Academic Nursing Well Represented among 2021 Awards for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice

This year marks the 5th anniversary of the Public Health Excellence in Interprofessional Education Collaboration Award, which was established by the PHS Commissioned Officers Foundation for the Advancement of Public Health (COF) and the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) to acknowledge and celebrate outstanding multidisciplinary efforts to impact community health.

Academic nursing was well represented among the award recipients.

The USPHS IPEC Award Overall Winner was Kean University (NJ), whose team included Dr. Ibtihal Al-Makhzoomy, assistant professor in the School of Nursing, Dr. Mahchid Namazi from the School of Communication Disorders and Deafness, and Dr. Mariann Moran from the Department of Occupational Therapy.

“On behalf of IPEC, I applaud the model collaboration formed at Kean University to test the effectiveness of interventions used to detect and mitigate the risks posed by hypertension and cardiac disease,” said Dr. Deborah Trautman, IPEC Board Chair and President and CEO of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. “Academic leaders representing nursing, communication disorders, and occupational therapy are breaking new ground through this study, which examines the importance of community-based partnerships to meet the healthcare needs of underserved populations and address public health threats.”

Honorable Mention finalists (and their representatives from nursing) were:

• Yale University (Dr. Elke Zschaebitz, School of Nursing and Health Studies)
• Concordia University (Dr. Sharon Chappy, School of Nursing)
• Winona State (Dr. Jennifer Timm, Department of Graduate Nursing)
• New York University (Dr. Chin Park, College of Nursing)
• University of Illinois Chicago (Dr. Marianne Durham, College of Nursing)

All honorees will be recognized at a virtual ceremony in conjunction with the Summer 2021 IPEC Member Meeting on June 1, 2021. The 2022 application cycle will open in October 2021. For additional details about the honorees and the submission process, visit IPEC’s website.