Associate Professor Ramona Benkert, PhD, of the Wayne State University College of Nursing, was named a Fellow of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners during the AANP national conference in Las Vegas. The program recognizes nurse practitioner leaders who have made outstanding contributions to health care through clinical practice, research, education or policy.

Benkert has been a driving force for change in primary care safety net settings, resulting in improved healthcare for vulnerable populations. She has led local and regional clinical quality endeavors, practice-based research and inter-professional efforts in Michigan and the Midwest. Nationally, Benkert led practice improvement operations within nurse-managed clinical practices and has conducted research to improve practice and diversity in the workforce. Internationally, she has expanded the clinical education options for nurse practitioners.

A resident of Plymouth, Benkert’s research interests include quality outcomes in primary care delivery, traditional and nurse-managed center models, perceptions of racism and mistrust in health care and provider-patient relationships. With more than two decades of experience as an adult nurse practitioner, she has a faculty practice at the Primary Care Nursing Center, a nurse-run clinic in the Detroit Medical Center.

She is a 1987 graduate of the Wayne State University College of Nursing, as well as the University of Detroit-Mercy (formerly Mercy College, 1981) and the University of Michigan (2002).