By Teresa Hicks
Three University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing faculty members have been named Distinguished Fellows of the Nursing Academy by the National Academies of PracticeOpens an external link..
Assistant Professor and Co-Coordinator of the AGACNP Specialty Track Hiboombe Haamankuli, DNP, CRNP, ACNP‐BC (MSN 2010); Associate Professor Lauren Mays, DNP, CRNP, FNP‐BC, FNAP (BSN 2008, MSN 2010, DNP 2018); and Professor and Interim Assistant Dean for Graduate Clinical Education - DNP Tedra Smith, DNP, CRNP, CPNP‐PC, CNE, CHSE (MSN 2004, DNP 2011), were inducted as Fellows during the 2026 NAP Conference in March.
NAP brings together multiple health professions to work collaboratively and advise on topics including national health policy and affordable, accessible health care.
Fellowship in the NAP is an honor extended to those who have excelled in their profession and are dedicated to furthering interprofessional practice, scholarship and policy in support of interprofessional care. Fellows are nominated and elected by their peers, recognizing their achievements and leadership within their profession.
Hiboombe Haamankuli, DNP, CRNP, ACNP‐BC (MSN 2010)
Haamankuli has more than 15 years of experience as an acute care nurse practitioner. As a hospitalist NP, he provides evidence-based care to acutely ill patients and is committed to improving patient outcomes through collaborative, interprofessional practice. At the UAB School of Nursing, coordinating the Adult Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner program means he oversees the education of more than 100 students, implementing innovative teaching methods that have garnered national and international recognition through publications and presentations. In 2023, Haamankuli received scholarship recognition for his teaching methods from the Alabama League for NursingOpens an external link. and in 2024 he earned ALN’s Excellence in Teaching Award for using gamification to teach critical skills, including antimicrobial selection, chest X-ray interpretation and point-of-care ultrasound. He received the same award in 2025 for his project, “Interprofessional Collaboration in Telehealth: Enhancing Social Determinants of Health Recognition Through Simulation.”
That year, he also received the Nancy Smith Memorial Award for Excellence in Teaching and the Teaching Award for Innovation in Clinical Instruction from the UAB School of Nursing.
Haamankuli serves on the Membership Task Force for the Gerontological Advanced Practice Nurses AssociationOpens an external link. and as Vice President for Membership of the Nurse Practitioner Alliance of AlabamaOpens an external link., where he was elected to the executive board in 2024.
Lauren Mays, DNP, CRNP, FNP‐BC, FNAP (BSN 2008, MSN 2010, DNP 2018)
Mays is a founding member and Advisory Board member of the National Association of Family Nurse PractitionersOpens an external link., the first specialty-specific association dedicated to supporting family nurse practitioners with education and clinical practice resources.
In 2022, she was named co-chair of the Determinants of Health Special Interest Group for the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner FacultiesOpens an external link. annual conference and. In 2023, she was appointed to a national task force workgroup by the Association for Prevention Teaching and ResearchOpens an external link., serving on the Healthy People Curriculum Task Force. Additionally, she serves on the Association of American Medical CollegesOpens an external link. curriculum committee, where she brings the nurse practitioner perspective and helps shape interprofessional competencies that improve health outcomes across disciplines.
Mays served as the Co-Coordinator of the nationally-ranked Family Nurse Practitioner Specialty Track from 2019-2024 and currently is UAB Clinic Director at The WellHouseOpens an external link., providing trauma-informed primary care to survivors of sex trafficking. Mays was recognized by UAB with the Becky Trigg Outstanding Faculty Member Award, for going above and beyond to persevere in support of underrepresented populations. In 2023, she was named the UAB School of Nursing Nancy Smith Memorial Excellence in Teaching Award recipient for her academic excellence.
Tedra Smith, DNP, CRNP, CPNP‐PC, CNE, CHSE (MSN 2004, DNP 2011)
Smith is Director of Pediatric Partnerships at the UAB School of Nursing. She also is a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner at Children’s of Alabama and co-leads the Clinical Scholars Program at Children’s, which enhances bedside nurses’ participation in quality improvement, research, and leadership development. Smith served as President-Elect of the Alabama League for NursingOpens an external link. from 2016 to 2017, and as ALN President from 2018 to 2019. In 2019, she received the ALN Lamplighter AwardOpens an external link. for her contributions to support the development and improvement of teaching and research. She currently is the Chair of the School-based Health Care Shared Interest Group for the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners. Additionally, she serves as the Editor for the Pediatric Nursing Journal and as a reviewer for multiple journals focused on pediatric health care and nursing education.
Smith was honored with the Cindajo Overton Outstanding Nurse Educator Award from the Alabama State Nurses AssociationOpens an external link. in 2022. She was named Advanced Practice Nurse of the Year by the National Black Nurses AssociationOpens an external link., Inc., in 2023 and received the UAB President’s UAB President's Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2024.