Regina Cunningham has been named Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Executive for the University of Pennsylvania Health System, effective July 1. Dr. Cunningham will continue her previous role as the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania’s chief nursing executive.

“Regina’s expanded portfolio reflects the broad impact and crucial importance of nursing as Penn Medicine continues to expand and innovate across the continuum of care,” said University of Pennsylvania Health System CEO Ralph W. Muller. “During her tenure thus far at Penn Medicine, Regina has forged strong partnerships to deepen nursing’s role across the health system.”

Dr. Cunningham began her tenure at Penn Medicine as associate chief nursing officer of Cancer Services at the Abramson Cancer Center in September 2011, a role followed two years later as chief administrative officer of the cancer service line in the ACC, before she assumed her most recent position later in 2013. She has also served as an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing since April 2012.

In her new role, she will provide leadership to nursing colleagues from each entity throughout UPHS. Her close collaboration with chief medical officer and senior vice president Patrick J. Brennan to advance interprofessional collaborations across the system will continue, and she will partner with Antonia Villarruel, dean of the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, to advance scholarly platforms for nursing across Penn Medicine.

Dr. Cunningham will also provide leadership to nursing colleagues from each entity throughout UPHS, and continue to partner closely with physician leadership to advance interprofessional collaborations across the health system. She will also work together with the School of Nursing to advance scholarly platforms for nursing across Penn Medicine.

“Regina’s leadership has brought HUP Nursing’s patient and quality outcomes to best practice levels and set new patient care standards of which we can all be proud,” said Garry Scheib, UPHS chief operating officer.

Prior to Penn, she held nursing leadership posts at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, where she served as both senior director of oncology and nursing research, and as the chief nursing officer at the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey. She has taught at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. She earned a BSN from College of Mount Saint Vincent, a master of arts in nursing from New York University, and a doctorate in nursing from University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing.

Dr. Cunningham is broadly published in nursing and multidisciplinary peer-reviewed journals, and is currently principal investigator of an NIH-funded multi-site study aimed at developing knowledge and skills to support implementation of clinical trials.

Dr. Cunningham was inducted into the American Academy of Nursing in 2014, and is certified as an Advanced Oncology Certified Nurse by the Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation. She is a member of the American Nurses Association, New Jersey State Nurses Association, and the Multinational Association for Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC) and she is a Robert Wood Johnson Nurse Executive Fellow.