Induction recognizes accomplished nurse leaders who have made significant contributions to advance and impact public health. The 2025 class of fellows is the largest in the academy’s history, representing 42 states, the District of Columbia, and 12 countries.

Koszalinski and Parchment will be inducted on Oct. 18 during the academy’s annual Health Policy Conference in Washington, D.C. They will join more than 3,200 fellows of the American Academy of Nursing, including 10 at UCF’s College of Nursing.

Rebecca Koszalinski

, an associate professor who joined UCF last year, is currently leading a team of researchers on phase two of a longitudinal study examining health outcomes of exposure to harmful algal bloom toxins in Florida and its impact on social engagement of older adults. The research not only seeks to recognize patient symptoms and develop actionable nursing interventions, but also address policy challenges to improve health and the environment.

Her impact also includes patient-led solutions and the development and use of technological innovations to improve the health of older adults. She developed SFM-V (Speak for Myself – Voice), an app that helps users with disabilities easily communicate with providers in acute-care settings by indicating pain level and specific needs. The app was released for free during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is still available for free download today and used by several healthcare systems around the world.

Koszalinski is a founding member and fellow of the Society of Nurse Scientists, Innovators, Entrepreneurs, &Leaders, a fellow of the Association of Rehabilitation Nurses, and a 2025 cohort member of the Environmental Health Research Institute for Nurse and Clinical Scientists, which is funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Joy Parchment ’15�ʳ��

, an sssistant professor, joined UCF in 2020 after previously holding various leadership positions at Orlando Health, including corporate director of nursing strategy implementation.

Her impact as a nurse leader extends nationally through her service in professional organizations and scholarly activities. She currently holds appointments on the American Nurses Credentialing Center Commission on Magnet, the academic practice advisory committee of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing and the American Organization for Nursing Leadership, as well as the research committee of the Association for Leadership Science in Nursing.

As a researcher, Parchment focuses on professional nursing practice and nursing leadership science. Her published work on defining role-based factors perpetuating nurse manager workplace bullying has been cited 45 times in national and international publications.

Most recently she led the development of an evidence-based electronic manual for interim nurse managers. The publication has been downloaded more than 170 times to-date and was recognized by the Association for Leadership Science in Nursing as an innovative solution for mitigating the nurse manager workforce crisis and developing other front-line nurse leaders.

The prestigious honor recognizes substantial, sustained and outstanding impact on health and healthcare. This year’s inductees, which represent 40 states, the District of Columbia, and 13 countries, will be recognized during the Academy’s annual Health Policy Conference in October in Washington, D.C.

“This year’s group of inductees truly represents today’s thought leaders and the [range] of our profession’s policy leaders, practitioners, educators, and innovators,” says Kenneth White, president of the American Academy of Nursing, in a statement. “Each fellow of the academy is changing the future of health and healthcare through their support to … lift up the next generation of nurses, advancing the academy’s vision of healthy lives for all people.”

A nationally recognized expert on aging, Thiamwong has made significant contributions to promoting healthy aging and reducing health inequalities. She developed the Healthy Aging Instrument to assess processes involved in healthy aging, which has been used in research institutions in nine countries.

Her pioneering research focuses on fall prevention using innovative technology framed on the mind and body connection. Falls are the second leading cause of injury and death worldwide among older adults, and disproportionately impact people facing economic hardship.

Thiamwong has been recently awarded more than $6 million in funding for her research. One of her studies was the first in the nation to examine the associations among fall risk appraisal, body composition and physical activity using assistive health technology and activity monitoring devices.

Currently, she is leading an interdisciplinary team ɫ���� researchers on a $2.3 million project funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to conduct a large-scale pilot of their innovative intervention to prevent falls in low-income senior communities.

“Through her research and international collaborations, Dr. Thiamwong has made a substantial impact in the area of fall prevention in … older adults [from a range of backgrounds], with a focus on those who reside in the community and have [fewer available] resources,” says Mary Lou Sole, dean of .

In addition to her research, Thiamwong is committed to advocating for older adults and is actively engaged in community service. Most recently, she has served on the City of Orlando Mayor’s Committee on Livability and Healthy Aging, chairs the Aging/Gerontology Research Interest and Implementation Group of the Southern Nursing Research Society, and is a member of both the NIH Health Promotion in Communities and the Community Influences on Health Behavior study sections.

Thiamwong has received several awards for her contributions to the field, including a Catalyst Award from the U.S. National Academy of Medicine Healthy Longevity Global Grand Challenge, the Distinguished Educator in Gerontological Nursing Award from the National Hartford Center of Gerontological Nursing Excellence, and the Excellence in Geriatric Nursing Research Mid-Career Award from the Aging/Gerontology Research Interest and Implementation Group of the Southern Nursing Research Society.