UAB Medicine is proud to announce that Chief Nursing Officer Terri Poe, DNP, RN, NE-BC, and Associate Vice President of Ambulatory Services Andrea Boohaker, CRNP, have been selected for the 2025-2026 Johnson & Johnson Nurse Innovation Fellowship. This is a highly competitive, one-year fellowship that promotes nurse-led innovation and leadership within health systems.
Pairs of senior nurse leaders from 15 U.S. health systems are chosen to tackle real-world challenges through a rigorous curriculum that combines human-centered design, design-thinking, business acumen, and strategic leadership. The program is led by Penn Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania, in collaboration with Wharton Executive Education.
The program offers both in-person and virtual experiences. Fellows identify a specific health care challenge in their organization and then develop and test innovative solutions. The program culminates in a pitch session where the teams present their solutions, with the goal of implementation back at their home institutions.
The selection of Poe and Boohaker for this fellowship reflects their outstanding leadership, creative problem-solving, and commitment to advancing patient care and the practice of nursing itself. They will have the opportunity to work alongside experts from Penn Nursing, Wharton, and Johnson & Johnson, while collaborating with a network of nurse innovators across the country.
“At UAB Hospital, we are committed to fostering a culture of innovation that drives better outcomes for our patients and communities,” said UAB Hospital CEO Brenda Carlisle. “Terri and Andrea embody that spirit of innovation and excellence. We are incredibly proud of their selection for this prestigious fellowship and look forward to the ideas and advancements they will help bring to life.”
The fellowship is designed to drive meaningful change through new tools and technology, care models, safety practices, and system-level improvements. It embraces experimentation, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and an unwavering focus on patient-centered solutions.
Congratulations to these two leaders on this incredible achievement.