environment to reduce burnout and increase well-being. The results from his studies are used to inform initiatives aimed at improving healthcare delivery, quality and access, and patient and nurse outcomes.

Dr. Kelleher has published in leading journals and has received multiple research awards and grant funding for his research. He also serves as a reviewer for various health economics, health policy and nursing journals and is a member of several national and international professional groups.

He holds a B.Comm (Economics), MSc (Health Economics) and PhD (Health Economics) from the University of Galway in Ireland, and an MPH (Health Policy and Administration) from Yale University. 

Director of Nursing, Casa Loma College

Dr. Cathy Kleiner leads the nursing programs at Casa Loma College in Aurora, Colorado, which offers an Associate of Applied Science in Nursing and a practical nursing certificate. She is an experienced leader across clinical practice, academia, and professional associations, with a career dedicated to advancing nursing education and leadership.

Her clinical expertise lies in surgical and perioperative nursing, and she served five years as Vice President of Nursing at AORN. She was honored with AORN’s Perioperative Researcher Award (2016) and the Colorado Nightingale Award for Nursing Leadership (2020).

Dr. Kleiner earned her BSN from the University of Toledo, MSN (CNS/Education) from the Medical College of Ohio, and PhD in Nursing Science from Duquesne University. Her research explores communication in clinical environments and the use of nurse-generated data to demonstrate impact on patient outcomes. She is passionate about professional practice, nursing excellence, and building academic–practice partnerships.

Nurse Scientist and Nursing Research Manager, Advocate Health

Dr. Rachelle (Shelly) Lancaster is Nurse Scientist and Nursing Research Manager at Advocate Health, the nation’s third-largest nonprofit health system. She leads system-wide nursing research and evidence-based practice initiatives supporting multiple Magnet® hospitals and clinics.

Her scholarship emphasizes professional governance, top-of-license practice, and building infrastructure to measure and translate nursing outcomes into improvements for patients and nurses. She has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications, presented nationally, and led multi-site studies on professional governance measurement, workplace violence prevention, neonatal transport, and virtual nursing.

Dr. Lancaster earned her PhD in Nursing from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. Her leadership and research continue to advance nursing science, strengthen professional practice, and support workforce well-being in evolving care environments.

Nurse Scientist, Department of Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Practice 
Center for Professional Excellence & Inquiry 
Independent Donor Advocate, Pediatric Liver and Kidney Transplant Department, Stanford Medicine Children's Health
Associate Clinical Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Stanford School of Medicine

Dr. Nasr currently serves as a Nurse Scientist in the Department of Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Practice at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health. From January 2020 to July 2023, she held the position of Director of the Department of Nursing Research at SMCH. She holds academic appointments as a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Stanford School of Medicine and Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of California, San Francisco School of Nursing.

Her research program focuses on the impact of living-related liver donation on donors, recipients, and their families. Dr. Nasr is a proud member of the Western Institute of Nursing, serving as President from 2022-2024, and currently the Governor of Practice. Annette has been a pediatric nurse for over 30 years and has worked as a pediatric intensive care nurse at the University of California, San Francisco, served as a liver transplant coordinator at Stanford Children’s Hospital, and worked for Novartis Pharmaceutical Company in Tokyo, Japan.

Her Stanford affiliations include participating as a voting member of the Stanford IRB, serving as the Course Director for a Qualitative Methods Course at the Stanford School of Medicine, and collaborating as a member of the Pediatric Transplant Center as the Independent Donor Advocate for liver and kidney transplants. Dr. Nasr is dedicated to creating a healthy healing environment for patients and families. Dr. Nasr was inducted as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing on November 2, 2024. 

Professor of Nursing, Indiana University
Magnet Program Co-Director, IU Health Bloomington Hospital

Dr. Deanna Reising is Professor of Nursing at Indiana University, where she teaches across BSN, MSN, and PhD programs and leads research on interprofessional education and practice. She is also a Clinical Nurse Specialist and Magnet Program Co-Director at IU Health Bloomington Hospital, as well as system-wide Magnet Program Coordinator for Indiana University Health.

A fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, the National League for Nursing Academy of Nursing Education, and the National Academies of Practice, Dr. Reising has built her career around strengthening nursing education, advancing interprofessional collaboration, and enhancing patient outcomes through research and practice.

Executive Director, Office of Quality, Safety, Practice, Innovation, & Director, Munn Center for Nursing Research
Connell-Jones Endowed Chair in Nursing
Patient Care Services, Massachusetts General Hospital
 
Dr. Snydeman's expertise and leadership are centered on delivering safe, evidence-based, high-quality patient care through the continuous improvement of practices and positive outcomes, with a strong commitment to the safety and well-being of the workforce. As the Executive Director of Massachusetts General Hospital’s Patient Care Services Office of Quality, Safety, Informatics, & Practice, she provides oversight for quality and safety programs, improvement initiatives, and outcomes related to nursing care, including falls, pressure injuries, central line bloodstream infections, catheter-associated urinary tract infections, and assaults on nursing personnel. Dr. Snydeman oversees a team of nine quality and informatics specialists and maintains a formal, non-direct reporting relationship with 75 unit-based clinical nurse specialists and nurse practice specialists.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Snydeman led and supported the full implementation of Circle Up Huddles in all Patient Care Services (PCS) inpatient areas, the hospital-wide Proning Teams initiative (recognized by Johnson & Johnson as a top ten innovation), pressure injury research, qualitative research on the experiences of bedside nurses and respiratory therapists, and the implementation of resilience and well-being strategies. In collaboration with RGI Analytics, she helped develop an algorithm using live-streaming electronic health record data to alert nurses on their iPhones about changes in patients' fall risks and the necessary interventions to prevent falls. Preliminary statistical findings from this initiative are promising.

With over forty years of progressive nursing leadership experience, Dr. Snydeman’s background in nursing leadership and critical care nursing led to her dissertation work, which employed a quasi-experimental pre/post-test design with intervention and control groups to measure the impact of a theory-based adverse event nurse peer review program on safety culture and medical error recovery in critical care settings. A linear mixed model analysis suggested that critical care nurses who participated in the program developed a more critical view of safety culture and work environment, along with an increased sense of accountability and responsibility in using strategies to keep patients safe. Further interdisciplinary safety research is ongoing under her leadership.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing

Dr. David Yu is a nurse scientist and Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research. His research investigates how organizational structures and inclusive workforce practices shape clinician well-being, patient outcomes, and health system performance. He is particularly focused on DEIAB initiatives and their impact on patients, nurses, and healthcare organizations.

Dr. Yu applies advanced quantitative methods—including machine learning–driven causal inference and AI-assisted text analytics—to large-scale credentialing and workforce data. His work has appeared in journals such as JAMA Network Open and BMJ Quality & Safety. During pre- and postdoctoral fellowships, Dr. Yu has authored over 20 first-author publications.

In addition to research, Dr. Yu practices as a nurse practitioner in Penn Medicine’s medical ICU, where he studies NP practice environments and well-being. He is also collaborating internationally to strengthen NP workforce development in South Korea.