UIW Professor Inducted as Distinguished Fellow by National Academies of Practice

San Antonio – The University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) is proud to announce that Joseph Pizzimenti, OD, FAAO, FORS, FNAP, a professor in the UIW Rosenberg School of Optometry, has been inducted into the National Academies of Practice (NAP) as a Distinguished Fellow. The Class of 2022 Fellows were welcomed into the NAP during an awards and induction ceremony in San Diego, California on March 5, 2022.

Founded in 1981, NAP is an interprofessional, nonprofit organization, with membership representing a range of health care professions willing to serve as distinguished advisors to health care policy makers in Congress and elsewhere. The mission of the National Academies of Practice is to serve as distinguished professionals advancing interprofessional healthcare by fostering collaboration and advocating policies in the best interest of individuals and communities.

“Interprofessional clinical education and collaborative practice can bridge gaps in healthcare, positively impacting outcomes and quality of life,” says Pizzimenti. “Earning this Distinguished Fellow in the NAP has been both educational and professionally rewarding. I am grateful to the UIW Rosenberg School of Optometry for its commitment to integrative health care.”

Fellowship in the National Academies of Practice is an honor extended to those who have excelled in their profession and are dedicated to furthering interprofessional practice, scholarship and policy in support of interprofessional care. The central purpose of NAP is to advise public policy makers on health care issues using NAP's unique perspective -- that of expert practitioners and scholars joined in interprofessional dialogue and advocacy.