Frontier Nursing University (FNU) is proud to announce four Post-Master’s DNP students as Jonas Scholars for the 2016-2018 Cohort. FNU first forged a partnership with the Jonas Center for Nursing and Veterans Healthcare in 2015, with the goal to identify and invest in high-potential doctoral nursing Scholars. The Scholars program supports educational development of new nursing faculty and stimulates models for joint faculty appointments between schools of nursing and clinical affiliates. The grants, made through institutional awards, also prepare doctoral candidates to address the needs of future patients—from dealing with co-morbidities and chronic illnesses to providing culturally competent care.
Congratulations to the following Scholars who graduated in 2017:
Jonas Scholars 2016-2018 Cohort
Cassie Belzer, DNP
Cassie Belzer, DNP
Class 24, graduated Dec. 2017 – Montana – Jonas Nurse Leader Scholar – $20,000
The Jonas Foundation Nurse Leader Scholarship made it possible for Cassie Belzer to attend Frontier Nursing University for her DNP. For her Jonas project, she focused on a nonprofit in her community dedicated to women and families struggling with perinatal mood disorders. She changed the policies in her clinical setting to increase the rate of perinatal mood disorder screening, establish frequent follow-up plans for women and families that are struggling, and ensure referral systems were in place for those needing a higher level of mental health care. Dr. Belzer and her team increased the recognition of perinatal mood disorders from 8% to 26% and will continue working to make that number higher.
“[I am] forever grateful for the foresight of Mr. and Mrs. Jonas that led them to promoting nurses, so the future of health care can be in the hands of practitioners that strive for the best for their patients.” – Cassie Belzer, Jonas Scholar
Ana Verzone, DNP, FNP-BC, CNM
Ana Verzone, DNP, FNP-BC, CNM
Class 24 – Alaska – Jonas Nurse Leader Scholar – $20,000
Ana Verzone participated as a Jonas Nurse Leader scholar and based her Jonas project out of the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal. Dr. Verzone helped to improve effectiveness of communication during emergency transports from rural outreach clinics to the emergency departments of tertiary care hospitals with a standardized hand-off communication protocol. Dr. Verzone’s doctoral project resulted in the establishment of a standardized hand-off communication protocol for emergency transports that included advanced notification with a modified SBAR report (which increased from less than 5% to almost 80%) and written documentation to accompany the patient (which increased from less than 15% to 87%). Use of the standardized hand-off protocol will continue, and will also be implemented in training for future ambulance staff and in association with Stanford University’s work with training EMTs for Nepal Ambulance Services.
“I was inspired by the important changes that we – as a group of Jonas scholars – were making in the world, and it should not go without saying that I also felt immense pride in being a nurse. This experience has helped me envision future projects that will continue to have an important impact in my local community in Alaska as well as internationally.” – Ana Verzone, Jonas Scholar
Erica Burkhart, DNP, APRN-FNP
Erica Burkhart, DNP, APRN-FNP
Class 23, graduated Sept. 2017- Maine – Jonas Nurse Leader Scholar – $20,000
Erica Burkhart, a Jonas Nurse Leader Scholar, designed and implemented a quality improvement Jonas project at the University of New England’s Pett’s health center in Biddeford, Maine. Dr. Burkhart’s focus was improving care for students with depression using the screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment (SBIRT) model. Prior to the project, only about 7% of students were being screened for depression at the health center. After implementing the project, screening increased to 80%. The new model allows the health center to identify students struggling with mental health issues and to provide comprehensive treatment, preventing negative consequences of untreated depression including poor academic achievement, social isolation, drug and alcohol use, and suicide. Dr. Burkhart continues her work at a busy primary care clinic, incorporating depression screening into every visit.
“[I am] grateful for the opportunity to pursue [my] doctorate thanks to the support of the Jonas Family.” – Erica Burkhart, Jonas Scholar
Lana Bernat, DNP, CNM, CPHQ
Lana Bernat, DNP, CNM, CPHQ
Class 22, graduated Sep. 2017 – Hawaii – DNP Jonas Veterans Scholar – $10,000
Lana Bernat participated as a Jonas Veterans Scholar. For her Jonas project, Lana researched CenteringPregnancy group prenatal care, which brings women due at the same time out of exam rooms and into a comfortable group setting, in conjunction with military families. She also interviewed the founder of CenteringPregnancy about her extensive work with group prenatal care. Based on her extensive research, Dr. Bernat’s doctoral project improved model fidelity of a CenteringPregnancy program in a military facility. Dr. Bernat engaged both patients and the facility’s healthcare professionals, which in turn increased CenteringPregnancy program enrollment, increased group size, and improved teamwork perception.
“Words of thanks seem very inadequate when you reflect on the incredible contributions from the Jonas family to our nursing profession,” Bernat says. “Think about the number of patients and communities touched by the Jonas family. I am one small person, but as members of this amazing Jonas community, we are making a difference everywhere. I am humbled, honored, and grateful to have a place in the family. I feel a sense of responsibility to carry on their commitment for excellence by continuing my work in quality and, in the future, nursing education.”
Congratulations to our 2016-2018 cohort!
Carrie Belin is an experienced board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner and a graduate of the Johns Hopkins DNP program, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Georgetown University School of Nursing, and Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. She has also completed fellowships at Georgetown and the University of California Irvine.
Angie has been a full-scope midwife since 2009. She has experience in various birth settings including home, hospital, and birth centers. She is committed to integrating the midwifery model of care in the US. She completed her master’s degree in nurse-midwifery at Frontier Nursing University (FNU) and her Doctorate at Johns Hopkins University. She currently serves as the midwifery clinical faculty at FNU. Angie is motivated by the desire to improve the quality of healthcare and has led quality improvement projects on skin-to-skin implementation, labor induction, and improving transfer of care practices between hospital and community midwives. In 2017, she created a short film on skin-to-skin called 
Justin C. Daily, BSN, RN, has ten years of experience in nursing. At the start of his nursing career, Justin worked as a floor nurse on the oncology floor at St. Francis. He then spent two years as the Director of Nursing in a small rural Kansas hospital before returning to St. Francis and the oncology unit. He has been in his current position as the Chemo Nurse Educator for the past four years. He earned an Associate in Nurse from Hutchinson Community College and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Bethel College.
Brandy Jackson serves as the Director of Undergraduate Nursing Programs and Assistant Educator at Wichita State University and Co-Director of Access in Nursing. Brandy is a seasoned educator with over 15 years of experience. Before entering academia, Brandy served in Hospital-based leadership and Critical Care Staff nurse roles. Brandy is passionate about equity in nursing education with a focus on individuals with disabilities. Her current research interests include accommodations of nursing students with disabilities in clinical learning environments and breaking down barriers for historically unrepresented individuals to enter the nursing profession. Brandy is also actively engaged in Interprofessional Education development, creating IPE opportunities for faculty and students at Wichita State. Brandy is an active member of Wichita Women for Good and Soroptimist, with the goal to empower women and girls. Brandy is a TeamSTEPPS master trainer. She received the DASIY Award for Extraordinary Nursing Faculty in 2019 at Wichita State University. 
Dr. Sabrina Ali Jamal-Eddine is an Arab-disabled queer woman of color with a PhD in Nursing and an interdisciplinary certificate in Disability Ethics from the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). Dr. Jamal-Eddine’s doctoral research explored spoken word poetry as a form of critical narrative pedagogy to educate nursing students about disability, ableism, and disability justice. Dr. Jamal-Eddine now serves as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in UIC’s Department of Disability and Human Development and serves on the Board of Directors of the National Organization of Nurses with Disabilities (NOND). During her doctoral program, Sabrina served as a Summer Fellow at a residential National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH) Summer Institute at Arizona State University (2023), a summer fellow at Andrew W. Mellon’s National Humanities Without Walls program at University of Michigan (2022), a Summer Research Fellow at UC Berkeley’s Othering & Belonging Institute (2021), and an Illinois Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and related Disabilities (LEND) trainee (2019-2020).
Vanessa Cameron works for Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nursing Education & Professional Development. She is also attending George Washington University and progressing towards a PhD in Nursing with an emphasis on ableism in nursing. After becoming disabled in April 2021, Vanessa’s worldview and perspective changed, and a recognition of the ableism present within healthcare and within the culture of nursing was apparent. She has been working since that time to provide educational foundations for nurses about disability and ableism, provide support for fellow disabled nursing colleagues, and advocate for the disabled community within healthcare settings to reduce disparities.
Dr. Lucinda Canty is a certified nurse-midwife, Associate Professor of Nursing, and Director of the Seedworks Health Equity in Nursing Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Columbia University, a master’s degree from Yale University, specializing in nurse-midwifery, and a PhD from the University of Connecticut. Dr. Canty has provided reproductive health care for over 29 years. Her research interests include the prevention of maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity, reducing racial and ethnic health disparities in reproductive health, promoting diversity in nursing, and eliminating racism in nursing and midwifery.
Dr. Lisa Meeks is a distinguished scholar and leader whose unwavering commitment to inclusivity and excellence has significantly influenced the landscape of health professions education and accessibility. She is the founder and executive director of the DocsWithDisabilities Initiative and holds appointments as an Associate Professor in the Departments of Learning Health Sciences and Family Medicine at the University of Michigan.
Dr. Nikia Grayson, DNP, MSN, MPH, MA, CNM, FNP-C, FACNM (she/her) is a trailblazing force in reproductive justice, blending her expertise as a public health activist, anthropologist, and family nurse-midwife to champion the rights and health of underserved communities. Graduating with distinction from Howard University, Nikia holds a bachelor’s degree in communications and a master’s degree in public health. Her academic journey also led her to the University of Memphis, where she earned a master’s in medical anthropology, and the University of Tennessee, where she achieved both a master’s in nursing and a doctorate in nursing practice. Complementing her extensive education, she completed a post-master’s certificate in midwifery at Frontier Nursing University.
Dr. Tia Brown McNair is the Vice President in the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Student Success and Executive Director for the Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT) Campus Centers at the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) in Washington, DC. She oversees both funded projects and AAC&U’s continuing programs on equity, inclusive excellence, high-impact practices, and student success. McNair directs AAC&U’s Summer Institutes on High-Impact Practices and Student Success, and TRHT Campus Centers and serves as the project director for several AAC&U initiatives, including the development of a TRHT-focused campus climate toolkit. She is the lead author of From Equity Talk to Equity Walk: Expanding Practitioner Knowledge for Racial Justice in Higher Education (January 2020) and Becoming a Student-Ready College: A New Culture of Leadership for Student Success (July 2016 and August 2022 Second edition).