Media contact: Holly Gainer
Ada Markaki, Ph.D.Ada Markaki, Ph.D., has been named the chair-elect of the Pan American Nursing and Midwifery Collaborating Centers, a network of 15 World Health Organization Collaborating Centers within the Americas.
Markaki, an associate professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing, will serve as chair-elect for two years and then will become chair for a two-year term.
The Pan American Nursing and Midwifery Collaborating Centers is a network that connects World Health Organization Collaborating Centers while supporting the roles of nurses and midwives in advancing universal health access and coverage, as well as promoting cooperation on a regional and global scale.
“I strongly believe in the collective power of networks,” said Markaki, who is also co-director of the School of Nursing’s Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization Collaborating Center for International Nursing, one of only eight designated centers in the United States. “The organization reflects the diversity of nurses and midwives and serves as a mechanism for developing knowledge, building capacity, strengthening health systems and influencing policy related to health priorities in our communities.”
It also provides a platform for sustainable collaboration in order to promote the contributions and visibility of nursing and midwifery education, research and practice, Markaki says.
Over her next four years as chair-elect and chair, Markaki says, her goal is to develop and expand PANMCC’s website as a repository of free teaching, training and research materials that can benefit nurses throughout the Americas. She will also utilize network-wide resources to establish professional development and mentoring opportunities for nurses and midwives in low-resource settings.
“This is the first time that UAB will hold this leadership position within the PANMCC network. It provides an international forum for showcasing the school’s work and commitment to global citizenship,” Markaki said. “By enhancing the school’s international visibility and recognition as a top school of nursing in the Americas region, it opens opportunities to recruit a diverse pool of students and faculty, to exchange information, and to mobilize additional resources.”