Dr. Erika Froelicher, Emeritus Professor, Department of Physiological Nursing, School of Nursing and Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, School of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, CA, USA
For over 30 years, Dr. Erika Froelicher has made significant contributions to the fields of nursing, education and public health specifically epidemiology & biostatistics.  With advanced degrees in nursing, public health, and epidemiology, her experience includes that of emergency room and psychiatric nurse, cardiovascular clinical nurse, cardiac rehabilitation specialist, consultant, health center director, researcher, epidemiologist, and university professor and department chair.

As a consultant, she has advised hospitals, foundations, businesses, universities, and governments in the areas of nursing and cardiac care locally, nationally and internationally.  Her research has focused on physical activity & exercise testing and prescription; efficacy of smoking cessation interventions, depression and social support in cardiac populations.  Her research of the Women’s Initiative for Nonsmoking (WINS) that provides research and public health support for smoking cessation among women.
A distinguished scientist, author and lecturer, she has presented papers and given invited lectures on coronary disease prevention, rehabilitation, smoking cessation and disease management to more than 60 national and international groups. Her articles have appeared in such publications as New England Journal of Medicine, Heart & Lung, American Journal of Nursing, Journal of the American Medical Association, Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation, Circulation, Nursing Research, to name just a few.
She has co-authored and subsequently served as editor of the graduate school textbook Cardiac Nursing now in its sixth edition with translated versions in Italian and Portuguese; and chapters and books in cardiac care.  She is a member of task forces on preventive cardiology, committee on exercise and rehabilitation, and critical care nursing. She has published about 300 publications in peer reviewed journals on topics such a physical activity and health, smoking cessation, and depression in cardiovascular populations, as well as research methodology. She has actively engaged in developing Evidence Based Practice Guidelines and Health Policy changes. Most recently she serves on the Institute of Medicine Standing Committee on Disability. She serves on the editorial boards as Associate Editor for the Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation, Heart and Lung, Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, among others.  She is a reviewer for Preventive Medicine, American Journal of Cardiology, Journal of the American College of Cardiology, and the New England Journal of Medicine.
Dr. Froelicher is a fellow of the American Heart Association and the American Association of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation, and the American Academy of Nursing and the European Society of Cardiology. She has received the Individual National Research Award (1989) from the National Institute of Health and the Book of the Year Award for Cardiac Nursing (1990) from the American Nurses’ Association, as well as the Media Award for Tobacco Free Nurses in 2005 from the Academy of Nurses; and the Mentor of the Year award from the Doctoral Student Class of 2005 and 2010.
Dr. Froelicher has founded or participated in the development of doctoral education programs internationally; such as at the University of Basel, Switzerland 1999-2000.  During 2006-2007 Dr. Froelicher worked with the University of Jordan, Amman, to set up a PhD nursing program by invitation from the Jordanian government and as a Fulbright Fellow to the University of Jordan.  Similarly, she provided research expertise to the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University; as well as several Universities in Thailand, and Japan.
She worked with doctoral students from the University of Baghdad, Iraq who came on a fellowship to the California School of Health Science in 2012. She provided consultation and support as a Visiting Professor to the Sultan Qabosh University in Muscat Oman in 2012; and most recently served as Professor at the Sifa University, Health Sciences School in Izmir, Turkey. Was appointed Professor at the Institute of Nursing, University of Vienna, Austria Fall semester of 2014 to teach quantitative research methods in the doctoral program and cardiovascular nursing in the masters’ program. She was appointed Professor of Nursing, Shifa University, Izmir Turkey, to help build the research agenda for the Health Science and served the campus from 2014 to 2017. Most recently, she was an appointment to Professor, College of Nursing, Shifa-Tameer-e-Millat University to assist and teach in the newly started doctoral program in Nursing, specifically teach the advanced quantitative research methods course and systematic review course. As well, as serve on dissertation committes of doctoral students.

Dr. Froelicher is a respected internationally as teacher, consultant, administrator and scientist.

Professor Donna Fitzsimons is currently Head of the School of Nursing & Midwifery & Member of Senate in Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland. She is a Chair of the European Society of Cardiology Advocacy Committee (2022-24) and past ESC Board Member (2014-2020) where she led Patient Involvement activities and pioneered the establishment of the ESC Patient Form. She was previously Chair of the ESC Council on Cardiovascular Nursing & Allied Professionals (2011-2013) and led its transition to become an Association within the Society in 2020. As a member of the ESC Clinical Practice Guidelines Committee (2014-20), she led work on involving patients in Guideline development and review, as well as enhancing nurses' role in Guideline Implementation.

As a researcher, Donna’s work focuses on enhancing cardiovascular care pathways and treatment outcomes by developing an enhanced understanding of patient and family experience and needs. She currently leads national and international research projects in cardiovascular prevention, heart failure and arrhythmia management. She sits on several grant funding committees and editorial boards. Her research influences practice and she is highly (90K+) cited, with more than 200 academic papers and a h-Index of 51.

Within her tenure, the capacity and reputation of the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Queen’s University Belfast has been enhanced, it is firmly in the top 100 Schools of Nursing Worldwide and was ranked 4^th in the UK in the 2022 Research Assessment Exercise. Professor Fitzsimons' interdisciplinary working and professional leadership demonstrates her commitment to improving the quality of patient care through education and research.

 Clinical and academic nurses from all over the world.

Theme 1: Nursing Education
Knowledge is critically essential in nursing, through which lies the difference between a patient’s life or death. So, there is a crucial need to produce competent, confident, critical-thinking nurses with the ability to lead and make appropriate clinical decisions of the best current evidence. Nowadays, along with the rapid advances in health sciences and technology, the nursing profession should not only emphasize continuous education but also work hard toward specialization in nursing care. This is more important than ever because of the paradigm shift from conventional teaching to technology-based learning especially post COVID-19 Pandemic. For that reason nursing educators and decision-makers are challenged to revisit the quality of nursing education regarding the main components; students, faculty, and content pertinent to undergraduate and graduate education. This would not be achieved unless an improvement-based, internally-centered, and ongoing assessment process is carried out on regular basis.

Theme 2: Community and Gerontological Nursing Health
Community health nursing is the science and art of promoting and preserving the health, and prolonging the life of people. Community health nurses often form close relationships with people in various settings such as health departments, schools, jails, religious institutions, businesses, and government agencies. Recently, there are various emerging public health concerns that challenge global health and safety. Poor health practices can also be found in the community. Currently, the Covid-19 pandemic and wars impose a severe burden on community health nurses. At the same time, the number of senior citizens is growing worldwide and there are many physical and psychological health challenges of aging adults that face community health nurses. Community health nurses serve as agents of healthful changes in communities to provide healthcare for all.

Theme 3: Nursing Management and Administration
Today’s nursing context is made up of nurses from different cultural, educational, and clinical backgrounds. This diversity becomes more evident due to the presence of other factors such as differences in nurses' attitudes, expectations, and work habits. Nowadays, nursing shortage, increased workload, limited resources, and reductions in healthcare budgets are also evident challenges. Collectively, these conditions have challenged nursing leaders and managers and put them in continuous demanding situations where making decisions have become more difficult and critical. Therefore, developing nurses with leadership and managerial skills could help them adopt new leadership styles, improve work productivity, reduce conflict, maintain a high quality of patient care, and maximize the participative decision-making process.

Theme 4: Oncology Nursing
As health care delivery changes and new scientific discoveries are integrated into cancer care, oncology nurses are at the heart of the health team in eradicating the increasing global burden of cancer. They are currently practicing in a variety of roles and settings. Oncology nurses are striving to update their competencies because they are challenged daily to meet the numerous needs of patients and their families as a result of cancer diagnosis and its treatment. Additionally, oncology nurses are at the forefront of the effort to enhance the quality of life for patients and their families throughout the illness trajectory. There are various insights across the globe to be shared in oncology care that could convey recent scientific and clinical advances and areas of development in policy, management, communications, and education.

Theme 5: Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing
Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing is an art and science dedicated to the promotion and delivery of psychiatric and mental health care. Assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of human responses to real or potential mental health problems and/or psychiatric diseases are performed by Psychiatric Mental Health nurses. Psychiatric Mental Health nurses work with clients across the life span and in a wide variety of health care settings. The global pandemic of COVID-19 and other current health challenges imposed a severe psychological burden on many people worldwide. The burden of depression, schizophrenia, and other psychiatric disorders are increasing worldwide. Psychiatric Mental Health nurses assessed and responded to the pandemic's requirements, placing patient care ahead of their healthcare concerns. The challenge will be to maintain innovative changes and benefit from current experiences to prepare for any future crises. Future research fields include nursing flexibility in times of crisis, new models for providing care in mental health nursing using technology, and a more adaptable environment structure to respond to the complex needs of patients with various mental disorders.

Theme 6: Maternal and Child Health Nursing Practice
Improving the well-being of mothers, children, and childbearing families is one of the major focuses of nursing practice. Their well-being will determine the health of the next generation and can help in the prediction of future challenges for families, communities, and the health care system. The primary goal of maternal and child health nursing is the promotion and maintenance of optimal family health. The role of maternal and child health nursing is challenging as pregnancy or childhood illness can be a stressful situation and can change the whole family life. Globally, there is an increasing concern in maternal and child health care as millions of pregnant women, new mothers, and children experience severe illness or death each year from preventable or treatable conditions. Maternal and child health nursing address a variety of issues such as health behaviors and practices, illness and wellness, and quality of life of women, children, and families.

Theme 7: Emergency and Critical care Nursing
The recent pandemics, wars, and the increase in the number of senior citizens challenged healthcare systems and spotlighted critical care and emergency nurses who work under pressure and uncertainty to save lives and alleviate the burden of this pandemic. Critical care and emergency nurses rely on essential theoretical knowledge, clinical skills, and problem-solving techniques to provide proper care for patients with complex care requirements. They provide critically ill patients and their families with comprehensive, evidenced-based care that respect patient precious life and wishes, in addition, to maintaining a balance between compassionate care and a high technologic environment within an inter-professional team.

Theme 8: Medical-Surgical and Adult Nursing
Adult nurses work with old and young adults with diverse health conditions, both chronic and acute. They manipulate numerous priorities and use caring, counseling, managing, teaching, and all aspects of interpersonal skills to improve the quality of patients’ lives, sometimes in difficult situations. Recently, the prevalence of chronic illness is increasing and a patient-centered approach has become a priority. Research in this arena may contribute to a better understanding the patient’s needs and concerns and results in better patient outcomes.

Theme 9: Advanced Practice Registered Nurse
Advanced practice nurses play a pivotal role in the future of health care organizations. Their advanced knowledge and clinical competencies allow them to practice various roles worldwide. In the current nursing shortage, their roles are shaped by the context of their workplace and the country in which they are credentialed to practice. There are several opportunities and challenges in advanced nursing practice and their roles in the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of patients with various health problems.