Dr. Sullivan-Marx is known for her research and innovative approaches to primary care as well as for her creative redesign of payment structures for nurses, particularly through the Medicaid and Medicare program.

Dr. Sullivan-Marx is Dean Emerita and Professor Emerita at New York University Rory Meyers College of Nursing. She also holds the title of Professor Emerita of Scholarly Practice and Clinician-Educator at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing (Penn Nursing). Her visionary leadership in aging care has produced enduring models that continue to influence policy and practice. At the University of Pennsylvania, she advanced the Living Independently for Elders program, a PACE-based (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly), community-centered model that enabled nursing-home–eligible older adults to remain at home with dignity, comprehensive support, and coordinated nurse practitioner-led primary care, resulting in reduced Medicaid expenditures and a viable model for other older adult team care. Her work helped demonstrate that nurse-led, community-integrated care can improve outcomes, reduce unnecessary hospital and emergency department use, lower costs, and preserve independence for older adults and families.

Dr. Sullivan-Marx has shaped health policy at local, state, national, and global levels. She advanced the recognition, reimbursement, and sustainability of nurse practitioner practice. Her research and national service contributed to establishing the value of nurse practitioner work within payment systems, challenging entrenched reimbursement barriers and strengthening the foundation for advanced practice nurses to practice fully and equitably. She served as Senior Advisor in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Office of Medicare and Medicaid Coordination, contributed to the national expansion of PACE, helped advance policy solutions, including the PACE Innovation Act, that significantly improved care for older adults. Her influence has extended internationally through consultation on nurse practitioner development, healthy aging, public health, and care models in several countries. Her impact on health care continues through her Board service on the Arnold P. Gold Foundation, United Hospital Fund, and VNS Health.

Dr. Sullivan-Marx served as the 26th President of the American Academy of Nursing. She elevated the organization’s public voice, promoted science-based decision-making, and advocated for nurses and vulnerable populations during the COVID-19 pandemic and a period of racial reckoning. Her steady, courageous, and equity-centered leadership further reflects her lifelong commitment to social justice and the critical role nurses play in moments of crisis and change.

Dr. Sullivan-Marx holds a BSN and a PhD in Gerontology from Penn Nursing, and a MSN in Family Health Nursing from the University of Rochester School of Nursing. She was inducted as Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing in 1997.