Associate Professor Ada Markaki, PhD.The UAB School of Nursing is a leader in nursing education, research and practice, and the transformation of health care globally. Associate Professor Ada Markaki, PhD, Deputy Director of the School’s Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)/World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center for International Nursing, is working to build on the School’s internationally focused strengths to leverage where the School is now and where it is moving toward in the future.
Over the past year, Markaki has led a process to expand the School's global footprint and the formation of a 16-member Global Health Task Force of faculty and staff to identify growth opportunities.
Markaki has recently represented the School at the quadrennial International Council of Nurses (ICN) Congress in Barcelona, Spain, as well as the meeting of the Global Network of WHO Collaborating Centers (GNWHOCC). She came away reassured that the School and its PAHO/WHOCC, one of only 43 worldwide and 10 in the United States, are well positioned for future global endeavors.
“I was greatly impressed at how the priorities of our Task Force are linked to universal health care and are in line with what ICN and other professional nursing organizations worldwide are discussing,” Markaki said. “It was also very reassuring to hear how relevant some of the topics discussed on this international stage are to activities we are already undertaking here at the School.”
Of particular note is a focus on the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for health care all UN members have agreed to try to implement by 2030.
“Our Task Force agreed well before the ICN Congress that our operational definition of global health would focus on those SDGs,” Markaki said. “I was thrilled to see that we are already ahead in our thinking on how nursing will develop internationally in the coming decade.”
Markaki also was excited to see the School’s next generation of nurse leaders take the stage internationally. Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing (PhD) student Aoyjai Prapanjaroensin, BSN, RN, presented her research poster at the ICN Congress, “Does Chronotype Make a Difference Among Night-Shift Working Nurses in Feeling Unsafe Traveling From Work?”
“Prapanjaroensin, a graduate of Thammasat University in Bangkok, Thailand, is an excellent example of the impact of the school’s successful international memoranda of understanding with other universities is having on health care globally,” Markaki said.
Earlier this year the School and University renewed the memorandum of understanding with Thammasat. As part of this, the School will host two PhD students from Thammasat for up to six weeks of intense mentorship by a UABSON faculty member each year through 2022. The two institutions also will collaborate on research projects and publications.
