Third-year nursing students who have a cumulative GPA of 3.4 or better may elect to take on a Distinguished Majors project during their final year of nursing school. It requires the successful completion of a paper that presents the student's own analysis of a particular problem and an argument based on serious research that is directed by a Nursing faculty member. The final project results in a manuscript ready to be submitted for publication in a professional journal.

BSN students who complete Distinguished Majors Projects - work that is over and above what is required to graduate and outside the traditional BSN curriculum - spend the final year of their nursing program investigating a topic of their choice under the guidance of a faculty mentor. The following students, some of whom will publish their findings in academic journals, proposed, tested, and presented their findings to the School community in April 2026, and graduate as our 2026 Distinguished Majors:

Distinguished Major Program Awardees

Abdallah Aljerjawi

Ashley Arnas (mentor Dr. Emma Mitchell)
Cervical Cancer Screening Uptake Among Individuals Living with Intellectual Disabilities Who Receive Care Within the University of Virginia Health System

Abigail Asegid (mentor Dr. Jeanne Alhuesen)
Investigating IPV and Depression Screening Among Pregnant Black Women with Disabilities

Elena Cusat

Zoe Cacanindin & Abigail Thomas (Mentor Dr. Tanya Thomas)
Patterns of Treatment-Related Toxicity and Symptom Management in Extensive-Stage Small Cell Lung Cancer

Ella Dofflemeyer (mentor Dr. Kathryn Reid)
Understanding Screen Time in Local Kids and Teens: An Inside Look from Parents and Teachers in Albemarle County Public Schools

Michaela Hennigh (mentor Dr. Katy Hall)
Why Not Nursing? Pre-Medical Undergraduate's Perceptions of Nursing

Leandra Joyce & Moriah Wauer (mentor Dr. Crystal Toll)
Exploring Variations in Sterility Practices Between Obstetric and General Operating Rooms: A Student Perspective

Isabella Jung (mentor Dr. Alanna Bergman)
Perceived Barriers and Strategies for Including Pregnant Women in TB Research in Brazil

Aimee Lu (mentor Dr. Chrystal Chu)
Cancer Screening in Transgender Men/Nonbinary (Assigned Female at Birth)

Anna McIntyre (mentor Dr. Jess Keim-Malpass)
Cachexia in Pediatric Oncology Patients

Annaliese Meistrich (mentor Dr. Kathryn Reid)
On the Front Lines of Crisis: Understanding Challenges and Needs in Behavioral Health Emergency Response

Sikavi Raymondo (mentor Dr. Amy Boitnott)
Nursing Care of Black and Brown-skinned Children with DSM-5-TR Diagnoses

Cindy Tran (mentor Dr. Ishan Williams)
Exploring Mental Health Among Individuals from Marginalized Groups

Karima Usman (Dr. Katrina Debnam)
Cyberbullying Victimization and Anxiety Among Adolescents and Young Adults: The Moderating Role of Parental Monitoring

BSN students chosen by faculty members for their clinical skill, leadership, and academic strength

• Trish Truong
  Virginia Nurses Association Leader Award
  For a graduating BSN student who demonstrates leadership in the classroom, impacts other students as leaders, and participates in community activities and nursing organizations while maintaining a clear sense of direction for their nursing career and making a significant contribution to the overall excellence of the School
  
  
• Elizabeth Gibson Smith
  Global Health Visionary Award
  The School of Nursing International Committee makes an annual award to a graduating student who shows an extraordinary commitment to global health through leadership and substantial commitment to a sustainable research or service project.
  
  
• Tyler Atkinson
  The Susan Hutchinson Memorial Award 
  For a graduating RN to BSN student who demonstrates academic excellence and has the intention to continue practice at the bedside
  
  
• Michaela Hennigh
  Anne Pollok Hemmings Clinical Excellence Award
  Each year, the nursing faculty are asked to nominate a fourth-year student who best typifies the “total patient nurse.”  This award comes with a monetary gift provided by the Anne Pollok Hemmings Clinical Excellence Award Fund, begun by the BSN Class of 1959
  
  
• Emily Montemuro
  Edgar F. Shannon Scholar Award for Academic Excellence
  Recognizes the “best” graduating student from each school within the University. The Z Society instructions given to each school are to nominate one graduating fourth year student who has, in their words, “incredible academic success and passionate extracurricular involvements"
  
  
• Cindy Tran
  Nursing Student Contributing Most to the School of Nursing
  Each year, the fourth year class and faculty recognize those students who have made an extraordinary contribution to the University and to the School
  
  
• Aimee Lu
  Nursing Student Contributing Most to the University Award
  Each year, the fourth year class and faculty recognize those students who have made an extraordinary contribution to the University and to the School

MSN, CNL, PhD, and DNP Class of 2026 Award Winners

Graduate students chosen by their faculty mentors for their academic skill, their clinical dedication, and for the power and strength of their scholarly pursuits

• Carolyn Spillman
  Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award
  Presented to an individual who exemplifies outstanding contributions to teaching as part of their program of study and educational experience
  
  
• Julia Gazzola
  The Clinical Nurse Leader Clinical Excellence Award
  Recognizes a master’s-entry student who has consistently exhibited outstanding performance in the clinical setting by working effectively with others in the system to both provide and lead outstanding patient and family-centered care
  
  
• Ty Ashworth, April Burns, Patric Aldridge, Aser Selmiotic
  The Outstanding CNL Capstone Award 
  Presented to graduating students in the Clinical Nurse Leader program who showed outstanding advanced clinical leadership at the point of care. Through implementation of the Clinical Nurse Leader role, the outstanding capstone recognizes a graduate(s) who brings system change to improve patient safety and quality care delivery, advances evidence-based practice, and improves the professional practice environment
  
  
• Veronica Brill
  The Outstanding DNP Scholarly Practice Project Award
  Presented to a Doctor of Nursing Practice student graduate whose culminating scholarly project resulted in a significant nursing practice change that was written in an outstanding manner
  
  
• Reanna Panagides
  The Verhonick Dissertation Award
  Presented to a PhD program graduate who presents the most outstanding dissertation. The award is named in honor of Phyllis J. Verhonick, a pioneer in nursing research, who served as professor at the UVA School of Nursing from 1968 until her death in 1977

CNL Class of 2026 Capstone Presentations

With the guidance of their advisers and clinical mentors, Doctor of Nursing Practice students identify a clinical problem, gather existing research on it, pursue their own avenues of study, and present their findings and the clinical implications. The following DNP student graduates successfully presented and defended their scholarly practice projects:

Genevieve Boldin
Block the Pain: Implementing Ultrasound-Guided Regional Anesthesia in the Emergency Department for Patients with Hip Fractures

Veronica Brill
Leveraging Relational Coordination Theory to Optimize Interprofessional Leader Relationships and Improve Patient Progression Outcomes

Courtney Crawford
Development and Implementation of a TSAM-Based Preceptor Evaluation Tool for Initial Sepsis Management in the MICU

Jessica Denomme

Nina Dennis

Natalie Drawdy
Enhancing Patient Safety: Embedding Fall Risk Assessment Learning Strategies into Nursing Orientation on an Adult Inpatient Behavioral Health Unit

Julienne Heyde, Elizabeth Curley, Sarah Franklin, and Melanie Vella
Developing a Care Management Toolkit through a Community Partnership

Hayley Katzenstein
Improving Pediatric Respiratory Triage Accuracy: A Quality Improvement Project

HyunSun Dominica Ko
Implementing Risk-Stratified VTE (Venous Thromboembolism) Prophylaxis Using IMPROVE Risk Assessment Models: A Quality Improvement Project

Janice Lavoie
Implementation of a Nurse-Led Perioperative Checklist to Optimize Same-Day Discharge After Aquablation for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia

Shawn Price
Scaling Unit-Based Practice to Systemwide Improvement: A Quality Improvement Initiative Enhancing Pain Assessment and Reassessments in an Acute Care Setting

Mekhla Raina
Implementation of a GLP-1 Patient Education Adherence Toolkit to Improve Therapy Adherence and Clinical Outcomes in Older Adults With Type 2 Diabetes and Obesity

Closely guided by their faculty mentors, PhD in nursing students spend years doing a deep dive into original research topics before presenting their final projects to a committee. The following individuals successfully created, completed, and defended their dissertations:

• Irene Guterman
  Exploring the Underlying Mechanisms Linking Long Sleep Duration to Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Middle-Aged Adults in the U.S.
  
  
• Reanna Panagides
  Exploring Methodologial Decisions for Deriving Clinical Insights from Inpatient Time Series Physiomarkers
  
  
• Sunbok Park
  Exploring the Underlying Mechanisms Linking Long Sleep Duration to Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Middle-Aged Adults in the U.S.