Faculty accolades

Deb Bakerjian

Deb Bakerjian was appointed associate dean for practice after serving one year in the interim position. She remains charged with operationalizing the School of Nursing’s faculty practice plan and supporting the school’s clinical faculty. She also partners with UC Davis Health colleagues and community organizations on healthy aging strategies and workforce development. 

Piri Ackerman-Barger

Piri Ackerman-Barger, associate dean for health equity, diversity and inclusion and clinical professor, received several national and UC Davis honors this year. 

• The University of Portland awarded her an honorary degree in public service. In 2020, she introduced administrators to a framework for understanding the academic costs of microaggressions against underrepresented health professions students, and how they impact learning, academic performance and well-being. It set the foundation for that school’s diversity work.  
• UC Davis Chancellor Gary May named her among the 2023 Chancellor’s Fellowships for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. The fellowships recognize exceptional contributions in supporting, tutoring, mentoring and advising underrepresented students and students from underserved communities. In a letter to Ackerman-Barger, Chancellor May cited her “commitment to reducing opportunity gaps.” 
• She also was rewarded with recognition as one of six UC Davis Public Scholarship and Engagement Faculty Fellows. The Faculty Fellows program was established to acknowledge exemplary individuals who work toward a specific public scholarship goal or outcome. For her project, Ackerman-Barger plans to develop a book outlining the fundamentals of health equity and how nurses are uniquely poised to advance it. Her plans include strategies grounded in the framework of cultural humility. 

Mary Gallagher

Mary Gallagher, an assistant professor at the School of Nursing, received the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP) Leader Award. She was recognized for demonstrating exceptional service to NAPNAP in a leadership capacity, achieving outcomes that positively impact child health and her advocacy for children. 

Victoria Keeton

Assistant Professor Victoria Keeton was selected as 2023-2024 Center for the Advancement of Multicultural Perspectives on Science (CAMPOS) Faculty Scholar. CAMPOS emerged out of a 2012 National Science Foundation ADVANCE grant to expand the presence of women and historically marginalized faculty in STEMM at UC Davis. Keeton’s background as a pediatric nurse practitioner informs her research related to the impact of social needs on the health of children and families in communities of color. She joins faculty scholars spread across 31 STEMM disciplines on the Davis and Sacramento campuses. 

Jessica Draughon Moret

Associate Professor Jessica Draughon Moret was named a 2023 fellow in the Betty Irene Moore Fellowship for Nurse Leaders and Innovators. The fellowship program recognizes and advances early- to mid-career nursing scholars and innovators with high potential to accelerate leadership in nursing-science research, practice, education, policy and entrepreneurship. Fellows receive $450,000 in funding over three years for their project plus $50,000 for their home institution. 

Draughon Moret was also appointed to the editorial board of the Journal of Forensic Nursing, a journal of the International Association of Forensic Nurses (IAFN). The journal is dedicated to the advancement of forensic nursing scholarship and publishes articles that create, translate and disseminate knowledge relevant to forensic nurses and other disciplines.  

Charlene Singh

Assistant Professor Charlene Singh was named an inaugural fellow in the Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nurses Society (WOCN). She is one of 12 fellows honored for their significant contributions to the profession and who continue to seek ways to advance the practice of wound, ostomy and continence care for future generations of patients and clinicians.