Dr. Suzanne Miyamoto
PhD, RN, FAAN
Season 09 - Episode 07
Dr. Suzanne Miyamoto Ph.D., RN, FAAN
Suzanne Miyamoto is the CEO of the American Academy of Nursing (Academy). The Academy’s mission is to improve health and achieve health equity by impacting policy through nursing leadership, innovation, and science. With two decades of policy, advocacy, and non-profit experience, Dr. Miyamoto provides visionary and strategic leadership to help the organization achieve its vision of healthy lives for all people. Dr. Miyamoto is highly regarded for her expertise in public policy and developing strong partnerships to advance sound policy solutions that are evidence-based, patient-centered, and community-oriented. Throughout her career, she has worked with a wide network of stakeholders across the health care industry from insurers to consumer organizations. She is a successful leader in the development of advocacy-based coalitions reaching Congress and the Administration.
Prior to her position at the Academy, Dr. Miyamoto served as the American Association of Colleges of Nursing’s (AACN) Chief Policy Officer. In her 12 years of service at AACN, Dr. Miyamoto supported the membership as a policy analyst, advocate, and strategist at the federal level. She simultaneously led the Nursing Community Coalition— the largest national nursing coalition focused on elevating the voice of the profession in health policy discussions. In these roles, Dr. Miyamoto worked with both political parties to ensure that funding for the health care workforce increased, helping to double federal spending for nursing education. She advised and helped ensure the passage of critical legislation such as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in 2009, the Affordable Care Act in 2010, and the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment (SUPPORT) for Patients and Communities Act in 2018.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Miyamoto strengthened the Academy’s outreach and policy impact. As one of the nursing leaders who briefed the White House on pandemic matters, she informed the Administration of the Academy’s call for emergency funding, protections for patients and health care professionals, global health diplomacy, and health equity in communities of color. Dr. Miyamoto continued the Academy’s advocacy throughout the pandemic by leading efforts for social justice to address racism and increased access to immunizations among communities underserved by medical resources. In collaboration with external funders, she secured grant funding to improve the delivery of services to communities through health care leadership, innovation, and science. Recognized for her leadership during this time, she was a lead co-author on Clinicians and Professional Societies COVID-19 Impact Assessment: Lessons Learned and Compelling Needs, a National Academy of Medicine Perspectives’ Discussion Paper.
Dr. Miyamoto is a member of the National Academy of Medicine’s Leadership Consortium, the National Quality Forum’s Board of Directors, the Association of American Medical Colleges’ Research and Action Institute External Advisory Committee, the National Minority Quality Forum’s Advisory Board, and the Sibley Memorial Hospital Quality & Safety Committee. Her influence at the state and federal levels is found in her policy contributions to the State Commission on Patient Safety for the Michigan Health and Safety Coalition, the National Institutes of Health, and on Capitol Hill. Dr. Miyamoto is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, an Honorary Friend of the National Institute of Nursing Research, and a 2014 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Executive Nurse Fellow.
Dr. Miyamoto received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, Master of Science in Nursing, and Doctorate of Philosophy in Nursing from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She holds a faculty appointment at Georgetown University, School of Nursing.
