ANIA is pleased to present the slate of candidates for the upcoming national election. ANIA members will elect:
- National Treasurer
- National Regional Director
- Leadership Succession Committee: 1 position
All candidates profiles can be viewed below. The newly elected leaders will assume their role on the Board of Directors on January 1, 2026.
| Voting begins | 10/20/2025 |
| Voting ends | 11/10/2025 |
| Candidates notified of results | 11/17/2025 |
| New Board Members are required to attend ANIA Virtual Retreat | 1/23-24 /2026 |
| New Board Members introduced to Membership at Annual Conference in Boston, MA (It is an expectation that newly elected board members will be present at the Annual Conference. Financial support is provided.) | 3/26-28/2026 |
National Treasurer Candidates
Joseph M Cook, DNP, RN, NI-BC, FACHE
VP, Chief Nursing Informatics Officer, Baptist Health System
Joseph Cook, DNP, RN, NI-BC, FACHE is the current Vice President and Chief Nursing Informatics Officer at Baptist Health System in Central Alabama. He maintains executive responsibility for all nursing technology, clinical application services, and virtual patient care services. Joseph holds a bachelor’s degree from Auburn University, a master’s degree from the University of South Alabama, and a Doctor of Nursing Practice in Executive Nursing Administration from the University of South Alabama, as well as ANCC board certification in Nursing Informatics and a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. He currently serves on the national Board of Directors for the American Nursing Informatics Association as Treasurer and prior as the Regional Director of the Central Region of ANIA since 2021.
It has been an honor to serve the members of ANIA on the Board of Directors since 2021, first, as the Regional Director for the Central Region of ANIA and currently as the National Treasurer since 2025. In this capacity and with my fellow Board members, I have helped drive the strategic vision of the organization, expand member services offered, and guided the allocation of revenue and reduction of expenses to ensure growth as well as long-term sustainability for our organization.
Specifically in my role as Regional Director for the Central Region of ANIA between 2022-2024, I led the formation of two new ANIA Chapters in the Gulf Coast Region (Mississippi and Louisiana) and Oklahoma, helped expand and assign monetary incentives to the ANIA Distinguished Chapter Award program, and helped plan and establish the inaugural Chapter Leaders Pre-conference session at our national conference.
In my professional role, I have executive responsibility for preparing, executing, and monitoring the budgetary activity of multiple departments across a multi-hospital health system which has guided me thus far in the ANIA Treasurer role. Since becoming Treasurer in January of 2025, I have utilized this experience and worked with my fellow Board members to implement new member benefits such as the ANIA Journal Club, website platform upgrades for a better user experience, and expanded educational opportunities, in a fiscally responsible manner. I am running for the opportunity to continue in my current role as Treasurer in order to provide the needed experience and continuity in this important role.
Nicole Aneesa Mohiuddin, DNP, MS, RN, NI-BC, FHIMSS
Senior Information Technology Analyst / Nurse Informaticist, UVA Health
Dr. Nicole Mohiuddin has enjoyed a broad-based informatics career that has included leadership roles within the provider, vendor, and consultant arenas of health care. For over 25 years, Ms. Mohiuddin’ s career has focused on championing superior patient care through broadly based, innovative healthcare technology. Her informatics roles have included serving as a Director of Clinical Informatics for a multi-hospital health system, Manager of Strategic Marketing for a medical devices corporation, and Senior Informatics Consultant with a Fortune 500 company. Her clinical roles have included serving as a charge nurse for a busy 36-bed medical-surgical unit and as a teletriage nurse. She received her BSN and Masters of Health Systems Management from Rush University (Chicago, IL) and her DNP from James Madison University (Harrisonburg, VA). She currently works in the Department of Business Systems within UVA Health (a health system consisting of an academic medical center and 3 community hospitals located across central Virginia). Her current work projects entail leadership for the support, maintenance and implementation of payroll, staffing/scheduling and workforce productivity analytics systems. She also manages the delivery, design, development and implementation of training programs tailored to clinical/patient care services, managers and administrative staff across the health system. She has held board positions for the American Nursing Informatics Association (Central Region Director – 8 years) and the Greater Illinois Chapter of HIMSS (Director of Informatics – 2 years).
I am running for ANIA Treasurer because I believe sound financial practices are the backbone of any successful organization. A good treasurer needs a blend of financial acumen (expertise in budgeting and reporting), integrity (honesty and ethical conduct), strong organizational and analytical skills (for managing records and spotting risks), and excellent communication abilities to explain complex finances to non-financial stakeholders. The ANIA Treasurer role is of great interest to me as I can bring my solid understanding of basic accounting, budgeting and payroll practices to the role. I am highly adept at communication skills and would be very comfortable keeping the ANIA board and members informed about the organization’s financial health and sustainability. I am also able to present clear, concise financial information into language the board and members can understand.
Creating a budget requires a team effort. I will work closely with the ANIA Board to create an annual operating budget, as well as budgets for new programs or long-term projects. I possess a strong ethical compass which will help to ensure integrity and transparency while assisting with preparing financial reports and complying with policies and laws (e.g., IRS 990 filings). I also will champion strong internal controls to prevent misuse of funds. In addition, I bring strategic thinking, which goes beyond numbers by offing financial insight to support mission-driving decisions. This is important as I can help evaluate long-term financial sustainability, not just short-term budgets, while making sure resources align with ANIA’s strategic priorities.
Having been a previous ANIA board member, I fully understand and believe in ANIA’s purpose and will be able to apply financial decisions thru a mission-first lens. I care deeply about ANIA’s mission, and I want to ensure that our resources are used wisely and transparently. I believe every dollar should reflect our mission and values, and I will work closely with the board to ensure sound budgeting, clear reporting, and ethical stewardship of our resources. Throughout my years as board member, I was a strong proponent of ANIA. I will continue to promote the ANIA national conference, webinars, certification programs to nurses, students, employers and the public. Currently, I am working with Virginia HIMSS to design their first ever Nursing Informatics symposium (being held in November 2026). I would be honored to bring my experience to this important role.
National Regional Director Candidates
Erin Dickerman, MBA, RN, NI-BC
Corporate Director, Clinical Informatics, Community Hospital Corporation
As a board certified nurse informaticist with over 20 years of experience, I serve as the Corporate Director of Clinical Informatics at Community Hospital Corporation, where I leverage my expertise to drive improvements in patient care by integrating cutting-edge technology and data analysis in rural communities around the country. I'm involved in mentoring and growing the knowledge and skills of the informaticists that work at the facilities we support. Additionally, I've just launched a Virtual Clinical Informatics Director program to offer support services for facilities that are in the process of evaluating and optimizing their current EHR and may not have a developed informatics resource. I've had the opportunity to work with a variety of EHRs including Epic, Cerner, Eclipsys, Medhost, and CPN. My goal is to ensure that healthcare providers are able to efficiently and effectively use technology in order to reduce documentation burden and enhance the patient care experience. I served on the DFW ANIA Board of directors for 8 years, leading the development of their annual Clinical Informatics Conference starting in 2013 with Liz Johnson and other DFW area leaders. I'm an active member of the HIMSS Nursing Informatics community, a former member of AMIA, and am currently an active member of the ANI Policy Committee.
Additionally, as an Adjunct Faculty member at Texas Woman's University, I connect real-world experience with academic principles to educate the next generation of health informatics professionals.
My career in informatics began within large healthcare organizations, where I managed rather large teams dedicated to the full lifecycle of electronic health records (EHRs). These teams, often comprising 12 or more people, supported diverse hospital specialties with a constant stream of projects, including upgrades, user support, and new implementations. This experience gave me a deep appreciation for the robust support systems available in large-scale healthcare. However, my perspective shifted dramatically when I became the Director of Clinical Informatics at Community Hospital Corporation (CHC). In this role, I work with numerous smaller, primarily rural health organizations. Here, I've seen a single informaticist often shoulder the immense burden that previously required multiple large teams.
For the past two years, my work at CHC has involved mentoring these dedicated informatics professionals. Through this, I've seen a significant lack of support and professional development for informatics within rural health. Rural facilities often use the same technologies or face similar regulatory demands as larger hospitals but operate with a fraction of the staff and limited budget. These individuals are responsible for everything from EHR support to point-of-care testing, AI tools, and CMS reporting—all with limited resources.
As both an informatics leader and an adjunct professor, I am committed to addressing this gap. I want to help ANIA expand the conversation to include rural health organizations. We need to move beyond discussions centered on the "big three" EHRs and acknowledge the challenges faced by rural hospitals, many of which use older systems with limited innovation capabilities but are still required to perform complex data analytics. I believe we must actively seek representation from Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs), Rural Emergency Hospitals (REHs), and other small rural acute care hospitals. My goal is to champion the needs of these underserved facilities and help these informaticists grow, ensuring we retain these vital roles in our communities. ANIA has an exceptional network of educators and innovators, and I want to be a resource who can help these professionals thrive.
Charla Buford Johnson, DNP, RN, NI-BC, ONC, FNAON
Director, Clinical Information Systems and Nursing Informatics, Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System
A 37-year nursing career with a pursuit of lifelong learning. My initial licensure as a registered nurse was with a diploma and furthered my education with a baccalaureate, master’s in nursing with focus in nursing education, and to a terminal degree of doctor in nursing practice with a focus in nursing leadership and education. In addition, maintain specialty certifications in both orthopaedic nursing and nursing informatics and recognized as a Fellow in the National Association of Orthopaedic Nurses (FNAON). Currently serves as the Director of Clinical Information Systems and Nursing Informatics at Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System across Louisiana and Mississippi. In this role, I am responsible for order transmittal, clinical documentation, promoting interoperability of the electronic health record as well as systemness integration of evidence-based practice and technology into the documentation paths and workflows for clinicians. Roles and contributions within regional and national ANIA leadership include the Inaugural President of the Gulf Coast Chapter of ANIA in 2022-2023, Immediate Past President (2024), and the Education Chair (2025). National committee service with ANIA involves the Research and EBP committee (2024-2025), authorship for the Nursing Informatics Journal, and podium and poster presentations at the annual conferences, as well as served on the Education Planning Committee for the 2025 conference in New Orleans.
Spanning more than thirty-seven years, my nursing career has been marked by continuous growth, achievement, and a strong commitment to advancing the profession across multiple specialties. Active involvement in professional nursing organizations and volunteerism have been central to my leadership journey.
Since 2019, my engagement with the American Nursing Informatics Association (ANIA) has been pivotal. As System Director of Clinical Information Systems and Nursing Informatics for a major health system in Louisiana and Mississippi, I recognize the importance of association membership for personal and professional growth. My contributions include founding the ANIA Gulf Coast Chapter in 2022—where I served as the inaugural Chapter President—and coordinating the 2024 virtual symposium to enhance regional support and networking. My national committee service with ANIA involves the Research and EBP committee, authorship for the Nursing Informatics Journal, and podium and poster presentations at the annual conferences, as well as served on the Education Planning Committee for the 2025 conference in New Orleans. Currently, I serve as an Education Chair for the Gulf Coast Chapter.
My foundation in nursing began in musculoskeletal and orthopaedic health, significantly shaping my early career. Graduating from the SmithBucklin Leadership Institute in 2019 further strengthened my leadership skills. I have served on national boards, including the Orthopaedic Nurse Certification Board (ONCB) as Director, Vice President, and President (2007–2016), the National Association of Orthopaedic Nurses (NAON) as Director, President-elect (2020–21), and President (2021–22). Additional board involvement includes the Movement is Life Executive Board (since 2018), the Osteoarthritis Action Alliance Healthcare Advisory Provider Panel (2022–present), and the PCORI OPTIONS Professional Stakeholder Advisory Board (2024–present).
Advocacy remains at the core of my professional purpose. Through the Academy of Medical Surgical Nurses Legislative Committee and participation in Hill Days in Washington, D.C., I support workforce safety, development, and health equity.
My work has been recognized with multiple honors, including Nightingale awards from the Louisiana State Nurse Association Foundation—Nurse of the Year (2010), Outstanding Community Achievement (2015), Nurse Researcher of the Year (2017), Top 100 Nurses in Louisiana (2023)—and the NAON Distinguished Service award (2025). I have a strong belief system and sense of responsibility that allow me to lead effectively. Motivated by evidence-based practice, I am dedicated to mentoring others and advancing nursing through strategic leadership, informatics, technology stewardship and integration. I have unique skills that allow me to mentor and encourage others through positivity.
Leadership Succession Committee Candidates
Jason Richard Thrift, PhD, RN, CHSE, NI-BC
Assistant Professor, Clemson University
Jason R. Thrift is an Assistant Professor at the Clemson University School of Nursing with 11 years of experience in nursing education. He is a Senator for CBSHS of the Clemson University Faculty Senate and a member of the Policy Committee and Global Engagement Committee member for CBSHS. He is a Faculty Scholar at the Clemson University School of Health Research (CUSHR). He worked for 26 years at AnMed Health Medical Center in Med-Surg, Nursing Informatics, and Patient Placement. His current research interests include virtual reality simulation for patient treatment modalities and student nurse education, and artificial intelligence/machine learning software. He is a Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator (CHSE), a Board Certified Informatics Nurse (NI-BC), a member of the Mental Health America, Anderson County Board, and President of the South Carolina Nurses Foundation (SCNF), supporting nurses and student nurses across the state. He is an affiliate member of the research team for the Clemson University Virtual Reality and Nature (VRN) Lab through Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management (PRTM) and the Center for Addiction and Mental Health Research (CAMHR) through the Psychology Department
I've worked extensively with informatics related topics since my first days working as a nurse on a unit, being a super user for new clinical documentation systems, becoming a member of the nursing informatics department at my hospital where I worked, and progressing through various roles, such as simulation coordinator, educator, leading me to becoming a researcher with a focus on informatics related topics, such as virtual reality and artificial intelligence. For this reason I feel I can assist in developing a board that provides professionals with a similar focus on technology to educate healthcare professionals on the benefits of up and coming resources designed to augment and protect the nursing workforce.
Electronic Voting / Ballots
Ballots will be sent to ANIA members who are eligible to vote via email on October 20, 2025. Please watch your inbox for an email ballot from tom.greene@aniahq.org via SurveyMonkey (member@surveymonkeyuser.com). The deadline to cast your vote is November 10, 2025.