News & Events

Baltimore, MD – Yvette Conyers, DNP, RN, FNP-C, CTN-B, CFCN, CFCS, CNE, FADLN, CWCN-AP, assistant professor and associate dean for strategic engagement and impact at the University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON), has been named one of two recipients nationwide of the 2025 - 26 American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Faculty Scholars Grant from the Foundation of Nursing, the philanthropic arm of the AACN. Conyers, selected from among 147 applicants, will receive $25,000 in support of her project, titled “Nursing Policy Academy: Experiential Learning to Advance Nursing Policy and Leadership.” The project seeks to implement and evaluate a one-year Nursing Policy Academy with 10 students from UMSON’s bachelor’s and master’s entry-into-nursing programs. The goal is to assess the academy’s impact on building policy competencies through hands-on experience in health care policy processes, enhancing leadership skills via direct interaction with policymakers and advocacy organizations, and fostering long-term engagement in policy advocacy efforts. “Receiving the AACN Faculty Scholars Grant is both an honor and a deeply affirming moment in my journey as a nurse educator and advocate,” Conyers said. “Personally, it reflects the culmination of years of my dedication to advancing health equity, culturally responsive care, and policy engagement. Professionally, it validates the importance of integrating experiential learning into nursing education, especially in the realm of health policy, and affirms the value of preparing nurses to be leaders and changemakers beyond the bedside.” With more than 20 years of experience in clinical practice, nursing education, and advocacy, Conyers serves as chair of the Health Policy Conference Planning Committee for the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, is a Fellow of the Academy of Diverse Leaders in Nursing and was a 2025 participant in the Healing Politics Campaign School for Nurses and Midwives. She is also a George Washington School of Nursing Fellow in Health Policy and Media for the 2025 - 26 academic year. Conyers integrates restorative practices and equity into her leadership, including contributing to legislation passed for health professional training on structural racism. Her work advances nursing’s role in policy, leadership, and system transformation to ensure justice and improved outcomes across diverse communities. The AACN board of directors established the Faculty Scholars Grant Program in 2020 to support nurse educators whose scholarly work addresses pressing issues in nursing education and practice while advancing AACN’s strategic priorities. ### The University of Maryland School of Nursing, founded in 1889, is one of the oldest and largest nursing schools in the nation and is ranked among the top nursing schools nationwide. Enrolling nearly 2,100 students in its baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral programs, the School develops leaders who shape the profession of nursing and impact the health care environment.

Each year, more than 700 people die from extreme heat in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Climate change is making these types of death more common.   A 2025 study from the Yale School of Public Health highlighted those increases, finding that deaths linked to heat exposure surged more than 50% over the past two decades.  And Baltimore is no exception.  On Aug. 2, 2024, Baltimore Department of Public Works employee Ronald Silver II died of hyperthermia after overheating while working a city trash route. His death was investigated by the Maryland Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and his employer was found to be at fault.  “He was only 36 years old. He was a father of three, and he had very classic symptoms of heat illness leading up to the heat stroke. There was warning that could have been acted on,” said Marianne D. Cloeren, MD, MPH, associate professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) last month at the “Climate, Health, and Policy in Maryland: The State Steps Up” symposium.  The event at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) brought together leaders from across Maryland — including those in higher education, medicine, and community organizations — for conversations about the impact of climate change on health and what the state is doing to address the issue.   Improving health outcomes caused by environmental changes will take a collaborative approach, something UMB is systemically building into its campus values — through interdisciplinary curricula, advocacy, and hands-on work within the community.   Addressing Climate Change Through Collaboration  Faculty from the University of Maryland schools of Medicine, Nursing, and Law, along with the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP) Marine-Estuarine Environmental Sciences Graduate Program, have collaborated over the past three years to educate students and build community partnerships that tackle the problems of a changing climate.  Read More

Baltimore, Md. – The University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON) has appointed Marik Moen, PhD ’19, MPH, RN, associate professor, and Charvonne Holliday Nworu, PhD, MPH, assistant professor, as co-directors of the Center for Health Equity and Outcomes Research (CHEOR), one of the School’s research Centers of Excellence. CHEOR aims to improve health outcomes and eliminate health inequities by generating knowledge about their complex causal influences; by addressing institutional systems and structures that impede health equity and outcomes, including racism and social determinants of health; and by creating social impact through changes in policy and in clinical and community practice. Moen’s research focuses on social determinants of health, including social isolation, housing insecurity, basic income, substance use disorders (SUD), and infectious diseases. She has established urban and rural research advisory committees of people with lived experience of SUD to co-design and evaluate interventions. She is nationally recognized for advancing nurse-peer and community health worker approaches in HIV and addiction care and for building cross-sector collaborations in low-income and senior housing communities. She has extensive experience in global health, as co-lead of multi-year Centers for Disease Control and Prevention nursing capacity-building programs in Rwanda and Haiti from 2007 - 15. “I am pleased to be a part of the next era of the Center for Health Equity and Outcomes Research as co-director,” said Moen, who joined UMSON in 2009. “The work of our center members is driven by a commitment to equity and strong interdisciplinary partnerships that improve health and care systems for people facing complex challenges. Our scientists, practitioners, students, and community partners will advance solutions that honor lived experience, strengthen communities, and inform policies and systems to improve health for all.” Holliday Nworu joined UMSON in October. Her research focuses on intimate partner violence, reproductive coercion, and racial and gender equity, emphasizing community-engaged approaches that address the social and structural factors shaping violence and health outcomes. Through innovative work with men who have used violence against an intimate partner, Holliday Nworu brings a critical perspective often missing from public health research and practice. Most recently, she partnered with House of Ruth Maryland to develop and evaluate the first 24/7 hotline in the United States for people at risk of causing harm to an intimate partner. Her commitment to community-driven research advances equitable solutions for preventing violence and promoting health. “I am honored to serve as co-director of the Center for Health Equity and Outcomes Research, joining a team of exceptional scientists, practitioners, and students committed to advancing health equity,” Holliday Nworu said. “I look forward to contributing my expertise in health equity and intimate partner violence prevention and to collaborating with colleagues and community partners as we work together to drive meaningful change.” As co-directors, Moen and Nworu will encourage inclusivity in the culture and practice of research; help coordinate interdisciplinary and multiprincipal investigator research proposals, center proposals, and training grants; and help evaluate preproposals. In addition, they will advance CHEOR’s infrastructure development and communications with stakeholders and provide members with direct research engagement opportunities in the fields of geriatrics and dementia care. They envision CHEOR to be a thriving research center for interprofessional scientists to collaborate to address complex health outcomes and health inequities through contextually rich research. The center will continue to maintain an interdisciplinary membership; involve researchers at all phases of experience, from students to National Institutes of Health grant recipients; and engage in clinical, community, and research-intensive perspectives. “We are thrilled to have two new leaders, Drs. Moen and Holliday Nworu, of the CHEOR research center,” said Barbara Resnick, PhD ’96, RN, CRNP, FAAN, FAANP, professor, Sonya Ziporkin Gertshowitz Chair in Gerontology, and associate dean for research. “They bring an exciting perspective and research focus on pragmatic studies and community-based work across the life span.” ### The University of Maryland School of Nursing, founded in 1889, is one of the oldest and largest nursing schools in the nation and is ranked among the top nursing schools nationwide. Enrolling nearly 2,100 students in its baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral programs, the School develops leaders who shape the profession of nursing and impact the health care environment.