The UT Austin School of Nursing is celebrating the success of doctoral graduate Namuun Clifford, PhD, RN, FNP-C, who was honored with the 2026 Excellence in Advancing Nursing Science PhD Dissertation award by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN).
Clifford, who earned her doctorate from the School of Nursing in 2026, received the recognition for her study, “Toward Precision Digital Health in Cardiovascular Disease: Characterizing Engagement Phenotypes and Trajectories to Improve Outcomes.” Her PhD advisor was Dean Kavita Radhakrishnan, PhD, MSEE, RN, FAAN, FAHA.
School of Nursing Dean Kavita Radhakrishnan served as a mentor to Clifford during her time at UT.
“Namuun is one of the most outstanding research scholars I have had the privilege to mentor,” Radhakrishnan said. “Her dissertation brings fresh insight into how digital health tools can better serve people living with cardiovascular disease. As her PhD advisor, I am especially proud of the curiosity, rigor, and commitment to patients she brings to her work. As dean, I am delighted to see her scholarship receive this well-deserved national recognition.”
Dr. Clifford is a Mongolian American primary care nurse practitioner at the San Francisco VA and a postdoctoral fellow in the National Clinician Scholars Program at the University of California, San Francisco.
She brings more than 14 years of clinical experience across primary care, telehealth, community health, and acute care settings. Her research focuses on equitable precision digital health for chronic disease prevention and management, using informatics, wearable data, and advanced analytic methods to inform more personalized and adaptive approaches to care.
She is also the founder of the Mongolian American Health Institute, a national nonprofit dedicated to advancing health equity in Mongolian American communities through research, education, advocacy, and community partnerships. Her work is driven by a commitment to bridging clinical practice, data science, and community engagement to improve chronic disease care for underserved populations.
Visit the AACN website to learn more about the 2026 winners.