Damiano de Sano Iocovozzi, MSN FNP CNS is an expert in biomedical ethics, nursing & medicine. He is a registered nurse with advanced degrees in clinical specialty, family nurse practitioner & biomedical ethics. He has over 23 years at the bedside in roles including clinical nurse specialist, registered critical care nurse, researcher, college professor, and CEO & President of a foundation granting scholarships to nursing, medical, respiratory care & social work students.

Damiano is also a world traveler and linguist From an early age, growing up in upstate New York, he was fascinated with languages, the spirit of giving and knowledge of other cultures and countries. Damiano completed years of language study and work in Italy, France and Germany. Later, he became a Peace Corps Volunteer and served in a small high school in Meknes, Morocco.

After the Peace Corps, Damiano traveled to San Francisco, California where he worked as an international tour director, leading organized tours around the world. However, Damiano found his true calling becoming a registered nurse and clinical nurse specialist upon earning his degree from the University of San Francisco. During the AIDS epidemic, he specialized in caring for the very sick on a local AIDS hospital floor.

Damiano completed a post-Master’s certificate as a family nurse practitioner from Samuel Merritt College where he worked as an instructor for nine years. He also worked as a clinical nurse specialist and educator for Summit Hospital in Oakland. He served veterans as a family nurse practitioner for a number of years in Vallejo, California. Damiano worked in a number of small clinics in primary care and cardiology in Palm Springs, California, where he currently lives.

He is the founder of The Thomas Edwin Walls Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to advancing biomedical ethics at the bedside for the next generation of providers to advocate for sooner hospice placement. He is author of a valuable roadmap for those families who are facing a life-limiting illness with a loved one, Sooner or Later: Restoring Sanity to Your End of Life Care (Transformation Media Books).

Major Highlights and Accomplishments

  • Published Author, Sooner or Later: Restoring Sanity to Your End of Life Care (Transformation Media Books)
  • Board Member, California Nurses Association, Biomedical Ethics Council
  • 23 Year Bedside Experience as a Critical Care Registered Nurse, Clinical Nurse Specialist, College Lecturer, Family Nurse Practitioner.
  • President and CEO, The Thomas Edwin Walls Foundation, Palm Springs