The Future of Nursing Science: The University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing’s Endowed Lectureship Symposium

Dean & Professor
University at Buffalo School of Nursing

Dr. Annette Wysocki holds a PhD from the University of Texas at Austin, and bachelor’s and master’s degrees from East Carolina University, all in nursing. She was a postdoctoral research fellow in cell biology at University of Texas Southwestern and Weill Cornell Medical College. She is currently dean of the University at Buffalo School of Nursing.

Dr. Wysocki has had a productive career as a wound healing researcher. Her research has focused on the pathophysiology of delayed healing in chronic wounds. A passion that grew out of her clinical experiences and observations working in a surgical oncology and burn unit. She pivoted from a clinical path to a career in bench-based science to use cell and molecular techniques to uncover some of the key mechanisms underlying the pathophysiology of delayed healing.

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Elizabeth Standish Gill Associate Professor of Nursing
Columbia University School of Nursing

Dr. Maxim (Max) Topaz path to science began as an army medic and a bedside nurse. A Fulbright Fellowship brought him to the University of Pennsylvania for doctoral study, and he became one of the first nurse scientists to complete a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School.

A pioneer of artificial intelligence in nursing, he created some of the field's first natural language processing tools for nurses' notes and led development of PREVENT, among the first AI-driven clinical decision support tools in home healthcare. He has authored more than 250 articles and secured over $25 million in research funding, including five NIH R01 awards. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, the American College of Medical Informatics, and the International Academy of Health Science Informatics.

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Assistant Professor
The University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing

Dr. Allison Crawford holds a PhD in Nursing Science from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at The University of Texas at Austin.

Dr. Ihle's program of research integrates digital health, artificial intelligence, and community-engaged approaches to address structural barriers to care and advance health equity across the lifespan. Dr. Ihle has published more than 30 peer-reviewed manuscripts and secured multiple intramural and extramural awards to support this work. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and was recognized as one of the Texas Nurses Association Top 25 Nurses in Texas (2025).

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CEO
Incredible Health

Dr. Iman Abuzeid is the CEO & cofounder of Incredible Health, the largest AI company powering healthcare hiring, with AI voice agents Gale and Lyn used by over 1.5 million U.S. healthcare workers and 1,500 healthcare employers. Incredible Health’s marketplace and agentic technology transforms the experience and economics of healthcare hiring, with the average healthcare employer reducing hiring times from 90 days to under 20 for permanent nurses.

Dr. Abuzeid is one of the few CEOs leading a unicorn startup, with a company valued at $1.65 billion that has raised $100M from Andreessen Horowitz, Kaiser Permanente and others. Iman's innovative leadership is recognized across dozens of awards, including TIME Magazine’s TIME100 NEXT list, Forbes Top Self-Made Women, and Forbes Most Successful American Immigrants. Dr. Abuzeid is a MD and holds an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

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