By Laura Gasque
University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing Assistant Professor and Co-Coordinator of the Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Specialty Track Sabrina Kopf, DNP, CRNP, ACNP-BC (BSN 2009, DNP 2017), has been elected Director-at-Large for the International Transplant Nurses Society. The ITNS provides nurses skilled in transplantation with opportunities to share expertise with national and international peers and advance excellence in patient care. Kopf previously served as ITNS Program Planning Chair.
"Serving as Director-at-Large for the International Transplant Nurses Society is an incredible honor and a privilege," Kopf said. "I have dedicated my advanced practice career to caring for transplant patients, and I am grateful to continue that commitment through my faculty practice, a collaborative partnership between UAB School of Nursing and UAB Hospital. The opportunity to collaborate with transplant nursing professionals worldwide who share a commitment to advancing education, research and excellence in patient care is truly inspiring. I am honored to represent the UAB School of Nursing on the international stage, and I look forward to working alongside colleagues committed to advancing the profession and improving outcomes for transplant patients worldwide."
In 2026, Kopf was the recipient of the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties Rising Star Award. This national honor recognizes early-career nurse practitioner faculty who have demonstrated promise and impactful achievements in teaching, research, practice, service, innovation, policy or administration.
Kopf is the recipient of the UABSON Clinical Transformation Award to support a pilot project focused on the development and implementation of a Preceptor Academy, designed to enhance preceptors' understanding and application of competency-based education in the clinical setting. Through targeted training and resources, the goal of the academy is to strengthen preceptors' knowledge and confidence in coaching Advanced Practice Registered Nurse students, providing feedback and evaluating clinical competency.
Kopf has received numerous awards from the School, including the Teaching Award for Innovation in Didactic Instruction in 2026. She also has received the School's Teaching Award for Innovation in Clinical Instruction for enhancing student engagement and clinical readiness, as well as the School's Clinical Transformation Award for leading the Preceptor Academy for Student Success.
In 2025, Kopf was part of a team that received an Alabama League for Nursing Excellence in Teaching Award for a telehealth simulation project advancing interprofessional collaboration and social determinants of health recognition among nurse practitioner students. In 2024, she was part of a team that received an ALN Excellence in Teaching Award for their peer-reviewed publication on gamification to teach complex clinical skills and published additional work on informed consent education, further highlighting her innovative approaches to nurse practitioner training. In 2023, Kopf contributed to an ALN-funded project implementing an innovative radiology interpretation learning experience for Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner students.