Nickolas Zaller, Ph.D., Tracie Seidl, MPA, Named as Associate Deans in UAMS College of Nursing
| The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) recently appointed Nickolas Zaller, Ph.D., and Tracie Seidl, MPA, as associate deans in the UAMS College of Nursing.
Zaller, an internationally known addiction researcher, was hired as the College of Nursing’s associate dean for research. The appointment marks his return to UAMS after serving from 2024-25 as senior director for research and evaluation at the Health Alliance for Violence Intervention, a national organization that supports hospital-based violence intervention programs.
“There is a growing recognition of the critical importance of nursing research not only in addressing patient care needs but also in improving population health and wellness,” Zaller said. “I am very excited about the opportunity to advance nursing research as a more integral part of UAMS’ research enterprise.”
Zaller’s previous stint at UAMS began in 2014 when he was hired as an associate professor in the Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health. In the ensuing decade, he went on to serve in a variety of roles at the university, including as director of the UAMS Office of Global Health; as co-director of the College of Public Health’s Rural and Global Public Health Program; and as founding director of the college’s Southern Public Health Criminal Justice Research Center.
Zaller earned his bachelor’s degree in microbiology and East Asian Studies from the University of Kansas in 1999. He lived in China for a year as a Fulbright Scholar before completing a doctorate in public health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2004.
He completed a postdoctoral fellowship in substance use, HIV and related infections at The Miriam Hospital, a teaching hospital of the Alpert Medical School of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Zaller later was appointed to the faculty at the Center for AIDS Research at Brown University, where he served until he came to UAMS.
Seidl, a UAMS employee for more than 20 years, was named as the College of Nursing’s associate dean for finance and administration. She is an accomplished administrative leader who has extensive experience managing budgets, health care compliance and program development.
She arrived at UAMS in 2004 and held roles as a project specialist, grant administrator and department compliance manager. Most recently, she served from 2018-25 as the senior administrative services director at the UAMS Institute for Digital Health & Innovation, where her responsibilities included budget development and financial oversight.
Seidl earned her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Master of Public Administration degrees from Arkansas State University in Jonesboro.
“The College of Nursing makes such an important impact in the lives of its students and in the health of Arkansans, and I’m honored to have a role in helping it succeed in these missions,” she said.
Zaller and Seidl started their new posts Jan. 1.
UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and eight institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute, Institute for Digital Health & Innovation and the Institute for Community Health Innovation. UAMS includes UAMS Health, a statewide health system that encompasses all of UAMS’ clinical enterprise. UAMS is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,553 students and 902 medical residents and fellows. It is the state’s largest public employer with about 12,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube or Instagram.###