Renee Pozza, PhD, RN, CNS, FNP-BC

Renee Pozza is dean and professor for the School of Nursing (SON) at Azusa Pacific University. She previously served as the senior associate dean for academic initiatives and innovation for the SON. Under her leadership, the SON implemented several new programs and pathways in nursing education, built skills and simulation laboratories, incorporated virtual simulation in the curriculum, initiated several academic-practice partnerships, and led teams for successful re-accreditation and re-approval visits with CCNE and the BRN. She is committed to interprofessional education, international opportunities, faith integration, and nursing research.

Pozza earned a BSN, MSN and post-Masters certificate from APU and a PhD from University of California San Francisco. She maintains active practice as a family nurse practitioner with Southern California GI and Liver Centers working in hepatology and solid organ transplantation. In 2015, she was inducted as a fellow into the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) for her research contributions to the field. She is the second nurse in the US to hold this designation.

Her research interests include hepatitis C, adherence, practice models of care, palliative care in end-stage liver disease, and nursing education. Pozza publishes and presents research locally, nationally and internationally on these topics. She has previously held volunteer board positions for AASLD, the California Association for Clinical Nurse Specialists (CACNS), Bienvenidos, and Hillsides, both nonprofit service agencies in Los Angeles. Currently, she serves on the Board of Directors of the California Colleges of Nursing (CACN).