By Tucker Carden
University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing alumna Whitney Holland, DNP, CRNP (MSN 2011, DNP 2016), is the 2026 recipient of the International Transplant Nurses Society’s Heart of Service Volunteer Leadership Award, honoring exceptional volunteerism, selfless service and a deep dedication to supporting transplant patients, families and the broader healthcare community. Holland was recognized at the ITNS Symposium in September. Assistant Professor, Interim Assistant Dean for Graduate Clinical Education – DNP and Co-Coordinator of the Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Specialty Track Sabrina Kopf, DNP, CRNP, ACNP-BC (BSN 2009, DNP 2017), presented her with the award.
An acute care nurse practitioner, Holland has worked in UAB Hospital’s pulmonary/lung transplant unit since 2011. Since 2022, she has served as the lead lung transplant NP/coordinator, where she has been part of developing multiple quality improvement projects and presenting transplant education. Holland is a widely renowned and respected figure in her field, having served on the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network Transplant Coordinator Committee, the ITNS and UAB Transplant Symposium Planning Committees, as a peer reviewer for the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses and as Advanced Practice Provider Executive Council at UAB Hospital. In addition to these clinical and research duties, she has served as an adjunct faculty member in the School’s Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Specialty Track since 2021.
Holland is grateful for the recognition and sees it as a significant step in her career journey.
“Receiving the ITNS Heart of Service Volunteer Leadership Award is especially meaningful because it reflects what I love most about lung transplantation: working through its many complexities alongside a dedicated interdisciplinary team, but above all making a difference for our patients,” she said.
She considers her time at the School to be particularly impactful as well.
“My time at the UAB School of Nursing has given me the knowledge and courage to get involved in the broader transplant community—to present abstracts, build relationships with colleagues and help develop the next generation of providers,” she said. “I’m grateful to share this honor with the people who make that work possible every day.”