Distinguished Alumni

 




Dianne S. Moore, M.P.H., M.N. ’70, Ph.D.
Throughout her career, Moore has been an innovator and leader of change, using best practices and new ideas to help provide patients, students and communities what they need in a manner that serves them best. She is currently the founding dean of nursing at West Coast University and vice president for nursing academics for the three WCU campuses. West Coast University nursing started in 2005 and now admits approximately 80 undergraduate students to each of three campuses every 10 weeks. After obtaining her M.N. from the UCLA School of Nursing, Moore worked as the first clinical nurse specialist at Saint John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, Calif. She later moved to Oregon, where she was the state’s first perinatal clinical nurse specialist and played a key role in developing the regional perinatal helicopter transport system. Moore also became a certified nurse midwife while attending New York University for her doctorate.
 
 

Trisha G. Zagha-Bear (Patricia Gordon), B.S. ’71
In response to what she saw as the diminished focus on deaf pregnant women and deaf families with young children, Zagha-Bear established and became CEO of Perinatal Foundation for the Deaf. The nonprofit organization provides in-home education in a culturally appropriate milieu for the deaf to understand pregnancy, childbirth, child development, parenting skills, nutrition, and health. Goals include encouraging healthy birth outcomes; reducing Cesarean sections; decreasing hospital stays; increasing breastfeeding; improving child physical, mental, and emotional health; reducing obesity in children; and decreasing child abuse. After a varied career that included work as a childbirth specialist for hospitals in New York and Arizona and as the nurse for the consulates and their families at the American Embassy in Guadalajara, Mexico, Zagha-Bear returned to California in 1989 to study American Sign Language and ultimately became a certified interpreter for the deaf.
 
 

Linda Burnes Bolton, M.N. ’72, Dr.P.H.
Burnes Bolton is vice president for nursing, chief nursing officer and director of nursing research at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Her areas of research, teaching, and clinical expertise include nursing and patient care outcomes, improving organization performance, quality care, and cultural diversity within the health professions. Burnes Bolton is co-investigator of the Collaborative Alliance for Nursing Outcomes research team. She is a past president of the American Academy of Nursing and the National Black Nurses Association, and has provided leadership for several state and national programs, including service as chair of the National Advisory Committee for Transforming Care at the Bedside, VA Commission on Nursing, and the California AHEC Health Professions Committee. Currently Burnes Bolton serves on multiple nursing and health services advisory boards and is a trustee of the Case Western University board. In 2009 she was appointed vice chair of the Institute of Medicine Commission on the Future of Nursing. Burnes Bolton is the recipient of numerous awards for her scholarly work and community service.
 

Irashel P. Fitzgerald, M.N. ’73, M.P.A.
In the early 1970s Fitzgerald was involved in developing and implementing pediatric nurse practitioner programs for 11 health districts of Los Angeles County, as well as maintaining her own weekly pediatric nurse practitioner clinic. She was a founding member of the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Associates and Practitioners and served as a member of the American Nurses Association committee that established the first pediatric nurse practitioner examination. Fitzgerald later spent 12 years with the Los Angeles County Probation Health Services Department as an assistant administrator to three detention and 13 camp youth facilities in operations functions of payroll, personnel, procurement, plan, and policy for the San Fernando Valley Juvenile Health Infirmary. Since 1990 Fitzgerald has worked as a consultant, including as principal writer for the Cameroon, Africa Association of University of Women’s AIDS Project.
 
 
Anayis Derdiarian, M.N. ’74, M.P.H., D.N.Sc.
Derdiarian joined the UCLA School of Nursing faculty in 1974, when cancer-nursing content in curricula was lacking nationwide. In 1976 she obtained a three-year National Institutes of Health grant to implement, as a demonstration project, a graduate curriculum in cancer nursing based on the Johnson Behavioral System Model (JBSM). She then received a second three-year NIH grant to develop and operationally define the JBSM’s theoretical framework in order to measure its efficacy as a research and practice instrument for use in cancer care; this instrument became known as the Derdiarian Behavioral System Model (DBSM). The DBSM instrument was also tested on patients with AIDS and cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Derdiarian’s other research focused on newly diagnosed cancer patients and their informational needs. Her works were published and replicated in 11 nations. As director of nursing research at the L.A. County-University of Southern California Medical Center, Derdiarian developed and implemented a nursing care quality measurement and improvement program as the basis for a quality improvement information data system that became a national model.
 

Kathleen Dracup, M.N. ’74, D.N.Sc.
The dean and Endowed Professor in Nursing Education at the UC San Francisco School of Nursing, Dracup is recognized nationally and internationally for her investigation in the care of patients with heart disease and the effects of this disease on spouses and other family members. She has tested a variety of interventions designed to reduce the emotional distress experienced by cardiac patients and their family members and to reduce morbidity and mortality from sudden cardiac death. Dracup has also been an influential mentor for cardiovascular nursing researchers for the past three decades. Many of her students hold key leadership positions in university schools of nursing in the United States as well as in Australia and Europe; additional students are clinical nurse specialists, nurse practitioners, and nurse administrators who are instrumental in influencing the care of cardiovascular patients in hospitals and clinics. Dracup has published her research in more than 300 articles and chapters, and recently published the textbook Intensive Coronary Care.
 

Carol Greene, B.S. ’74, M.N. ’89
An advanced practice nurse with many years of experience in clinical practice and leadership roles, Greene currently serves as regional ANP manager for Pediatrix Medical Group, a leading national provider of maternal-fetal, newborn and pediatric subspecialty physician services. After graduating from the UCLA School of Nursing with her baccalaureate degree, Greene spent 10 years working as a nurse in acute care. She then returned to UCLA to earn her master’s degree and begin a career as a neonatal nurse practitioner. Along with her clinical experiences, she became involved in management. Greene is currently director of advanced practitioners for the western region of her national medical group. As an active member of the Continuing Nursing Education team for Pediatrix Medical Group, Greene presents at conferences and reviews materials for Webbased education.
 
 

Margo Creighton Neal, M.N. ’74
After graduating from the UCLA School of Nursing, Neal was part of the first wave of psychiatric/ mental health nurses to be certified by the American Nurses’ Association. She was also the first independent provider of continuing education for nurses in the United States, starting in 1970. Neal began with one program, Nursing Care Plans, and worked with another nurse, Mary Jensen, to develop the process and content and to present workshops. She worked with two coauthors – Phyllis Cooper and Pat Cohen, also graduates of the school – to produce the first volume of Nursing Care Planning Guides and ended up publishing five more volumes in several editions. In 1985, Neal sold her education and publishing enterprise to Williams & Wilkins, medical and nursing book publishers in Baltimore. Four years later she and a partner started Nursecom Inc. to publish nursing journals and clinical books and engage in association management.
 
 

Sharon M. Valente, M.S. ’74, Ph.D.
Valente, associate chief nurse for research and education at the Greater Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Healthcare System and holder of a faculty appointment at the UCLA School of Nursing, conducts research in the areas of mental health, human sexuality, suicide, and end-of-life care. She is the coauthor of three books, including Suicide: Assessment and Intervention andHuman Sexuality, as well as approximately 120 peer-reviewed articles. Among her many honors, Valente received the 2008 GLA Nursing Hero award and has been featured with an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Innovation Profile. Her teams also received two national VA Innovation Awards in 2008. Valente served on the American Psychological Association End of Life Task Force and has received the American Association of Suicidology Shneidman Award. She has led a People To People delegation on suicidology to Russia and Estonia. After earning her master’s degree at the school, Valente obtained her Ph.D. in Psychology from USC.
 

Salpy Akaragian, B.S. ’75, M.N. ’80
As director of UCLA’s International Nursing Center, Akaragian leads the international outreach program for the Department of Nursing with multiple countries: She has hosted visitors from more than 20 different nations and coordinated education and training experiences for more than 2,000 international visitors. Akaragian is also director of UCLA’s Competencies, Students, Credentialing and Teaching Institute, which includes the performance-based development system for the department. As the U.S. partner representative for United States Agency for International Development/American International Health Alliance grants from 1995 to 2004, she directed multiple health care projects and initiated reforms in Armenia. In 2004, Akaragian established The Cochlear Implant Regional Center in Yerevan, Armenia with the AIM Fund and the UCLA medical team. She is the founder and first president of the Armenian-American Nurses Association in California and in 1996 facilitated the formation of the Armenian Nurses Association in Armenia.
 

Carol J. Alexander, B.S. ’75, M.A.
As director of clinical services for Stat Home Health Care for the last 24 years, Alexander has spearheaded the agency’s success, culminating in its designation as one of the HomeCare Elite, a listing of Medicarecertified agencies whose performance is among the top 25 percent of providers nationwide. In addition, as a member of the California Association for Health Services at Home and the National Association of Home Care, Alexander has been instrumental in shaping policy for new state and federal regulations on the delivery of home health services. In response to the demand for knowledgeable professionals in the area of home health care, Alexander in 1985 started Spectrum Health Care Consultants, which specializes in the interpretation and application of regulations governing Medicarecertified home health agencies. Alexander has testified in Washington, D.C. and provided insight on Medicare and home health care issues in other state and national forums. As president of the Nurses Ministry and national vice president of the National Missionary Baptist Association Nurses Auxiliary, she has developed policies and procedures for the delivery of care to congregations.
 
 
Sister Callista Roy, M.N. ’75, Ph.D.
Roy, a professor and nurse theorist at the William F. Connell School of Nursing in Boston College, is best known for development of the Roy Adaptation Model of Nursing and leadership for knowledge-based practice. At least 350 research publications are studies based on the model. Lecture commitments have taken Roy to 31 countries on five continents, and the Roy Adaptation Association has five international chapters. As early as 1987, an estimated 10,000 nurses had studied in schools where the curricula used the Roy Adaptation Model. The impact of the model on practice continues, with healthcare agencies using it in designing the strategies for Magnet Status. Roy has more than 150 publications, including 11 books (two of which are award-winning) with translations in 12 languages. She has received 42 research and training grants covering a wide range of topics, including neuroscience. At the Connell School of Nursing, she was part of a team initiating a Ph.D. program in nursing that graduated 130 students in the first 17 years. Among her many honors, Roy was named a Living Legend by the American Academy of Nursing.
 
 
Jan Fredrickson, B.S. ’76, M.N. ’80
Fredrickson has been a pediatric nurse throughout her career – as a staff nurse in the pediatric ICU and the pediatric emergency department; as a pediatric nurse practitioner at a school-based clinic, community health center, pediatric private office, for the county health department and as a community volunteer; and as a clinical nurse specialist in pediatrics/maternal-child health, the pediatric ICU, and the pediatric emergency department. She has been on the UCLA School of Nursing faculty since 1987, with major teaching responsibilities for pediatric nurse practitioner and pediatric clinical nurse specialist students. Fredrickson has taught in 20 courses and given guest lectures in seven others; these have included the physical assessment course as well as pediatric pre-licensure courses. She was one of six nurses chosen by the Emergency Nurses Association to develop the emergency nursing pediatric course. As a testament to her impact as a teacher, Fredrickson has seen many former students go on to serve as clinical preceptors and mentors of current students.
 

Linda Sarna, M.N. ’76, D.N.Sc.
Sarna, professor in the UCLA School of Nursing, has been a leader in addressing the critical public health issues of lung cancer, the leading cause of cancer death; and tobacco use, the leading cause of preventable death. A pioneer in oncology nursing education, she helped to establish one of the first graduate oncology nursing specialty programs at UCLA more than 30 years ago. As the lead investigator for the Tobacco Free Nurses (TFN) initiative, Sarna led the first-ever national program helping nurses to quit smoking and promoting nursing involvement in tobacco control. TFN was selected as an exemplar by the World Health Organization for The Role of Health Professionals in Tobacco Control. Sarna’s scholarship includes more than 100 peer-reviewed publications; more than 50 book chapters, monographs or commentaries; and 10 policies/position statements. She is an editor of the 2009 volume of the Annual Review of Nursing Research focused on nursing research in tobacco control. Among her many awards, she was honored as the 2009 Oncology Nursing Society’s Distinguished Researcher.
 
Linda M. Gorman, M.N. ’77
As a clinical nurse specialist for palliative care at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, Gorman is part of an inpatient consultation team that provides and coordinates palliative and end-of-life care services to patients throughout the medical center. She is coauthor/editor of several books, including Psychosocial Nursing Care Along the Cancer Continuum, published by Oncology Nursing Press (second edition published in 2006), which received the American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year award for psychiatric/mental health nursing in 2007; Psychosocial Nursing for General Patient Care (third edition published in 2008), which received the American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year Award for psychiatric/mental health nursing in 2008; and Compendium of Treatment of End Stage Non-Cancer Diagnoses: Renal, published in 2005. Gorman lectures extensively on topics related to end-of-life care, symptom management, and promotion of quality psychosocial and palliative care. In 2009 she was named CNS of the Year by the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists.
 

Kay Baker, M.N. ’78
Baker served as associate dean for student affairs at the UCLA School of Nursing until her retirement in 2006. In that role she assisted students with their financial, personal and professional issues and facilitated their progress in school. She continues to work as a consultant to other schools of nursing for curriculum and student issues and has served on numerous committees involved with advancing the profession of nursing at the local, state, and national levels, including as a member of the University of California Office of the President’s advisory committee for establishing future growth in the health professions for the UC system.
Baker obtained her M.N. from the UCLA School of Nursing with a specialty in cardiovascular nursing. She was a clinical nurse specialist at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in charge of education, research, and teaching for a medical unit. She has also had a group consultation practice for patients with heart disease and their families.
 

Lora E. Burke, M.N. ’78, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Burke, professor of nursing and epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing and Graduate School of Public Health, received her M.N. from the UCLA School of Nursing with a cardiovascular specialty, then completed her Ph.D. in nursing and M.P.H. in epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh, followed by a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in cardiovascular behavioral medicine at the same institution, where she has been a member of the faculty since 1999. Starting with a National Research Service Award as a doctoral student, Burke has had continuous National Institutes of Health funding to support her research program, which has included a series of clinical trials focused on behavioral strategies to improve compliance to treatment regimens targeting cardiovascular disease risk reduction and long-term weight loss. She has incorporated the use of technology to validate self-report measures, and was the first to document actual patterns of self-monitoring among participants in behavioral treatment for weight-loss studies. An active mentor of junior faculty members and students, Burke has also maintained leadership positions in the American Heart Association and the Society of Behavior Medicine.
 

Gayle Giboney Page, B.S.N. ’78, M.N. ’82, D.N.Sc. ’92
Page is professor and Independence Foundation Chair in Nursing Education, and director for the Center of Nursing Research, for the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. Her research investigates the biologic consequences of unrelieved pain, specifically with regard to cancer resistance and alterations in neuroendocrine and immune function. Page has moved from studying the biobehavioral consequences of acute surgical pain in animal models to exploring the long-term negative biological consequences of painful stress in the early neonatal period, to her most recent efforts to develop a chronic pain model for exploring risk and protective factors in chronic pain development. She also co-directs a National Institutes of Health Roadmap Initiative postdoctoral training program to prepare interdisciplinary researchers to address the complex challenge of pain.
 
 

Nancy W. Fawzy, M.N. ’79, D.N.Sc. ’91
Fawzy, part of the first graduating class of the UCLA School of Nursing doctoral program, has worked with cancer patients for more than 35 years, always with an interest in the importance and impact of psychosocial issues faced by patients and family members. She participated in landmark research demonstrating that a short-term structured psycho-educational intervention helps newly diagnosed cancer patients cope more effectively and feel better emotionally, as well as providing a small but statistically significant survival benefit. Fawzy was the founder and director from 1991 to 2002 of the John Wayne Cancer Institute Psychosocial Care Program at Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif. She was the co-founder and supervisor of the Positive appearance Center at Saint John’s, one of the first hospital-based boutiques catering to the cosmetic and comfort side effects of cancer treatment. Fawzy has received the “Excellence in Supportive Care” Award from the Oncology Nursing Society and the “Three Tyler Psychosocial Service Award” from Chapter II of the John Wayne Cancer Institute Auxiliary.