Current Ph.D. students and recent graduates
Current Ph.D. students
Our doctoral students have varied interests and backgrounds, and focus on their scholarship with the benefit of a strong mentoring and peer relationships.
Charlotte Ahr
Pre-Candidate (admitted 2023)
Primary Mentor: Milisa Manojlovich, Ph.D., RN, FAAN
Area of Study: Nurse Safety and Well-Being in Acute Care Settings
Julianne Armijo
Pre-Candidate (admitted 2023)
Primary Mentor: Marie-Anne Rosemberg, PhD, MN, RN, FAAOHN
Area of Study: Registered Nurses with Bipolar Spectrum Disorders (BSDs)
Loren Dobkin
Pre-Candidate (admitted 2023)
Primary Mentor: Erin Kahle, PhD MPH
Area of Study: Sexual and Reproductive Health Disparities
Patricia Drenth
Pre-Candidate (admitted 2022)
Primary mentor: Yasamin Kusunoki, Ph.D., MPH
Area of study: Positive Childhood Experiences and Intergenerational Trauma Transmission
Bethany Emery
Pre-Candidate (admitted 2023)
Primary Mentor: Clayton J. Shuman, Ph.D., MSN, RN
Area of Study: The impact of maternal pre- and postnatal factors on infant and child growth and development
Misun Hwang
Pre-Candidate (admitted 2022)
Primary mentor: Yun Jiang, Ph.D., MS, RN
Area of study: Technology-based solution for improving self-management of patients with chronic conditions
Katherine Kruger
Pre-Candidate (admitted 2023)
Primary Mentor: Sue Anne Bell, PhD, FNP-BC
Area of Study: Women's Health Disparities in Western Pacific Islands
Theresa Norpeli Lanyo
Pre-Candidate (admitted 2023)
Primary Mentor: Jody Lori, PhD, CNM, FACNM, FAAN
Area of Study: Exploring and Developing Innovative Interventions Towards Improvement of Maternal and Reproductive Health Care
Joshua Lidtke-O’Callaghan
Pre-candidate (admitted 2022)
Primary mentor: Erin M. Kahle, Ph.D., MPH
Area of study: Health promotion in transgender populations
Chelsea Moore
Pre-Candidate (admitted 2021)
Primary mentor: Sarah Stoddard, Ph.D., CNP, FSAHM, FAAN
Area of study: Adverse childhood experience (ACE) exposure and adolescent mental health outcomes
Farida Bibi Mughal
Pre-Candidate (admitted 2022)
Primary mentor: Denise M. Saint Arnault, Ph.D., RN, FAAN
Area of study: Women's mental health and mental health promotion through gender-based violence prevention
Christopher Nelson
Pre-Candidate (admitted 2022)
Primary mentor: Primary Mentor: Marie-Anne Rosemberg, PhD, MN, RN, FAAOHN
Area of Study: Allostatic load and chronic disease in indigenous populations
David Ryamukuru
Pre-Candidate (admitted 2021)
Primary mentor: Milisa Manojlovich, Ph.D., RN, FAAN
Area of study: Improving operating room throughput via communication
Hannah Ratliff
Candidate (Admitted 2020)
Primary mentor: Olga Yakusheva, Ph.D.
Area of study: Organizational resilience as a predictor of nurse outcomes and quality of patient care
Thea Senger-Carpenter
Pre-Candidate (admitted 2021)
Primary mentors: Terri Voepel-Lewis, Ph.D., RN and Jade Burns, Ph.D., RN, CPNP-PC
Area of study: Pediatric sleep and physical, psychological symptoms and behavioral outcomes during adolescence
Jung Yoen Son
Pre-Candidate (admitted 2021)
Primary mentor: Janet Larson, Ph.D., RN, FAAN
Area of study: Physical activity in assisted living facilities
Marie Jeanne Tuyisenge
Pre-Candidate (admitted 2021)
Primary mentor: Sheria G. Robinson-Lane, Ph.D., RN
Area of study: Enhancing Geriatric care competencies among nurses
Rebecca Williams
Pre-Candidate (admitted 2021)
Primary mentor: Clayton J. Shuman, Ph.D., MSN, RN
Area of study: Nursing Innovation for the improvement of nurse outcomes and quality of patient care
Sumiyyah Zimami
Pre-Candidate (admitted 2022)
Primary mentor: Hala Darwish, RN, APN, Ph.D., FAAN
Area of Study: Family caregivers for patients with dementia
2023 Graduates
Florence Johnson
Candidate (admitted 2020)
Primary mentor: Sheria G. Robinson-Lane, Ph.D., RN
Area of study: Relationship between community support use and mental health in Black family caregivers
2022 Graduates
Youmin Cho, MSN, RN, AGPCNP-BC
Candidate (admitted 2019)
Primary mentor: Yun Jiang, Ph.D., MS, RN
Area of study: Technology for Cancer Symptom Science
Josephine Granner
Primary mentor: Julia S. Seng, Ph.D., CNM, FAAN
Area of study: The childbearing year for new parents who are survivors of trauma, post-traumatic stress and early fatherhood.
Rachel Lenko
Primary mentors: Terri Voepel-Lewis, Ph.D., RN and Geoffrey J. Hoffman, Ph.D., MPH
Area of study:Achieving Goal-Concordant End-of-Life Care: The Roles of Race/Ethnicity and Advance Care Planning
Carri Polick
Primary mentor: Sarah A. Stoddard, Ph.D., RN, CNP, FSAHM
Area of study: Triggers and causable factors for MS
Weijiao Zhou
Karl Ma Scholar, 2021
Primary mentor: Janet Larson, Ph.D., RN, FAAN
Area of study: Symptom management, perioperative care (focusing on lung cancer patients).
2021 Graduates
Melissa Harris
Primary mentor: Marita G. Titler, Ph.D., RN, FAAN
Area of study: Interventions to improve behavioral symptoms of dementia.
HaEun Lee
Primary mentor: Jody Lori, Ph.D., CNM, FACNM, FAAN
Area of study: Enhancing health literacy in women of sub-Saharan Africa.
Katelyn Webster
Primary Mentor: Janet Larson, Ph.D., RN, FAAN
Area of study: Physical activity in older adults.
2020 Graduates
Dana Beck
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Future of Nursing Scholar
Primary mentor: Michelle Munro-Kramer, Ph.D., CNM, FNP-BC
Area of study: Understanding community mobilization for maternal and child health interventions.
Megan Czerwinski
Hillman Scholar
Primary mentor: Olga Yakusheva, Ph.D. and Yasamin Kusunoki, Ph.D., MPH
Area of study: Sustainability education and competencies in nursing education.
Grace Kanzawa-Lee
Primary mentor: Ellen Smith, Ph.D., APRN, AOCN, FAAN
Area of study: Exercise to reduce chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy: A pilot RCT.
Clare Kuissel
Hillman Scholar
Primary mentor: Ellen Smith, Ph.D., APRN, AOCN, FAAN
Area of study: The impacts of pain in pediatric patients with sickle cell disease.
Amanda Missel
Robert Wood Johnson Foudation Future of Nursing Scholar
Primary mentor: Laura Saslow, Ph.D.
Area of study: Diabetes treatment and prevention.
Alex J. Fauer
Hillman Scholar
Primary mentor: Christopher Friese, Ph.D., RN, AOCN, FAAN
Research Focus: Quality, safety, and patient-centered outcomes in the contexts of cancer care and cellular therapy.
Future Plans: Postdoctoral fellowship in the National Clinician Scholars Program at UCLA.
Asa Smith
Hillman Scholar
Primary Mentor: Debra Barton, Ph.D., FAAN, RN
Research focus: Intervention development for self-management of chronic illness.
Future plans: Postdoctoral fellowship at Indiana University School of Nursing with transition into a faculty position following.
Elizabeth Umberfield
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Future of Nursing Scholar
Primary Mentor: Milisa Manojlovich, Ph.D., RN, CCRN
Area of study: Characterizing communication failures between oncology care team members.
