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Several UVA School of Nursing faculty members were celebrated at the Virginia Nurses Association's (VNA) annual gala Nov. 23 in Richmond, including Melissa Gomes, associate dean for diversity, equity, and inclusion, and assistant professor Crystal Toll.

On hand to administer the awards was Dean Marianne Baernholdt and UVA Health University Medical Center chief nursing officer Kathy Baker, the School's associate dean for clinical affairs and incoming Virginia Nurses Association president.

Melissa Gomes, PhD, APRN, PMHNP-BC, FNAP, FAAN
2024 VNF Nurse Researcher Award

Gomes was one of two Virginia nurses to earn the 2024 Nurse Researcher Award, and was cited for her founding of Transitions Empowerment Associates and the Empowerment Through Healing Ourselves (ETHOS) project, which was created for Hampton City Schools in Hampton, VA, secured more than $670,000 in grants, and developed effective alternatives to school suspension programs for at-risk young people. 

Gomes, a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner, AACN Diversity Fellow alumna, and a UVA alumna, is focused on intimate partner violence and its impact on youngsters, vulnerable women and children, Black teenagers' attitudes toward HIV and AIDS, and genetic variants in African American women with breast cancer. Gomes work, VNA leaders said, "advances knowledge and informs practices that reduce health disparities in marginalized communities." 

Crystal Toll, EdD, MSN, RN, CCRN-K, PCCN
2024 VNF Leadership Excellence Nurse Educator Award

Toll was selected as one of 11 Virginia nurses chosen for its series of VNF Trailblazer awards. Nominated by colleague Malinda Whitlow, associate professor and undergraduate program lead, who cited her "exemplary leadership and dedication to nursing education" through the development of fostered mentorship initiatives including the RN to BSN peer support program, teaching students and developing faculty peers, and her expansive service both within and beyond the School.

In addition to hailing Toll's classroom skills as the lead faculty member in the RN to BSN program's Richmond site, Whitlow cited Toll's ability to "lead with passion and intellectual curiosity," and for making "an exceptional mark within the nursing community."

"Crystal is a driving force in clinical practice, with teaching, and on committees that extend beyond the classroom," Whitlow wrote. 

The annual gathering, sponsored by UVA Health, the School, and organized by the Virginia Nurses Foundation (VNF), the VNA's fundraising arm, gathered hundreds of nurses from across the state.