Honoring UT Southwestern’s outstanding Advanced Practice Providers
UT Southwestern is proud to recognize its 898 Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) across the Health System for their outstanding contributions to healing, teaching, and discovering.
This year, the University hosted UT Southwestern APP Celebration Week in alignment with National APP Week from Sept. 26-30 to honor all five APP professional groups: clinical nurse specialists, nurse midwives, nurse anesthetists, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners.
In recognition of their valuable contributions, the UTSW Recognition Subcommittee designed a week of spotlights on APPs, culminating in an event that included a presentation of appreciation by Health System leaders, recognition of APP contributions, and a keynote speech, “Thriving Beyond Crisis,” from Elaine Beardsley, MN, ACCNS-P, CPEN, a Clinical Resiliency Specialist for Children’s Health.
The Sept. 30 event recognized the winners of five APP Celebration Week Excellence Awards, selected through rigorous, blinded review from 119 award nominations the APP Engagement Committee received. The committee honored these five APPs whose contributions go above and beyond in clinical practice, community service, leadership, scholarly endeavors, and teaching. Additionally, the event selected a faculty member as the Champion of the Year for 2022.
Read more below about these outstanding APPs and Champion of the Year and their important contributions to UT Southwestern’s mission.
Outstanding APP in Clinical Practice
The award for Outstanding APP in Clinical Practice celebrates an Advanced Practice Provider who is enthusiastic, prepared, and effective while engaging in direct patient care; who collaborates respectfully with colleagues; and who practices evidence-based medicine. The recipient must consistently receive positive patient feedback.
Mary Mallory, M.S.N., APRN, PPCNP-BC
Division of Pediatric Infectious Disease, Department of Pediatrics
Mary Mallory is a board-certified pediatric nurse practitioner in the Division of Pediatric Infectious Disease who practices in the ARMS (Primary Care for HIV/AIDS) and International Adoption Medicine clinics at Children’s Health.
An active member in community HIV and adoption organizations, Ms. Mallory began her practice in the ARMS Clinic in 1989 at a time when many providers were hesitant to take care of HIV-positive patients, especially children. She served numerous roles: nurse practitioner, counselor, advocate, and educator. Ms. Mallory was at the forefront of HIV management in babies and children, even before effective medications were part of the therapy. She is viewed as an educator and advocate for this patient population within the community at large.
In addition, Ms. Mallory serves as the main provider for the International Adoption program at Children’s Health. She provides recommendations to families seeking adoption and is always accountable for her words and actions in helping these families navigate through one of the biggest decisions they have to make. She also helps establish a medical home and navigates care once adoption occurs.
In the words of her colleagues: Ms. Mallory “is the bedrock of our clinic.”
Outstanding APP in Community Service
The award for Outstanding APP in Community Service celebrates a clinician with active service in the community outside of their UT Southwestern employment whose service helps a specific, local population; reduces health disparities; and makes a lasting, meaningful impact.
Shelley Speed, M.S.N., APRN, ACNP-BC, FNP-BC
Division of Family Medicine, Department of Family and Community Medicine
The mission of Union Gospel Mission Dallas (UGMD) is to transform lives and end homelessness one person at a time – a mantra that Family Nurse Practitioner Shelley Speed truly lives by. Ms. Speed serves several days per week as a clinician providing critical health care to children and adults at both Union Gospel Mission shelters in Dallas County: Calvert Place and Center of Hope.
Her clinical expertise ranges from preventive care to chronic disease management. She shares her commitment to Dallas’ homeless population with others by mentoring and precepting medical students and residents in UGMD clinics. Ms. Speed’s colleagues describe her as knowledgeable, compassionate, and always accessible to her patients. She truly goes beyond the call of duty by also organizing community-based projects and leading activities at UGMD to expand access and opportunities for those living there.
Through her dedicated service, Ms. Speed ensures that despite the fiscal and logistical challenges UGMD faces, this underserved population in Dallas continues to receive the quality health care it deserves.
In the words of her colleagues, “Shelley is a compassionate clinician and represents a leader and a team player who makes a meaningful impact for homeless individuals.”
Outstanding APP in Leadership
The award for Outstanding APP in Leadership celebrates a clinician with effective leadership attitudes – someone who is motivating, creative, and positive. The recipient must utilize skilled communication and serve on a board or committee within or outside of UT Southwestern.
Nisha Jacob, D.N.P., APRN, FNP-C
Division of Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine
Dr. Nisha Jacob has been in clinical practice with the Endocrinology Diabetes team since 2011. She was the first APP on the inpatient diabetes team, working with a single physician, and she contributed to growing the team. She is actively involved in the team’s leadership and growth and coordinates educational activities and team meetings. Since 2012, Dr. Jacob has been a coordinator for the Diabetes Lecture Series. In 2022, she became the UTSW Inpatient Diabetes Team coordinator, leading decisions for scheduling, new hire training, classes for nurses, and more.
Dr. Jacob leads by example, serving on several committees within and outside of the University. She is on the UTSW Diabetes Steering Committee and served as interim Chair in August 2022. As part of her work on this committee, she is currently leading an initiative to improve patient diabetes education prior to hospital discharge. She also has served as a mentor for the UTSW APP Mentorship Program and is an advisory board member for the Indian American Nurses Association of North Texas, previously serving on this committee as Vice President and Chair of Professional Development.
Dr. Jacob believes the cornerstone for a great team is open, clear, and honest communication, and she recognizes the potential and creativity of each team member and motivates them to take roles based on their unique qualities. She is so highly regarded by her peers that they nominated her for The Great 100 Nurses of DFW in 2019.
In the words of her colleagues: “Due to Nisha’s active involvement, the team feels supported, respected, engaged, and confident,” and she “identifies and nurtures the strengths and qualities of the individuals” on her team.
Outstanding APP in Scholarly Endeavors
The award for Outstanding APP in Scholarly Endeavors celebrates an Advanced Practice Provider who demonstrates efficacy in research, scholarly work, and/or quality and safety improvement projects. This APP has contributed to literature via a high-quality publication, received grant funding for their scholarly work, and/or served as a co-Investigator on a new Institutional Review Board-approved study. The recipient must have completed a scholarly project with demonstrated impact.
Cynthia F. Griffith, M.P.A.S., PA-C
Department of Dermatology
Cynthia Griffith has a deep commitment to leading, promoting, and actively contributing to research as an APP in her clinical field of dermatology. Manuscripts authored or co-authored by Ms. Griffith have been accepted for publication in the Journal of Dermatology for Physician Assistants (JDPA) and in the Journal of Physician Assistant Educators. Ms. Griffith was also awarded a $9,000 grant this year from the American Academy of Physician Assistants for a research project regarding physician assistant (PA) workforce data.
Additionally, Ms. Griffith has several manuscripts in final draft phases with topics including characteristics of PAs in dermatology and patient satisfaction measures across different dermatology providers by professional group.
Strong commitments to research are also demonstrated by Ms. Griffith through her service as a peer reviewer for the Society of Dermatology PAs and Texas Academy of PAs. In January, she was appointed editor-in-chief for the JDPA. Ms. Griffith has also been accepted as a member by the World Association of Medical Editors.
Ms. Griffith shares her expertise and research with other APPs as a frequently invited speaker nationally with the American Academy of Physician Assistants and the respective state PA academies for Texas, Utah, Colorado, and Oregon. She also serves the UTSW PA Program as a guest lecturer and an evaluator for dermatology clinical skills.
In the words of her colleagues: Ms. Griffith “has been steadfast in the promotion and enhancement of dermatologic research and education.”
Outstanding APP in Teaching
The award for Outstanding APP in Teaching celebrates an Advanced Practice Provider who is respectful, professional, challenging, and a supportive communicator with learners, particularly in precepting APP students, providing clinical lectures, and onboarding new APP colleagues. The recipient must practice and teach evidence-based medicine.
Anitha Litty, D.N.P., APRN, FNP-C, CDE
Division of Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine
Dr. Anitha Litty has been in clinical practice in the Division of Endocrinology since 2012, specializing in diabetes management. She has advanced her own clinical expertise by becoming a certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist. She frequently precepts newly hired APPs, nurse practitioner students, and medical students.
Over the past four years, she has served as a mentor within the APP Mentorship program. In addition, Dr. Litty was actively engaged in the development of comprehensive diabetes education classes for UT Southwestern nurses and pharmacists. She also teaches inpatient diabetes management classes for new nurses and a unit-based diabetes refresher course.
Dr. Litty, a trusted resource for the inpatient diabetes and Transplant teams, has also been an invited lecturer for the Association of Diabetes Care and Education Specialists conference, the North Texas Nurse Practitioners conference, and local and national conferences of the Indian Nurses Association. She has published scholarly articles in American Diabetes Association publications, The Nurse Practitioner journal, and with the Indian Nurses Association. She is actively engaged in APP education at UT Southwestern, presenting for the Diabetes team’s journal clubs and educational series as well as the APP Lecture Series. She also works as adjunct faculty for Texas Woman’s University.
In the words of her colleagues: Dr. Litty has clearly demonstrated “a passion for teaching patients and staff.”
2022 Champion of the Year
All UTSW Advanced Practice Providers were encouraged to nominate employees or faculty members who effectively collaborate, influence, support, mentor, and encourage APPs for this award.
Kim Yancey, M.D.
Chair of Dermatology
Through blinded review of 12 nominees, Dr. Kim Yancey was selected as winner of this honor. His colleagues offered these reflections: “Dr. Yancey has always championed, mentored, promoted, and advocated for APPs both within the Department, across the University, and among patients and other staff. Dr. Yancey treats the APPs in our Department like faculty. He personally has asked each Dermatology APP to take on different clinical subspecialties or clinical projects because of his confidence in our abilities.”