Simulation Nurse Educator & VR Expert Honored with 2025 NLN Marilyn H. Oermann Award for Distinguished Research in Nursing Education

Simulation Nurse Educator & VR Expert Honored with 2025 NLN Marilyn H. Oermann Award for Distinguished Research in Nursing Education

Award Ceremony Set for NERC 2025, March 27-29, in Washington D.C.

Washington, DC — Michelle Aebersold, PhD, RN, CJSE, FSSH, FAAN, who holds three appointments at the University of Michigan, has been selected winner of the 2025 NLN Marilyn H. Oermann Award for Distinguished Research in Nursing Education. Dr. Aebersold is only the second person to be chosen for this prestigious honor, awarded in connection with the Nursing Education Research Conference (NERC), a biannual gathering of leading scholars in nursing education.

The theme of this year’s NERC, Bridging Science, Innovation, and Teaching Excellence to Achieve Health Equity, will help unravel the multidimensional complexities of higher education and health care by highlighting research in nursing education that transforms pedagogical practices. NERC aims to empower participants with the knowledge, data, skills, and networks needed to drive positive transformations in nursing education with the goal to achieve health equity.

Dr. Aebersold, a clinical professor in the School of Nursing, a clinical associate professor in the School of Information, and an XR Faculty Innovator-in-Residence, all at the University of Michigan, is also a certified health care simulation educator and fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and the Society for Simulation in Healthcare.

The focus of her research, into the varieties of simulation learning technology to improve patient care, has involved extensive experience with Extended Realities, a methodology for educating and training caregivers. Dr. Aebersold has been the recipient of numerous grants to fund projects that she has led investigating the use of immersive virtual reality for team training, practice readiness, and multidisciplinary collaboration to advance health care.

A popular student and faculty mentor in simulation learning, Dr. Aebersold is a sought-after speaker for international, regional and local conferences. She will present a talk about her research and its effects during the upcoming NERC event at the Westin Washington, DC Downtown hotel, March 27-29. 

“We are excited to hear from Dr. Aebersold about how her discoveries and experience have informed the process of achieving health equity, a proven driver of better health for every American, but in particular for underserved and marginalized patient groups,” said NLN Chair Patricia Sharpnack, DNP, RN, CNE, NEA-BC, ANEF, FAAN, Dean and Strawbridge Professor at the Breen School of Nursing and Health Professions at Ursuline College in Ohio. “The Oermann Award is a well-deserved mark of distinction in the field of nursing education research.”

“As nursing education has grown increasingly sophisticated, rigorous, original studies provide the evidence for transformative excellence in education to build a strong and diverse nursing workforce that advances the health of the nation and the global community. We are delighted to welcome Dr. Aebersold to this exclusive honor of nurse educator-scientists whose body of work merits such an honor,” said NLN President and CEO Beverly Malone, PhD, RN, FAAN.

 For more information about the award and the upcoming NERC event, visit NLN.org.

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