Contact: Beth Barnett
843.792.9690
Sept. 12, 2006
Amella and Laken Only Two Inductees Selected From SC
CHARLESTON -- Elaine J. Amella, PhD, APRN, BC, Associate Dean for Research and Evaluation and Marilyn P. Laken, PhD, RN, Director of Special Initiatives, both at MUSC's College of Nursing, will be inducted into the American Academy of Nursing as new 2006 Fellows on November 11, along with 52 other nurse leaders from across the country during the Academy's Annual Awards Ceremony and Induction Banquet in Miami, FL.
Both were nominated for this honor by two current Academy Fellows and were selected by the Academy's 15 member Fellow Selection Committee for outstanding achievements in the nursing profession. In addition, Amella and Laken are the only two Fellows chosen from the state of South Carolina.
The Academy is constituted to anticipate national and international trends in health care, and address resulting issues of health care knowledge and policy. Not only is the invitation to Fellowship recognition of one's accomplishments within the nursing profession, but also affords an opportunity to work with other leaders in health care in addressing the issues of the day. The Academy's mission is to serve the public and nursing profession by advancing health policy and practice through the generation, synthesis, and dissemination of nursing knowledge.
Amella is a tenured associate professor in the College of Nursing and a member of the College of Graduate Studies at the Medical University of South Carolina. Amella received her Associate's and Bachelor's degrees in Nursing from Pace University and both her Master's of Arts in Nursing and Doctorate in Research and Theory Development in Nursing from New York University. She also received a Post-Master's Certificate in Care of the Older Adult from New York University. Amella received national recognition for her research concerning older adults with late-stage dementia with the Southern Research Nursing Society's Hartford Institute Geriatric Nursing Award in 2006, and is a Fellow in both the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners and the Gerontological Society of America. She is the Assistant Editor for North America for the Journal of Clinical Nursing and serves on several editorial boards. Amella's research has been supported by federal (NIH), state and intramural funding. Amella has been at the Medical University since 1999.
Laken is a professor at the College of Nursing. She received a bachelor's degree from the University of Maryland, a Master's of Arts in Nursing from Boston University and a Doctorate in Medical Anthropology from Wayne State University. Laken is a Fellow in the Society for Applied Anthropology. She has had continuous research funding for over 25 years with more than 80 publications. In addition, she is the recipient of several research and service awards and recently co-chaired the Perinatal and Patient Care Collaborative for the Bureau of Primary Health Care. Laken has been at the Medical University since 1997. For more information about the American Academy of Nursing, please visit their web site www.aannet.org.
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