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President
2024
Aris Beoglos Eliades, PhD, RN, CRN-BC, supports research and evidence-based practice at Akron Children’s Hospital. During her tenure at Akron Children’s, she served in education and research leadership positions within the nursing division and the Rebecca D. Considine Research Institute and was instrumental in building the nursing research program and advancing clinical research nursing. Prior to her roles at Akron Children’s, she was faculty at The University of Akron and a research coordinator at Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital. She has been the recipient of several awards recognizing research expertise including the March of Dimes Ohio Research Nurse of the Year. Aris has served as member and Chair of the IACRN Research Committee, Leadership Fellow Mentor, and member of the Committee Chair & Leadership Collaborative. A published author, reviewer, and speaker, she is passionate about mentoring nurses to build and share their expertise to advance the practice of clinical research nursing.
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Past President
2024
Laura Baker, MS, RN, NE-BC is the the Director of the Pediatric Clinical Research Center and Research Nursing at Seattle Children’s, and has held this position March of 2017. In her role at Children’s Laura is responsible for all research nursing at Seattle Children’s, and daily operations of the PCRC. Recently Laura has been focus on shared governance for research nurses, competencies, and research integration throughout the Seattle Children’s system. Prior to her role at Children’s, Laura has served as the manager of the Research Coordinator Core at the University of Washington, and as a Clinical Coordinator on the Clinical Research Unit at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Almost Laura’s entire nursing career has been in clinical research, and is honored that she gets to work at making every day better for research nurses. Laura’s inspiration and passion for research comes from her mom who has been a research nurse for over 25 years.
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Treasurer
2024
Sheryl Forbes, PhD, MEd, RN, CRN-BC, CCRP is a Nursing Research Quality Specialist at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. Sheryl has been an oncology nurse since 2010 and involved in clinical research since 2013. In her current role, Sheryl engages in multiple projects and programs impacting patients enrolled in clinical trials and the research staff who care for them. She sits on various institutional committees and leads quality improvement initiatives to create best practices. Sheryl has been a member of IACRN since 2015 serving on the Board of Directors as a Member at Large and Treasurer. She has also served on a variety of committees, including the Education Committee, Research Committee, Committee Chair & Leadership Collaborative, and as a mentor for the Leadership Program. Sheryl’s research interests include ethical issues in clinical research, specifically those in clinical research nursing.
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Secretary
2024Catherine A. Griffith, PhD, RN is the current IACRN Secretary and has been an active member of IACRN since 2009. She has a critical care background, having served as an adult burn/trauma nurse followed by many years as the MGH Clinical Nurse Specialist of the Blake 8 Cardiac SICU. It was in the ICU setting where Catherine was introduced to clinical trials. She became interested in the communication pathways between bedside nurses and research study teams motivating her to change specialties to Clinical Research Nursing. Catherine currently serves as an Advisor to the MGH CRN Collaborative, a group working tirelessly to increase the voice and visibility of CRNs through advocacy and networking.
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Chair, Committee Chair & Leadership Collaborative (CC&LC)
2024
Lee Ann Lawson BSN MS APRN CCRC is an Associate Medical Director for Fabry Disease at Amicus Therapeutics, a global, patient dedicated, biotech company dedicated to discovering, developing, and delivering high quality treatments for patients living with rare metabolic diseases. Lee Ann has more than 20 years of nursing experience, with a strong passion for providing family centered care to those living with rare disease. Lee Ann worked 15 years at academic translational research programs in various clinical research roles including study nurse, study coordinator, regulatory coordinator, and co-investigator. Lee Ann joined IACRN in 2017 and participated in the IACRN Leadership Program in 2018. Lee Ann authored the Informed Consent Chapter in the Clinical Research Nursing Core Curriculum (2021), facilitated the IACRN Leadership Program (2021-2023), served on the Education Committee (2018-2022) served as chair-elect of the CCLC (2023).
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Member-at-Large2024
Kristen Legor, PhD, JD, RN, OCN, CRN-BC is the Vice President of Clinical Research Nursing Operations and Associate Chief Nurse at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) in Boston, MA. She is responsible for the practice of Clinical Research Nursing across the enterprise - inclusive of adult and pediatric ambulatory and inpatient practice settings. Dr. Legor oversees the review of new therapeutic and pertinent non-therapeutic research protocols, coordination of clinical trial education programs for clinical and non-clinical staff, and training of all new research nurses and research nurse residents. She is chair of the Dana Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (DF/HCC) Clinical Operations Nursing Committee and has served as a member of and the DF/HCC Institutional Review Board for over a decade. Dr. Legor is also responsible for overseeing the clinical research nursing track for the DFCI Oncology Nurse Residency Program which was initiated in 2016. She is a member of the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS), recently serving as Director at Large for the local Boston Chapter; a member of the International Association of Clinical Research Nurses, serving as a longstanding member of the education committee and co-authoring a chapter in the first edition of the Core Curriculum for Clinical Research Nursing; and a member of the Organization of Nurse Leaders (ONL).
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Member-at-Large
2024
Brandi Showalter, PhD, RN, CCRP is an Assistant Professor at Cizik School of Nursing at UT Health Houston with over 25 years of nursing experience in various areas and over 20 years in clinical research experience. She has worked as a research nurse, clinical research monitor, and a clinical research educator in areas of psychiatry, dermatology and oncology. While at MD Anderson Cancer Center, Brandi was integral in the development and implementation of the Research Nurse Residency program for newly graduated nurses. In her current position, she is developing a post bachelor’s Clinical Research Certificate program to be launched in Fall 2023. Brandi’s research interests include ethical issues in clinical research, specifically in research nursing, and professional education of clinical research professionals.
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Global Member-at-Large
2024Jane (Jayinthie) Govender, RN lives in Aotearoa New Zealand where she is the Clinic Manager of Dementia Prevention Research Clinic (DPRCs) National Network. In her role Jane leads and manages the Auckland-based DPRC multidisciplinary clinic staff and coordinate operations of the national network of DPRCs to ensure consistency and cohesion. Jane works with the National DPRC Director and Management Committee, manage and coordinate a multidisciplinary team of clinicians, scientists and research staff, and closely monitor progress of the national network of DPRCs against agreed objectives. Jane started her Clinical Research Nurse Career in June 2005 at the Durban International Clinical Trials Unit National Institute of Health funded HIV research organisation at the Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, University of Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa. As a Study Coordinator Jane facilitated large multi-centre international studies in HIV medicine. In this capacity she participated in scientific and management committees of the NIH and progressed to the Chairperson of the Training and Education subcommittee of the ACTG. Jane has also been mentored by and been part of a team to mentor newly established ACTG sites both internationally and domestically. Jane has continued to maintain contact with her mentors internationally.
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