Leadership at NANN

Leanne Nantais-Smith is Associate Clinical Professor and Director of Advanced Practice and Graduate Certificate Programs at Wayne State University (WSU) College of Nursing (CON) in Detroit, Michigan. She is also a certified Neonatal Nurse Practitioner (NNP) and Coordinator of the NNP Specialty. Leanne completed a Master of Science in Nursing with NNP specialty in 1989 and Doctor of Philosophy in 1997, both from WSU. Leanne is a member of multiple organizations, including NANN/NANN-AP, Sigma Theta Tau, American Association of Nurse Practitioners , and the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF). She was inducted as a Fellow of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) in June 2022. She has multiple presentations (peer-reviewed and invited) and publications in advanced practice neonatal topics and has worked on several HRSA Advanced Nursing Education Workforce grants to expand the APRN workforce. She is currently a co-investigator on a HRSA ANEW ($2.6m) grant related to investigating new models of APRN primary care clinical education. Her educational interests focus on NNP clinical education and mentoring doctoral students with implementation of quality improvement initiatives. Her research interest focuses on identifying noninvasive biomarkers of necrotizing enterocolitis.

Dr. Snapp is a neonatal nurse practitioner and member of the Children’s National in Washington, DC, NICU team working in Virginia and is also an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Dr. Snapp serves on several boards in the metropolitan DC area including the steering committee for the state collaborative. She is often involved in multiple activities on the national level as well. Dr. Snapp has had a career-long interest in neonatal resuscitation both as instructor and author. She has served NANN in many capacities for over the last 30 years and has authored several publications. Dr. Snapp enjoys creating new research projects and mentoring new nurses and NPs.

Professional Affiliation,
Norton Children/s Medical Group

Leann Baker, DNP, APRN, NNP-BC, C-ONQS is an Assistant Professor at the University of Louisville; her faculty position is a joint appointment between the Schools of Medicine and Nursing. Some of her duties include track coordinator for the Neonatal Nurse Practitioner program and leader of a team focused on the development and implementation of an Interprofessional Collaborative Practice curriculum for the Department of Pediatrics. Leann has been practicing as an NNP since 2009, and her current clinical service is for Norton Children’s Medical Group – Neonatology based in Louisville, KY. She is also the leader of the Neonatal Advanced Practice group.  Leann has previously served two terms as a member of the NNP Excellence Awards Committee.  Leann currently serves on the Kentucky Perinatal Quality Collaborative (KyPQC) as a member of the steering committee and a lead in the neonatal work group. She has been a member of the KyPQC annual conference planning committee for three years.  Her passions are in quality improvement and patient safety, leadership (specifically servant leadership), education, and neonatal palliative care.  Leann is excited to serve on the Council and be an advocate for neonatal care.

Professional Affiliation,
University of Pittsburgh

Tracey Bell is an associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing, currently serving as the coordinator of the Neonatal Nurse Practitioner Program. She graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill with both her BSN and MSN. Her DNP was obtained from Duke University. In addition to her academic role, she has over 20 years of clinical experience as a NNP, most recently at Emory University in Atlanta and UPMC in Pittsburgh.

She served on the NANN Committee for the 2023 Revision of Curriculum Guidelines and Education Competencies for Neonatal Nurse Practitioner Programs. In 2023, she was awarded the NANN APRN Excellence Award.

Dr Bell has published several manuscripts and has presented both at both national and international conferences. She is on the editorial board for the journal Advances in Neonatal Care, serving as the section editor for “Case Study of the Month".

Dr. Harris knew she was called to become a neonatal nurse and care for critically ill neonates even before completing nursing school at the University of Louisiana at Monroe in 1999. She began her nursing career at LSU Health Science in Shreveport, Louisiana. After ten years collaborating with the extraordinary neonatal nurse practitioners in her unit, she decided to pursue her Master of Science in Nursing degree from Northwestern State University. While in school, Dr. Harris was inducted into Sigma Theta Tau. Dr. Harris and her family moved to Memphis, Tennessee, in 2012 where she began work as a neonatal nurse practitioner at LeBonheur Children’s Hospital (LBCH). The mentorships experienced during her time there were instrumental in honing her clinician and leader skills. In 2017, she accepted an inaugural position as one of two NNPs at a Level III NICU with an active delivery service in Tupelo, MS, and established the NNP role in that setting. Many NNPs have since followed her example. 2018 was a busy year for Dr. Harris as she graduated from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) with her Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree and was selected for the second cohort of the NANN/Synova Associates Emerging Leader Fellowship. Since that time, Dr. Harris has presented at NANN annual conferences as both a podium and poster presenter, served as conference symposium planning committee member, served as volunteer faculty for the UTHSC College of Nursing, and performed as a manuscript reviewer for Advances of Neonatal Care. In addition, she is currently serving as editor of the NANN E-News bi-monthly newsletter. She has authored several articles for the newsletter in addition to contributing book chapters to neonatal texts. Dr. Harris’ current clinical practice occurs in Level IV NICUs throughout the country. Her practice continues to demonstrate the passion for neonatal care, especially practicing from a trauma-informed framework and empowering future clinicians and leaders of our profession through education and professional development.

Professional Affiliation,
UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital

Professional Affiliation,
Duke University School of Nursing

Desi Newberry is an associate professor and director of the neonatal nurse practitioner program at the Duke University School of Nursing. Dr. Newberry is a board-certified NNP with over 20 years of experience. She currently practices at the University of North Carolina Newborn Critical Care Center the Duke University Intensive Care Nursery.

Dr. Newberry graduated from Duke University with her DNP in 2012, having previously earned her MSN from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her BSN from Michigan State University. She is also a Certified Health Simulation Educator (CHSE).

Dr. Newberry contributes to both nursing associations and nursing publications. She is proud to have been selected for the 2023 NANN Leadership Award. She served on the NANN Committee for the 2023 Revision of Curriculum Guidelines and Education Competencies for Neonatal Nurse Practitioner Programs to revise the Curriculum Guidelines and Education Competencies for Neonatal Nurse Practitioner Programs. She also serves as a section editor for the neonatal nursing journal Advances in Neonatal Care.

She has authored and co-authored three book chapters and over 30 articles in peer-reviewed, national neonatal nursing journals. Her research currently focuses on improving health equity for all neonates through the examination of diversity in NNP students and faculty, the use of simulation for implicit bias training, and working toward the elimination of inappropriate labeling in the NICU.

Professional Affiliation,
Hershey Medical Center

Heather Stephens is a Neonatal Clinical Nurse Specialist and is the Neonatal Clinical Nurse Practice Leader at Penn State Health Hershey Children’s Hospital. She received her Diploma of Nursing at Lancaster Health Alliance, undergraduate at Penn State University and Doctorate of Nursing Practice at Rush University. Heather has been a nurse for 24 years, 22 of those as a neonatal nurse.

She is currently a member of NANN-AP for a second term, an item question writer for the American Association of Critical Care Nurses for the neonatal CNS exam, an exam reviewer and recently elected to the Cribs for Kids Advisory Board.  Heather holds a strong belief that in order to advance neonatal nursing practice, there must be a bridge from evidence-based care to the advanced practice nurses and bedside nurses for them to pursue, seek and implement best practices.  Heather’s interests include developmental care, reduction in BPD, promotion of the use of human milk and safe sleep practices.