Meet the 2025 Winner: Jessica Castner, PhD, RN-BC, FAEN, FAAN
Jessica Castner, PhD, RN-BC, FAEN, FAAN serves as 2025-26 Climate Leader in Residence at Duke University as a distinguished expert in nursing leadership and health policy. As the National Academy of Medicine’s 2021-22 Distinguished Nurse Scholar in Residence, Castner contributed to evidence-based policy development at the federal level related to climate change, public health emergencies, environmental health, clinician wellbeing, and artificial intelligence applications. Dr. Castner is President of Castner Incorporated, a woman-owned small business research institute and University at Albany tenured professor, where she was awarded the rank of full Professor. As the inaugural Director of Nursing at the University at Albany, Castner led the opening of a new academic unit with graduate and undergraduate programs.
With an internationally renowned reputation for expertise, scholarship and leadership in emergency and environmental health nursing, Castner’s trajectory has attracted funding support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), American Nurses Association, American Nurses Foundation, Heilbrunn Family philanthropy through Rockefeller University, Patricia H. Garman Endowment, and other foundations. Castner’s research impact centers on multi-level environmental and contextual determinants of emergency health outcomes. Widely published in nursing and interdisciplinary peer reviewed journals, Castner served as the Editor in Chief of the Journal of Emergency Nursing during the COVID-19 public health emergency.
Dr. Castner earned a BSN from Marquette University, an MSN with a public health nursing concentration track from the University of Missouri-Columbia, and PhD from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. Dr. Castner has also completed a certificate in Executive Healthcare Leadership from Cornell University.
Description
The award will be given to an individual who has made outstanding scientific and scholarly contributions to areas related to the TID mission. Awardees will be presented with a framed certificate at the ATS International Conference. Nominations of diverse candidates (by gender, race/ethnicity, country, area of focus and primary occupation) are highly encouraged.
Eligibility
- Associate or full professor (5 or more years from reaching the associate professor level) or equivalent
- Outstanding contributions to research, education and/or training in areas broadly related to TID
- Nominees must be a TID member at the time of award (may join upon nomination)
- Nominations must include a cover letter (<2 pages) from an ATS member describing the candidate’s qualification and accomplishments and why the award is appropriate. Letters can be co-signed by more than one nominator. Self-nominations are allowable.
- Nominee's curriculum vitae must be included in the submission.
- Previous awardees are not eligible for the same award
- Applications will be reviewed by the TID Executive Committee with exclusion, as appropriate, of members who may have a conflict of interest.
Scoring Criteria
Applications will be reviewed and scored based on the following criteria. Domains of excellence in research/teaching/mentoring and overall impact will receive greatest weight. Applications (cover letter and CV) should highlight the following domains:
- Excellence in research, teaching, or/and mentoring.
- Scholarly Contributions to Inhalational Disaster studies
- Leadership service (academia, industry, professional societies [both ATS and outside ATS])
- Participation in the TID Section (Administrative, Committees, Workshops, etc.)
- Overall impact/impression of dossier submitted for award application.
Note: Award nominations will be carried over for 3 years.
Past Award Winners
2024 - Rafael E. de la Hoz, MD, MPH, MS, ATSF, FACP, FCCP