The Huggies^® Nursing Advisory Council (HNAC) is made up of experts from the United States and Canada who specialize in neonatal and perinatal nursing, occupational therapy, and education, as well as a NICU parent advocate. The Advisory Council extends Huggies^® long-standing commitment to partnering with healthcare professionals.

Launched in 2015, the Huggies® Nursing Advisory Council works with Huggies^® to identify opportunities to provide resources that recognize nurses’ contributions and help them perform their best — for babies, families and communities.

The broad expertise of the Advisory Council informs resources and support for perinatal and neonatal nurses, as well as other healthcare providers who play a critical role in diapering and care for newborn skin health and development. Most recently, the Advisory Council launched Every Change Matters™: A Guide to Developmental Diapering Care, which provides practical information for incorporating elements of evidence-based developmental care into diapering practices.

Meet the Huggies Nursing Advisory Council

• Sharon Dore, RN, BScN, M Ed, PhD, Clinical Associate Professor, McMaster University, Ontario, Canada
• Elizabeth Drake, RN-NIC, MN, NNP, CNS, NICU Clinical Nurse Specialist, CHOC Children's, Mission Viejo, California
• Kelli Kelley, Founder & Executive Director, Hand to Hold, Austin, Texas
• Joanne Kuller, RN, MS, Neonatal Clinical Nurse Specialist, UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital, Oakland, California
• Shelly Lopez-Gray, MSN, RNC-MNN, IBCLC, Houston Methodist Hospital and Texas Children’s Hospital 
• Jessica McNeil, MSN, RNC-OB, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center 
• Debianne Peterman, PhD, MSN, RNC-NIC, NE-BC, Independent Healthcare Consultant

More About the Council 

Sharon Dore,

RN, BScN, M Ed, PhD, Clinical Associate Professor, McMaster University, Ontario, Canada

Sharon Dore is an associate clinical professor at McMaster University School of Nursing and Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in Hamilton, Ontario, where she educates students in graduate and neonatal nurse practitioner programs, in addition to medical students and obstetrics residents. She is also involved in research and quality assurance at the university.

Dore has years of experience as an advance practice registered nurse, with a focus on labor and delivery, high-risk clinics and postpartum and gynecology units, and a particular interest in intrapartum care and high-risk obstetrics. She serves as president of the Canadian Association of Perinatal and Women’s Health Nurses (CAPWHN) and is a member on the Education Innovation Committee of the Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology of Canada (SOGC). She is also co-chair of the Advances in Labour and Risk Management (ALARM), Guidelines Management and Oversight, and Obstetrical Content Review committees in the same organization.

In addition, Dore’s interests as a researcher have included newborn cord care, post-op C-section nutrition and approaches to nurse education.

Dore earned a Bachelor of Science in nursing from McMaster University, a Master of Education from Brock University, and a PhD with a focus in nursing and psychology from Wayne State University.

Elizabeth Drake,

RN-NIC, MN, NNP, CNS, NICU Clinical Nurse Specialist, CHOC Children's, Mission Viejo, California

Liz Drake has been practicing in the NICU for 35 years. She has practiced in different roles throughout her career, but her time spent at the bedside with patients, families, and team members is most meaningful. Quality Improvement, neuroprotective care and Family-Integrated care (also known as FI-Care) are her passions. She has a strong desire to teach all members of the healthcare team about the uniqueness and language of the premature infant. As an active clinician, she focuses on how every touch and relational experience we have with the premature infant and their family can have impact.

Drake is an Advanced Practice Nurse and currently the CNS in the NICU at CHOC Children’s of Orange County, Mission Viejo Campus. She’s also a published author, a nationally recognized national conference presenter, and consultant.

Drake received her Master’s Degree, Neonatal Nurse Practitioner and Clinical Nurse Specialist certification from the University of California at Los Angeles.

Kelli Kelley,

Founder & Executive Director, Hand to Hold, Austin, Texas

As the mother of two children born preterm, Kelli Kelley was inspired by her experience to create Hand to Hold, a national nonprofit organization that strives to fill the service gap that exists for families who have had a child in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) or who have experienced a loss by providing ongoing support, education and navigation resources.

Kelley is frequently sought out as a speaker and has led keynotes at several national conferences, where she has addressed a range of topics including preterm birth, the high incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression among parents of preterm infants, and the need for support and navigation resources for all NICU families.

Kelley serves on the steering committee for the National Coalition for Infant Health and is also a member of the leadership team for the Preemie Parent Alliance, a national organization of preemie parent leaders. She serves as a spokesperson for the National Perinatal Association’s (NPA) Psychosocial Support Guidelines for NICU Families. Previously she served as the parent liaison and spokesperson for the NPA’s Multidisciplinary Guidelines for the Care of Late-Preterm Infants and on the review committee for the National Association of Neonatal Nurses (NANN) Discharge Planning Module in 2013.

Kelley was a recipient of the 2017 Philanthropitch grant, and a member of the organization’s Accelerator program. She was also named a 2015 Communicator of the Year from Women Communicators of Austin, a 2011 Local Hero by Bank of America’s Neighborhood Excellence Initiative® and a 2011 Health Care Hero through the Austin Business Journal. She is the 2010 recipient of the Austin Under 40 Award for Medical and Health Care, an ENERGIZER Keep Going Hall of Fame Semifinalist and recipient of the Small Business Award from Austin Woman magazine.

Early in her career, Kelley worked in public relations, receiving numerous promotions and awards for her leadership and accomplishments.

Kelley earned a Bachelor of Journalism from The University of Texas at Austin and participates in the National Charity League.

Joanne Kuller,

RN, MS, Neonatal Clinical Nurse Specialist, UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital, Oakland, California

Joanne Kuller is a neonatal clinical nurse specialist at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital. She also is a member of the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) Neonatal Skin Care Evidence-based Guideline development team, and was a contributor to all three editions of the Guidelines, targeted to obstetric and neonatal nurses caring for newborns.

Kuller earned her Bachelor of Science in nursing from Villanova University and her Master of Science in neonatal nursing from the University of California, San Francisco. She has written numerous articles and book chapters on neonatal skin, and has been involved in research on the effects of adhesives, phototherapy and the first bath on neonatal skin. She is a member of the National Association of Neonatal Nurses (NANN), the Northern California Association of Neonatal Nurses (NCANN), the Academy of Neonatal Nurses and Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI) nursing honor society.

Shelly Lopez-Gray,

MSN, RNC-MNN, IBCLC, Maternal Fetal Medicine Nurse and Lactation Consultant, Houston Methodist Hospital

Shelly Lopez-Gray is an educator at Houston Methodist Hospital. She is also an active member of the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) and the Society for Maternal Fetal Medicine. Shelly represents AWHONN as one of their legislative coordinators for the state of Texas and is a chapter leader.

Shelly earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Texas at Arlington, and her Master of Science in Nursing Informatics from Grand Canyon University. She is also a blogger, providing information for women before, during and after their pregnancy as well as resources for nurses for professional growth and development on her blog, Adventures of a Labor Nurse. She has written numerous articles chronicling her experiences in maternal-newborn nursing and has gathered half a million followers on her blog.

She also volunteers teaching prenatal classes to women at a pregnancy crisis center and provides breastfeeding information to mothers at a teen clinic. Shelly is dedicated to the health of moms and babies and genuinely believes that every nurse and parent has the potential for greatness.

Jessica McNeil,

MSN, RNC-OB, C-EFM, Perinatal Educator, Clements University Medical Center at UT Southwestern, Dallas, Texas

Having previously served in positions ranging from Charge Nurse to Women’s Services Manager, Jessica McNeil currently works as the Perinatal Educator at UT Southwestern Medical Center, as well as an adjunct clinical faculty member at Baylor University.  In addition to her work, she is the current chair of the DFW chapter of AWHONN (Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses) and the Secretary-Treasurer of the Texas AWHONN section, as well as an ACOG maternal levels of care surveyor. She currently holds national certifications in both inpatient obstetrics and electronic fetal monitoring.

Jessica’s professional experience has focused on maternal and infant health.  She attended Texas Christian University and completed her Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 2008 and her Master’s in Nursing Education at Walden University in 2013. Jessica started her nursing career in a 107 bed, Level III NICU at Parkland Memorial Hospital, where she had the opportunity to care for some of the sickest babies.  After her time there, she transferred to another Dallas area hospital where she worked in labor and delivery, antepartum, and continued to care for babies.  In 2015, Jessica had the honor of being selected as an AWHONN Emerging Leader and, in 2016, was the National AWHONN Conference Host Committee Chair. She also served as a contributing author to the seventh edition of Foundations of Maternal-Newborn and Women’s Health Nursing.

Debianne Peterman,

PhD, MSN, RNC-NIC, NE-BC, Independent Healthcare Consultant

Debianne Peterman is currently an independent healthcare consultant, formerly the vice president of clinical education and development of TriStar Health where she led the development of strategies to advance clinical performance for the past year. Prior to that, Peterman focused on advancing Women’s and Obstetrics clinical programs and services at Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) where she served as an expert consultant on women’s services to provide delivery of optimal quality patient care as defined by national and state standards, and evidence-based practice. She also ensured compliance with national and state regulations, quality metrics, data integrity and research initiatives that produce optimal quality outcomes and performance for all women’s programs.

Peterman has more than 20 years of experience in nursing and clinical operations, including her role as vice president and chief nursing officer for the Women’s and Children’s Hospital of Buffalo and Buffalo General Medical Center and Gates Vascular Institute. Previously, she served as the chief nursing executive for Matria Healthcare, overseeing 3,500 nurses nationally. She has served as adjunct faculty at Vanderbilt, Emory, and Georgia State University Schools of Nursing, respectively, and served as chair of the College of Health and Human Services Advisory Board at Georgia State University from 1996 to 2012. From 2011 to 2013, she was elected as a member of the National Board of Directors for the Association for Nursing Professional Development (ANPD).

She earned a Bachelor of Science in nursing and a PhD in nursing from Georgia State University. She also received a Master of Science in nursing from Emory University, where she majored in neonatal and perinatal nursing.