Alumni Awards Roundup

Congratulations to all 2022 JHNAA and Dean’s Award winners.

JHNAA Award winners

Siew Lee Grand-Clement, ’06—Distinguished Alumnus Award

With 20 plus years of nursing experience, including receiving her MSN from JHSON and adult critical care nurse specialist certification, Siew Lee Grand-Clement has diverse experience in leading change and transforming operations to deliver results in U.S. and international health care settings. In her role as vice president for nursing and quality at UPMC International, Grand-Clement drives nursing and quality initiatives throughout multi-national locations. She is also acting chief operation officer for a UPMC-managed greenfield hospital in China, leading the design, construction, preoperational and strategic planning of a 500-bed, international-standard hospital. Grand-Clement is currently pursuing her DNP in health system executive leadership.

Diane Becker, ’64, ’78, (BSPH) ’79, (BSHP) ’84 – Heritage Award

Diane Becker, an expert in the prevention and management of coronary disease, was a 1964 graduate of the Johns Hopkins Hospital School of Nursing and completed a master of public health in 1979 and a doctor of science in health policy and management in 1984 at the Bloomberg School of Public Health. In 1987, she was the first nurse to receive a primary academic appointment in the School of Medicine, in the Department of Medicine Division of General Internal Medicine, with a joint appointment in the Bloomberg School Department of Health Policy and Management. With her colleague and husband, Lewis Becker, a professor in the Department of Medicine Division of Cardiology, she founded the Johns Hopkins Sibling and Family Heart Study (GeneSTAR), which has collected data over 35 years to investigate genetic and lifestyle risk factors for early heart disease. Becker was also a founding member of the Heart, Body, and Soul program, which ensures that the East Baltimore community has a voice in all community health initiatives. A passionate supporter of the Johns Hopkins Nursing Alumni Association, Becker worked with some 100 classmates to raise over $500,000 to fund the Class of 1964 Terrace as part of an expansion to the School of Nursing’s Anne M. Pinkard Building. Becker, who died in November 2021, was a distinguished nurse researcher and mentor, a trailblazer for the nursing profession, and a role model.

Lisa Tran, ’17, ’20—Outstanding Recent Graduate Award

Lisa Tran was nominated for her work as a nurse practitioner resident at Chinatown Service Center, an FQHC that has been a long-standing resource for Asian immigrants in Los Angeles. She quickly became an indispensable leader of the newly formed COVID mobile team that provided free COVID-testing and information, and then supplied over 60,000 COVID-vaccines to the immigrant community that had much mistrust. Tran created multilingual education materials and forms that increased accessibility to scientifically-backed health information. She and her team worked with community leaders across LA County to provide free COVID-vaccines and education to underserved individuals. Lisa had her pulse on the LA community and assured that there was little or no waste with the COVID-vaccines, even if it meant that she had to go out to a local park to provide some vaccine education. She worked with local organizations like Asian Americans Advancing Justice to dispel vaccine myths and canvas underserved areas. Her efforts increased vaccine uptake by 600 percent in Chinatown alone, which was noticed by prominent political leaders like Supervisor Hilda Solis and Governor Gavin Newsom. Tran continues to create impactful change during these hard times of the pandemic compounded by the anti-Asian Hate crimes. After her residency, Tran accepted a position at Planned Parenthood Los Angeles, where she currently works as a float nurse practitioner. Due to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, California is now a safe haven for those seeking abortion services with Planned Parenthood at the helm.

2022 SON Dean’s Awardees

Yvonne Commodore-Mensah, ’14, ’19 (BSPH) earned the Outstanding Nurse Researcher Award, honoring alumni whose research and achievements have brought personal distinction, enhanced the profession, and improved the welfare of the public. She has a passion for helping underserved populations. Through her community outreach research in Baltimore City, across Maryland, and in Ghana, Commodore-Mensah has improved the health of underserved ethnic minority persons by improving control of diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease.

Jessica Peters, ’16 earned the Outstanding Nurse Clinician Award. Peters has served as an acute care nurse practitioner within the Weinberg Critical Care Unit at Johns Hopkins Hospital unit since 2009. Her practice interests include care coordination, patient-family centered care, and unplanned critical care readmissions for patients with medical and surgical complexity. As clinical faculty at JHSON, she is a mentor to many students.

Nancy Gentry Russell, ’19 earned the Outstanding Nurse Educator Award for excellence and innovation in the teaching of nursing. An assistant professor at JHSON, Russell has applied enthusiasm for student learning and advanced practice by infusing her courses with innovative teaching strategies and enhancing faculty-student engagement. Russell is committed to student success. She incorporates her clinical knowledge and experience as an FNP into her teaching and helps students integrate theory and practice. 

Rebecca “Becky” Carson, ’16 is the second recipient of the Outstanding Nurse Educator Award. A pediatric nurse practitioner and clinical assistant professor at the Catholic University of America, she created a podcast, The Peds NP, as an approach to give her asynchronous students weekly feedback in a new and engaging way. As a rising star in pediatric acute care education, Carson is truly demonstrating excellence and innovation in nursing education.  

Michael Frakes, ’97 earned the Outstanding Nurse Leader Award for those who serve as champions for the profession and whose practice goes above and beyond. Since graduating with the Accelerated Class of 1997, Frakes has been a professional and clinical leader in the specialty of transport nursing. A well-respected leader on emergency, critical care, and transportation, he is a national speaker, dedicated author, and educator, and has served on a number of professional boards.

A New Category for 2023

The Outstanding Policy Influencer Award will honor alumni whose policy and advocacy accomplishments at the local, regional, national, or international level have made a significant impact in their field or whose policy and advocacy work has improved the health of individuals, communities, or populations; and who demonstrate how nurse leaders are providing outstanding contributions to health policy issues. 

Nominations for this new award are now open (through January 31) at nursing.jhu.edu/deanawards.