July 31, 2025
Congratulations to Assistant Professors Krystal Pendergraft-Horne, DNP, FNP-C, RN, and Tracy Vernon-Platt, DNP, ANP-BC, who have been selected as the sixth cohort of Anne Belcher Interprofessional Faculty Scholars.
Pendergraft-Horne and Vernon-Platt join scholars Jennifer Alderman, Ashley Bryant, Jean Davison, Ashley Kellish, Carrie Palmer, JoAn Stanek, Elizabeth Stone, Elizabeth Walters, Kandyce Brennan and Grace Wu, who have participated in leadership development and mentorship through the generous support from Anne Belcher, MN, PhD, BSN’67, ANEF, FAAN.
Belcher, who continues to teach at Johns Hopkins University in an interprofessional Master’s of Education in the Health Professions program, says her own experiences have shaped her commitment to fostering interprofessional collaboration. “I am delighted to congratulate Krystal and Tracy on their receipt of the 2025 Anne Belcher Interprofessional Faculty scholarships,” she said. “My own interprofessional education and practice experiences throughout the course of my nursing career have inspired me, as a grateful and devoted alumna of the UNC School of Nursing, to support such wonderful opportunities for UNC faculty and their students.”
The Anne Belcher Interprofessional Faculty Scholars Program for Nursing was created to provide opportunities for selected faculty in the UNC School of Nursing to shape the world of interprofessional education (IPE) and to create scholarly work others will look to as evidence for the power of IPE in the future.
During the two-year program, Scholars will participate in a targeted educational leadership program to develop, implement and evaluate an interprofessional scholarly product, as well as disseminate this work through presentations and publications. Jennifer Alderman, Clinical Professor & Interprofessional Education and Practice Director, along with Meg Zomorodi, Associate Provost for Interprofessional Health Initiatives and Director of the Office of Interprofessional Education and Practice (IPEP), will connect the scholars to mentors who will help them advance their projects.
“As the Interprofessional Education and Practice (IPEP) Director at Carolina Nursing, I am thrilled to welcome Dr. Pendergraft-Horne and Dr. Vernon-Platt to our esteemed group of Belcher Interprofessional Faculty Scholars. Their passion and innovative vision for interprofessional collaboration are truly inspiring, and I look forward to partnering with them as they lead the way in advancing team-based education and practice across health professions.” -Jennifer Alderman, PhD, MSN, RN, CNL, CNE, CHSE, NEA-BC
Pendergraph-Horne is enhancing interprofessional education at Carolina by expanding a collaborative elective on diabetes care, co-taught with a faculty member from the Eshelman School of Pharmacy. The course brings together students from nursing, pharmacy, and medicine to explore diabetes management across the lifespan. Building on this foundation, Pendergraph-Horne is developing simulation modules that integrate high-fidelity manikins and virtual reality (VR) technology. These immersive scenarios will focus on key areas such as medication management, patient education, and social determinants of health—promoting collaborative problem-solving and a deeper understanding of interprofessional roles.
Additionally, Pendergraph-Horne will explore using a 360-degree video to create “day in the life” VR experiences from the perspectives of nurses, physicians, and pharmacists. These low-cost, scalable tools will promote empathy, role clarity, and team-based care. This work will advance best practices in simulation-based interprofessional education and elevate the learning experiences for health professions students.
As part of her interprofessional education efforts at Carolina Nursing, Vernon-Platt has led several initiatives to enhance student learning through collaboration across disciplines. She co-leads the Interprofessional Geriatric Experience, partnering with schools across campus to deliver a rich, interdisciplinary learning opportunity. Over the past three years, she has integrated the Arts and Humanities into the program to deepen students’ understanding of geriatric care.
Vernon-Platt also contributed to the development of the Telehealth Interprofessional Education program launched during the COVID-19 pandemic and currently mentors a master’s student conducting qualitative analysis of student feedback from the experience. As course coordinator for NURS 824: Advanced Concepts in the Clinical Care of Older Adults, she leads simulation-based experiences on goals of care and age-related sensory and functional changes—both of which offer opportunities for interprofessional expansion.
“I am so excited to have the Office of Interprofessional Education and Practice work with the current cohort of Anne Belcher Interprofessional Faculty Scholars. Through Anne’s vision and donor support, we have created more than a program that supports faculty—we have created a partnership,” said Zomorodi. “The benefits of this program have been far reaching—from offering support to the scholars to the innovations designed benefiting students and improving the health of populations through a team-based approach.
Since the program was established in 2019, the mentorship and leadership development opportunities afforded by the Anne Belcher Interprofessional Faculty Scholars Program have played a key role in advancing interprofessional and nursing education at UNC and gaining national recognition in this area.
Val Howard, dean of the UNC School of Nursing, underscored the vital role of interprofessional education and practice in advancing modern healthcare. “Collaboration and innovation are essential to improving patient outcomes,” she said. “The Anne Belcher Interprofessional Faculty Scholars Program equips our faculty to lead the way in shaping the future of healthcare. I am deeply grateful to Anne Belcher for her visionary support and extend my warmest congratulations to Krystal and Tracy.”
