PHILADELPHIA — Thomas Jefferson University is pleased to announce that Michele Kacmarcik Savin, DNP, APRN, NNP-BC, CNE, FAWHONN, has been selected to become a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing. Dr. Savin is an associate professor and Program Director of the Neonatal Nurse Practitioner program at Jefferson College of Nursing. Induction into the Academy is a significant milestone in a nurse leader’s career in which their accomplishments are honored by their colleagues within and outside the profession. Fellows are selected based on their outstanding contributions to improve health locally and globally.
The Academy is a policy organization and an honorific society that recognizes nursing's most accomplished leaders in policy, research, practice, administration and academia. Academy Fellows hold a wide variety of influential roles in health care and collectively they contribute their expertise to develop sound policy that help to achieve the Academy’s vision of healthy lives for all people.
Dr. Savin’s career focuses on advancing maternal-infant health through neonatal nursing practice, education, and scalable workforce systems that ensure science meaningfully informs neonatal care. She has provided national educational leadership, including chairing the 2023 revision of neonatal nurse practitioner education competencies, and has strengthened sustainable neonatal workforce capacity through curriculum and training programs in Sierra Leone and Malawi. In Delaware, she contributed to the development of DEThrives.com, creating accessible resources on safe sleep and prenatal care that reach tens of thousands of users each month. Through her scholarship and editorial board service, including the inaugural board of Healthy Mom and Baby, Dr. Savin has advanced neonatal education, health literacy, and workforce development.
Marie Ann Marino, EdD, RN, FAAN, Dean of Jefferson College of Nursing, says, “Dr. Michele Savin’s selection as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing is a distinguished recognition of her sustained leadership and impact in neonatal nursing education, advanced practice, and maternal-infant health. Through her national leadership in neonatal nurse practitioner education competencies, her work preparing the next generation of neonatal nurse practitioners, and her global contributions to strengthening neonatal workforce capacity in Sierra Leone and Malawi, Dr. Savin exemplifies the reach and responsibility of academic nursing. Her work reflects Jefferson College of Nursing’s commitment to improving health locally and globally, and we are proud to celebrate this extraordinary and well-deserved honor.”
"I am truly humbled and grateful to be named an Academy Fellow - nursing's highest honor. I am thankful to Dean Marino who encouraged me to apply, and Drs. Carole Kenner and Bobby Bellflower who sponsored my nomination. It is a privilege to spend my career supporting babies and families through practice and education around the world," Savin says.
The newest Fellows, selected from a competitive pool of candidates, represent 39 states, the District of Columbia, and 17 countries. They will deepen the thought leadership of the Academy’s Fellowship, growing its strength to more than 3,600 dedicated nurses—who together will advance the Academy’s mission focused on impacting policy through nursing leadership, innovation, and science.
Dr. Savin and the 2026 inductees will be recognized for their substantial, sustained, and significant contributions to health and health care at the Academy’s annual Health Policy Conference, taking place on October 8 – 10, 2026 in Washington, DC during the Induction Ceremony on the evening of October 10th. After the ceremony, the new inductees can use their FAAN (Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing) credential, the most prestigious recognition in nursing.
For individuals interested in attending the Induction Ceremony, tickets can be purchased online.