Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing

Join us next Thursday, June 11, at 10 a.m. as we celebrate the Class of 2026 at our Commencement Ceremony 🎓

We’re proud to recognize graduates from our PA, MEPN, DNP-FNP, UC PMHNP and Ph.D. programs as they take this next step in their healthcare careers.

Learn more about commencement: https://health.ucdavis.edu/nursing/news/Events/commencement-2026.html

Image description: A graduate from the Class of 2025 smiles and waves in her commencement regalia.

Join us for Diwa ng Kalayaan: honoring Filipino nurses, celebrating freedom and giving back to our communities!

The Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis, UC Davis Health DEI Council and Philippine Nurses Association California Capital City (PNAC3) invite healthcare professionals, students and volunteers to come together for a meaningful day of celebration and connection.

On Friday, June 12, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., join us at Betty Irene Moore Hall for a day of networking, cultural performances and continuing education.

This celebration is rooted in the spirit of bayanihan as we come together as a community to uplift and support one another. We hope you’ll join us for this special event celebrating Filipino heritage, nursing leadership, service and community impact.

Learn more and register for a ticket here: https://lnkd.in/dXg8bmHy

Image description: A very large group of people smiles and poses in an outdoor arena.

What happens when a humanoid robot becomes part of daily dementia care?

Researchers from the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis are partnering with Eskaton and Andromeda Robotics to study how Abi, a social companion robot, may help spark connection, conversation and joy inside a memory care neighborhood.

The first-of-its-kind U.S. study examines how residents, staff and families interact with the technology over time, and why nursing researchers are uniquely positioned to lead this work.

Watch the video and read the story: https://health.ucdavis.edu/news/headlines/uc-davis-launches-first-long-term-us-study-led-by-nurses-on-humanoid-robots-in-dementia-care/2026/05

Image descriptions:
1: Seated adult reaches out to touch the hand of a brightly colored robot while others sit in chairs nearby and staff observe in the background.
2: A seated adult, with two others behind them looks at a multicolored robot.
3: Group activity in a living room with several seated adults raising their arms while a colorful humanoid robot stands in the center and an instructor demonstrates movements at the front.
4: Close-up of an adult seated in a chair, hands lifted and facing a small multicolored robot in the foreground, with a staff member partially visible behind.

We recently hosted our second annual DNP–FNP Symposium, featuring 17 scholarly poster presentations from the Doctor of Nursing Practice–Family Nurse Practitioner Class of 2026.

The evidence-based projects addressed critical gaps in health care practice and reflected the growing impact of DNP-prepared nurse practitioners in advancing innovation, improving patient outcomes and strengthening evidence-based care delivery.

The symposium also highlighted the importance of culturally responsive care through remarks from Quartz Valley Indian Tribe Chairman Leonard Lincoln and a special performance honoring Cecilli Gonzales, DNP-FNP(c), the tribe’s first graduate.

Congratulations to the Class of 2026 and the recipients of the Dean’s Awards for Innovation and Excellence in Scholarly Projects! Their work reflects the leadership and interdisciplinary collaboration needed to shape the future of health care.

Image descriptions:
1: The DNP-FNP Class of 2026 poses in front of the Betty Irene Moore Hall sign outside the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing.
2: The DNP-FNP Class of 2026 poses on steps inside Betty Irene Moore Hall.
3: The DNP-FNP Class of 2026 poses with faculty, hugging, smiling and striking silly poses.

We're thrilled to share that Associate Professor Charleen Singh has been named a Fulbright Scholar!

The Fulbright Program is one of the most selective international exchange programs in the world. Each year, a limited number of scholars are chosen for specific countries and disciplines, based on where academic and cultural exchange is expected to have the greatest impact.

Fulbright Scholars are selected not only for their credentials but also for trust. The program chooses people who can work independently, translate ideas across cultures and engage meaningfully with host communities, then bring that knowledge back home.

“This Fulbright represents more than an individual honor. It signals the growing international reach of our school and the strength of faculty like Dr. Singh, whose work advances nursing education and health scholarship across borders. We are proud of her leadership and the example she sets for global engagement," said Dean Stephen Cavanagh.

Singh’s Fulbright has taken her to Indonesia for approximately five months. From her base at the University of Indonesia, she will teach across undergraduate, graduate and PhD nursing programs, working closely with faculty in pediatrics, maternal health and family care.

We are incredibly proud of Dr. Singh and her impact on the future of nursing!

Learn more about Dr. Singh and this prestigious, global honor: https://health.ucdavis.edu/news/headlines/beyond-doubt-across-borders/2026/02

Image descriptions:
1: Charleen Singh listens to the heart of an older adult with a stethoscope in a community clinic setting.
2: Charleen Singh wears a blue t-shirt with the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing logo and a stethoscope, and also holds a young child.
3: Charleen Singh speaks with a younger and older adult in a large community setting with various other people in the background.

Doctoral student Julia Zabala never envisioned herself in a nursing PhD program, let alone researching how neighborhood greenery and historical disinvestment affect health outcomes.

But through our T32 ReACH (Research to Advance Community and Connected Health Equity) program, she’s doing just that.

ReACH trains students to pursue people-centered, equity-driven research that considers the social and environmental factors shaping health. For Julia, a formative experience was a multi-day bus tour of California’s Central Valley, where she connected data with lived histories, including her own family’s. The program’s interdisciplinary approach and focus on context are helping redefine how health research is done.

“The ReACH program absolutely has changed my trajectory within this program for the better. It’s a place where exploration is not just allowed, it’s encouraged,” she said.

Read more of Zabala's story and learn more about our ReACH program: https://health.ucdavis.edu/nursing/news/headlines/rethinking-how-health-research-is-done/2026/01

Image descriptions:
1: Six students in Cohort 2 pose on indoor steps beneath a large, colorful geometric wall art installation, with glass railings and natural light in the background.
2: Four people stand in front of a research poster display, wearing conference badges, with visible text about COVID-19 informational sources and vaccination status.
3: Eight people sit around a conference table with laptops and notebooks, with a whiteboard full of handwritten notes and diagrams behind them.

There's one month left to apply for our Doctor of Nursing Practice — Family Nurse Practitioner program! Take the final steps now to secure your place in the June 2026 cohort by applying by June 1.

Our DNP-FNP program is a practice-focused degree that prepares nurses to improve the health of individuals and populations through practice, bold system change and the translation of research into patient care and population health.

Apply here: https://health.ucdavis.edu/nursing/admissions/programs/DNP-FNP.html

Watch a recording of our latest application workshop to hear insights from our program director and admissions team: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7DCgMpVLlM

Image description: A person is helped into a white coat during a ceremony, surrounded by others in white coats standing nearby.

Nurse educators are key to growing California’s nursing workforce May 7, 2026 Photo by Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis Philip Mellijor, BSN, RN, became a clinical instructor through the Residency in Education, Teaching, And Instruction in Nursing (RETAIN) program at the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis. This Nurses' Month, hear from....