Katherine “Kathy” Pereira, DNP, RN, FNP-BC, ADM-BC, FAAN, FAANP, associate professor, has been appointed director of the Duke University School of Nursing (DUSON) Doctor of Nursing Practice  (DNP)Program, effective July 1.

“Katherine has served as the faculty coordinator of the Master of Science in Nursing Program’s family nurse practitioner (FNP) major, which has consistently appeared in the top 10 for several years and this year rose to No. 2 in U.S. News and World Report rankings,” said Marion E. Broome, PhD, RN, FAAN, dean and Ruby Wilson Professor of Nursing and vice chancellor for Nursing Affairs for Duke University and associate vice president for Academic Affairs for Nursing for Duke University Health System. “I am sure that Katherine will continue her remarkable leadership with our DNP Program, which ranks No. 3 in the nation.”

In addition to her role at DUSON, Pereira practices as a family nurse practitioner in the Duke University Medical Center’s Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Nutrition. She has considerable experience in the clinical care of patients with complicated diabetes and is board certified in Advanced Diabetes Management. She has 13 publications in referred journals.

Pereira joined the School of Nursing faculty in 2005. She received her BSN from the University of Virginia and earned her MSN and DNP from DUSON.

Pereira succeeds Barbara Turner, PhD, RN, FAAN, Elizabeth P. Hanes Professor of Nursing, who will continue at DUSON as the new chair for the Health of Women, Children & Families Division.

The DNP Program was launched in 2008 as the first DNP degree program in North Carolina to prepare nurses for leadership positions in clinical care. The program focuses on developing nurses in three critical areas: leading, innovating and translating evidence into practice. An executive-style, distance-based learning program, the DNP Program is designed to be available to full-time working nurses based anywhere in the world.