Faculty Society Honors Norful for Mentorship

Assistant professor Allison Norful, PhD’17, has received the 2026 VKFS Ignite Award, given by the CUIMC Virginia Kneeland Frantz Society to recognize outstanding mentorship by an early career faculty member at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. 

Norful was presented with the award at the VKFS Annual Lecture Program, held at CUIMC on March 16, 2026.  

A tenure-track faculty at Columbia Nursing, Norful also serves as a nurse scientist across the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital (NYP) enterprise within the academic-practice partnership, Linking to Improve Nursing Knowledge (LINK). This Columbia Nursing-NYP collaboration integrates nursing research and scholarship across academia and practice by supporting nurses in conducting original research at the bedside.  

VKFS awardees can be nominated by students, postdocs, trainees, residents, fellows, and faculty. A collective nomination for Norful from a group of her recent trainees across Columbia Nursing, NYP, and Mailman School of Public Health states: “Many of us attribute pivotal professional milestones—including doctoral admissions, competitive fellowship awards, grant funding, and invitations to present at national venues—directly to her strategic advocacy, thoughtful recommendation letters, and professional connections within the broader nursing science community.”  

The society presents three Excellence in Mentorship Awards each year: the Ignite Award, the Catalyst for Change Award for mid-career faculty, and the VKFS Dr. Anne L. Taylor Legacy of Excellence in Mentorship Award for senior faculty. 

The society honors Dr. Frantz, who graduated from VP&S in 1922, part of the second cohort of women to be admitted to the medical school. Open to all medical center faculty, the society aims to serve, support, and celebrate the careers of women in science and medicine at CUIMC.