By Anabelle Howze
University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing Assistant Professor Lindsey Harris, DNP, RN, FNP-BC, FAAN (MSN 2011, DNP 2016), has been selected as an Ambassador of the Friends of the National Institute of Nursing Research. The program began in 2014 with the directive of advancing research in the National Institute of Nursing Research and now includes more than 50 Ambassadors, with the addition of 21 new nurse scientists this year.
“I am thankful for the opportunity to continue to serve and impact the future of nursing through education, policy and advocacy,” Harris said.
The FNINR's ambassador program works to educate congressional leaders on the high-impact, cost-effective interventions and quality-of-life improvements stemming from nurse science. The ambassadors are selected from a pool of nursing and health care professionals based on their performance in public and professional health care, decision-making and communication. Through this program, they will practice professional awareness of the work of NINR and its priorities on social, political and professional levels. NINR conducts both clinical and basic research, incorporating behavioral and biological sciences to form a foundation for clinical practices.
In 2023, Harris completed a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellowship in Washington, D.C., and joined the School’s faculty full time later that year. In 2020 she was elected the youngest and first African-American President of the Alabama State Nurses Association and is a past president of the Birmingham Black Nurses Association Inc. In 2011, Harris was recognized as NBNA Staff Nurse of the Year, received the NBNA Advanced Practice Nurse of the Year award in 2015, and was recognized in 2016 as a member of the next generation of nursing leaders with the NBNA 45 under 40 Award. In 2021, she was named one of the School’s 70 Visionary Leaders.
