Senior Associate Dean, Professional Development and Faculty Affairs

Allison Shorten, PhD, MSc, RN, FACM, FAAN, FNAP, has accepted the position of Senior Associate Dean of Professional Development and Faculty Affairs, effective January 1, 2026. Dr. Shorten joined the UAB School of Nursing in 2016 and in addition to her role with the Office of Interprofessional Curriculum, she was Interim Chair of the Department of Acute, Chronic and Continuing Care from 2019 to 2020. She  is Executive Director of the School’s Women and Children Health Initiative, a role she will continue. Dr. Shorten has published more than 70 peer-reviewed publications and delivered more than 120 presentations in local, regional, national and international scientific meetings. She is a member of the Expert Panel on Maternal and Infant Health for the American Academy of Nursing and has served on the National Meeting Planning Committee and Professional Development Committee for the National Academies of Practice, among other national service. She has served as a reviewer, associate editor, and on the editorial board of more than 30 peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Shorten is a Senior Scientist in the UAB Center for Women’s Reproductive Health and UAB Center for Interprofessional Education and Simulation.

Dr. Shorten has been a principal investigator, collaborator, and consultant on extramural federal, foundation and other grants totaling more than $13.2 million. She was in the inaugural cohort of the UAB Chairs Leadership Academy in 2024-2025, received the UAB Provost’s Award for Faculty Excellence in Learning in a Team Environment in 2020, and was in the 2017-2018 class of the UAB Healthcare Leadership Academy.  She is a Distinguished Fellow of the National Academies of Practice, Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and Fellow in the Australian College of Midwives. Dr. Shorten earned her BSN, and MS in Public Health and Nutrition, from the University of Wollongong in New South Wales, Australia, in 1989 and 1994, respectively, and earned her PhD in Nursing and Midwifery from the University of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia, in 2006. (Please note: the text in this announcement is from a UAB community announcement email.)