LEADERSHIP
Mrs. Umamaheswari (Uma) Venugopal is the 10th and current President of the National Association of Indian Nurses of America (NAINA) for the 2025–2026 term, with extensive years of experience in nursing spanning clinical practice, leadership, risk management, healthcare compliance, and academia. She previously served as President of the American Association of Indian Nurses – New Jersey Chapter 2 (2021–2022) and brings extensive leadership experience as a dynamic mentor and role model. Uma graduated in 1996 from Apollo Hospitals, Chennai, where her nursing education laid a strong foundation that inspired a passion for leadership development, teaching, and advancing equity in healthcare in the United States.
She currently serves as a non-tenure track Professor of Nursing and Drug Diversion Leader for Nursing, emphasizing transformational leadership, ethical decision-making, critical thinking, and lifelong learning. Actively engaged in national and state nursing advocacy, she believes education is most powerful when collaborative and grounded in real-world challenges, striving to inspire nurses to lead with integrity, confidence, and purpose, guided by Florence Nightingale’s words, “I never gave or took any excuse.”
Liffy Cherian, MSN, APRN, AGCNS-BC, OCN, is a board-certified Adult-Gerontology Clinical Nurse Specialist in the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center at UT Southwestern Medical Center, in the Bone Marrow Transplant-Hematological Malignancies Clinic.
Ms. Cherian received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the Christian College of Nursing in India, and her Master of Science in Nursing from the University of Cincinnati.
Ms. Cherian has worked in oncology since 2001, as a bedside nurse, and educator, and beginning in 2018, as an advanced practice provider. Her specialty is in Hematological malignancies, specifically Lymphoma. As a clinical nurse specialist, she has been instrumental in implementing various safety and quality projects and was instrumental in establishing a structured chemotherapy privileging process for APPs at UTSW. She currently serves as the APP Lead for the Simmons Acute Care, Infusion Services and Clinical Trial Unit. She was also awarded the prestigious DFW Great 100 Nurses and D-Magazine Nurse Excellence Award as an Educator in 2018.
Ms. Cherian is a member of the Advanced Practitioner Society for Hematology and Oncology, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the Oncology Nursing Society, the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists, and the American Nurses Association. She also has multiple presentations and publications to her credit in the field of oncology and practice improvements. She also serves as the current Executive Vice President of the National Association of Indian Nurses of America (NAINA). She also serves as the chair of the Oncology APP Education Committee and serves as a Mentor to new and experienced APPs through the APP mentorship Program at UTSW.
Tara Shajan, PhDH, MSN, RN, MBA, PMH-BC is a senior healthcare executive and nursing leader with deep expertise in clinical operations, patient safety, and regulatory compliance. She has held key leadership roles in complex healthcare environments, including serving as Director of Psychiatry inl, New York, where she led quality improvement initiatives, strengthened workforce development, and drove operational excellence.
She brings a proven record of advancing patient-centered care, improving quality outcomes, and leading interdisciplinary teams through change. Tara currently serves as Vice President of the National Association of Indian Nurses in America (NAINA), contributing to national strategy, governance, and professional advocacy for nurses.
In parallel, she remains actively engaged in community and diaspora leadership, advancing service, education, and cultural initiatives that strengthen both the nursing profession and the communities it serves.
Munira Wells, PhD, RN, APRN, PMHNP-BC is a tenured associate professor at Seton Hall University. She has been a nurse for 30 plus years, with her clinical practice focused in the intensive care and the post anesthesia care units, where she subsequently served as the Clinical Coordinator. Her nursing journey has taken her through a variety of academic and administrative roles. She currently serves as Director of the PhD in Nursing program at Seton Hall University, and enjoys teaching across all levels of students, from undergraduate to PhD.
Committed to life-long learning, Dr. Wells holds a doctorate in Nursing from Seton Hall University, a Master of Nursing from Kean University and a Post-Masters Certificate in Psychiatric and Mental Health Nurse Practitioner from Seton Hall University. In 2009, Dr. Wells was honored to be selected as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/ New Jersey Nursing Initiative (RWJF/NJNI) Scholar and in 2024 she received the prestigious Diva Award from the New Jersey Institute for Nursing. She has presented her work on foreign educated nurses, healthy aging families, and adults with autism nationally and internationally and has been published in peer reviewed journals.
Dr Wells belongs to several nursing associations and firmly believes that nurses must engage in advocacy with their professional organizations to shape healthcare policies that are aimed at promoting equity and increasing access to high quality care for all. She is the immediate past President of the American Association of India Nurses - NJ2 chapter and currently serves on the executive board of the National Association of Indian Nurses of America as Secretary.
I am Sheela Sajan, elected NAINA Treasurer for the current term. I previously served as President of the Indian American Nurses Association of North Carolina (IANANC) from 2023–2024 and as Secretary from 2014–2015. I currently work as a Nurse Manager for the Medicine Specialty Clinics and Bronchoscopy Suite at the Durham VA Health Care System. In addition, I serve as Chair and Faculty Member for the Emerging Nurse Leader Program at Durham VAHCS and work as an independent contractor appraiser for the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s (ANCC) Pathway to Excellence® Program.
I am the 9th President of NAINA and currently serve as the Advisory Board Chair for the organization. Over the past 14+ years, I have held various leadership roles within NAINA. I am also the founding president and an advisory board member of the Indian Nurses Association of Albany (IANA-A).
Professionally, I am the Clinical Lead and Nursing Administrator at the Samuel Stratton VA Medical Center in Albany, New York. Additionally, I am a Board-Certified Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner (AGPCNP-BC) and a Certified Wound, Ostomy, and Continence Nurse (CWOCN). I am honored to also serve as an international faculty member at the Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) University in India.
Sandra Emmanuel is a long-standing member of the American Association of Indian Nurses, New Jersey chapter 2 (AAIN-NJ2). She was the President of American Association of Indian Nurses of New Jersey, Chapter 2 (AAIN NJ2) from 2019 – 2020. One of her accomplishments as the president was hosting NAINA 6th Clinical Excellence Conference. She was able to pull together a capable team, motivate them to use their strength; together they executed a well-attended, profit-making event for NAINA. More recently as NAINA Chair of Professional Development/Education, Sandra was able to maintain one of NAINA’s initiatives to get re-accreditation as an ANCC provider. Maintaining the continuing education credits involved working with the 22 chapters from 15 different states.
Sandra currently works as an Education Specialist in Hackensack University Medical Center. She brings in three decades of experience in Nursing Education. Her role includes improving education among healthcare providers, designing curriculum for continuing education programs for the health professional and maintaining regulatory standards. She was a nominee of the New Jersey Institute for Nursing Clinical, Administration, Research, Education, and Support (C.A.R.E.S.) Award and received the NAINA Clinical Excellence Award– Nurse Educator in 2022.
Being a member of NAINA has given her the opportunity to network with nurses from all over the country that are in different levels of their career and make relationships with nurses who share the same values, traditions, and culture.
Tara Shajan, PhDH, MSN, RN, MBA, PMH-BC is a senior healthcare executive and nursing leader with deep expertise in clinical operations, patient safety, and regulatory compliance. She has held key leadership roles in complex healthcare environments, including serving as Director of Psychiatry inl, New York, where she led quality improvement initiatives, strengthened workforce development, and drove operational excellence.
She brings a proven record of advancing patient-centered care, improving quality outcomes, and leading interdisciplinary teams through change. Tara currently serves as Vice President of the National Association of Indian Nurses in America (NAINA), contributing to national strategy, governance, and professional advocacy for nurses.
In parallel, she remains actively engaged in community and diaspora leadership, advancing service, education, and cultural initiatives that strengthen both the nursing profession and the communities it serves.
Dr. Lydia Albuquerque serves as an Associate Professor and Online Graduate Program Coordinator at William Paterson University. She also holds a clinical appointment as an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner at Robert Wood Johnson Barnabas Health, New Jersey. Her research—funded by the New Jersey Department of Health and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)—focuses on reducing disparities in women’s cardiovascular health and supporting disadvantaged students. Dr. Albuquerque earned her nursing degree from the College of Nursing, Armed Forces Medical College in Pune, India. She completed her postgraduate studies at Shreemati Nathibai Damodar Thackersey (SNDT) Women’s University in Mumbai, India. She later earned a post-master’s degree as an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner from Rutgers University and a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) from William Paterson University, New Jersey.
In addition to her academic pursuits, she is the founding president of the New Jersey Chapter of the American Association of Indian Nurses of America. Within the National Association of Indian Nurses of America (NAINA), she has held several leadership roles, including: President (2021–2022), Advisory Board Chair (2023–2024), Executive Vice President (2019–2020), Founding Chair of the Advanced Practice Nurse (APN) Forum Committee (2015–2016) Election Officer (2011–2012), Secretary (2009–2010).
Dr. Albuquerque has been inducted as a Fellow of: The American Academy of Nursing (FAAN) National Academies of Practice (NAP), Academy of Diversity Leaders in Nursing (FADLN) .She also served as a commissioner for the inaugural project of the American Nurses Association (ANA) National Commission to Address Racism in Nursing and was a member of the ANA Racial Reckoning Think Tank, representing NAINA.
Accamma Kallel MSN, APRN, ANP-C, currently serves as nurse practitioner and the structural valve program coordinator at Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston, Texas. Graduated from Trivandrum College of Nursing, Kerala, India, she later obtained her master’s degree as an adult nurse practitioner from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of NJ, USA. She brings in almost four decades of experience in clinical practice and nursing education.
Ms. Kallel worked almost twenty years as a cardiovascular nurse practitioner, prior to which, she worked as a critical care nurse and educational specialist at the University of Medicine & Dentistry of NJ. She has also worked as a community health nurse/nursing educator in Saudi Arabia and as a nursing faculty in India and Ethiopia. Additionally, she worked as an adjunct faculty member at Texas Woman’s University in Houston.
She has presented at local, national, and international conferences. She has published in peer-reviewed journals and has presented at Sigma Theta Tau’s International: 30th Nursing Research Conference in Calgary, Canada in 2019. She received numerous awards for clinical excellence and community outreach activities, such as the VA Town Hall Award for Clinical Excellence, Good Samaritan Foundation Award, Trail Blazer Award for Leadership from the Indo American Chamber of Commerce, the prestigious Legacy of Caring Award and the Nursing Excellence Award: Clinical Practice-Advance Practice RN from NAINA.
She served as the president of the Indian Nurses Association of Greater Houston (IANAGH) for the past two terms and is its current advisory board chair. She was instrumental in IANAGH receiving the Chapter Excellence Award from NAINA in 2020. She is extremely passionate about education and community outreach activities. She has collaborated with United Light of Hope to build a primary care clinic in Canaan, Haiti which serves as a beacon of hope for hundreds of people. Further, she led many medical mission trips to Kerala and Haiti, including the one during the Kerala flood disaster in 2018. Ms. Kallel has been serving within NAINA in different committees from its inception and is excited to serve as the executive vice president of NAINA 2021-2022.
I am the 9th President of NAINA and currently serve as the Advisory Board Chair for the organization. Over the past 14+ years, I have held various leadership roles within NAINA. I am also the founding president and an advisory board member of the Indian Nurses Association of Albany (IANA-A).
Professionally, I am the Clinical Lead and Nursing Administrator at the Samuel Stratton VA Medical Center in Albany, New York. Additionally, I am a Board-Certified Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner (AGPCNP-BC) and a Certified Wound, Ostomy, and Continence Nurse (CWOCN). I am honored to also serve as an international faculty member at the Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) University in India.
Tara Shajan, PhDH, MSN, RN, MBA, PMH-BC is a senior healthcare executive and nursing leader with deep expertise in clinical operations, patient safety, and regulatory compliance. She has held key leadership roles in complex healthcare environments, including serving as Director of Psychiatry inl, New York, where she led quality improvement initiatives, strengthened workforce development, and drove operational excellence.
She brings a proven record of advancing patient-centered care, improving quality outcomes, and leading interdisciplinary teams through change. Tara currently serves as Vice President of the National Association of Indian Nurses in America (NAINA), contributing to national strategy, governance, and professional advocacy for nurses.
In parallel, she remains actively engaged in community and diaspora leadership, advancing service, education, and cultural initiatives that strengthen both the nursing profession and the communities it serves.
