Josette Jones, PhD, RN, FAMIA, to Receive the 2026 Academic Forum Health Informatics Educator of the Year Award
AMIA's Academic Forum will present the Academic Forum Health Informatics Educator of the Year Award to Josette Jones, PhD, RN, FAMIA, during the State of the Association at the AMIA 2026 Annual Symposium. This award recognizes AMIA members who have made significant and sustained contributions to health informatics education, including excellence in teaching, curriculum innovation, workforce development, and a demonstrated commitment to mentoring the next generation of informatics professionals.
"It is a privilege to recognize Josette Jones with the 2026 Academic Forum Health Informatics Educator of the Year Award," said Paul Nagy, Past Chair of the Academic Forum.
"Throughout her career, Dr. Jones has exemplified excellence in health informatics education through leadership, curriculum development, national service, and a steadfast commitment to student success. Her impact extends beyond the classroom, influencing educational programs, accreditation standards, and the careers of many informatics professionals."
Dr. Jones has dedicated her career to preparing students with the competencies required of contemporary health informatics professionals, including patient-centered care, interdisciplinary collaboration, evidence-based practice, and the effective use of informatics to improve healthcare quality and outcomes.
Since joining Indiana University Indianapolis in 2002, Dr. Jones has played a significant role in developing and expanding graduate education in nursing informatics and health informatics. She helped design graduate curricula in both disciplines, developed a Nursing Informatics Certificate Program, and led the creation of five graduate certificates in health information technology. She also helped establish educational pathways that expanded access to graduate informatics education and supported the continued growth of the university's health informatics programs.
Dr. Jones has been a leader in accreditation and educational standards. She has served as a reviewer for the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM) and, beginning in 2015, served on the AMIA-CAHIIM committee responsible for establishing standards for health informatics education programs. Through this work, she has contributed to the development of informatics curricula and helped ensure that academic programs remain aligned with the evolving needs of healthcare organizations, employers, clinicians, and patients.
Her leadership and service extend throughout the informatics community. Dr. Jones chaired the Nursing Informatics Section of the Midwest Nursing Research Society, contributed to the Alliance for Nursing Informatics and HIMSS nursing informatics initiatives, participated in the review of the American Nurses Association's Nursing Informatics Scope and Standards, and has been an active leader within AMIA. She served as Secretary of the AMIA Academic Forum, became Acting Chair in 2021, and currently serves as Chair of the Academic Forum. She was elected a Fellow of the American Medical Informatics Association (FAMIA) in 2020 in recognition of her professional achievement, leadership, and sustained commitment to the field.
Dr. Jones's scholarship has focused on nursing informatics, consumer health informatics, clinical decision support, health information technology, knowledge representation, ontology, and the alignment of educational competencies with workforce needs. Her research examines how healthcare providers and consumers collect, manage, and use information to support decision-making and improve care delivery. Her publication, "Novel Approach to Cluster Patient-Generated Data Into Actionable Topics: Case Study of a Web-Based Breast Cancer Forum", was recognized as a Best Paper in the Consumer Health Informatics and Education section of the 2019 Yearbook of Medical Informatics.
A hallmark of Dr. Jones's career has been her dedication to mentoring students and emerging professionals. Through mentorship, research collaborations, industry partnerships, and experiential learning opportunities, she has helped prepare generations of informatics professionals who now serve in leadership roles across academia, healthcare, industry, and government. Through her students, collaborators, and educational programs, her contributions have had an impact well beyond individual classrooms and institutions.
Dr. Jones earned a PhD in Nursing with an Informatics focus from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has held faculty and leadership roles at Indiana University Indianapolis for more than two decades.
Through her leadership in education, curriculum development, accreditation, scholarship, and mentorship, Dr. Jones has made significant contributions to the advancement of health informatics education and exemplifies the spirit and purpose of the Academic Forum Health Informatics Educator of the Year Award.