91ÊÓƵ

Awards

Academic

2025

University Outstanding Student of the Year Award
Margaret (Peg) Hickey

PhD in Nursing Outstanding Dissertation
Shiyon Mathew

PhD in Nursing Outstanding Alumna/Alumnus
Elizabeth Berro

2024

PhD in Nursing Outstanding Dissertation
Christopher Brooks, PhD

PhD in Nursing Outstanding Alumna/Alumnus
Diana Lulgiuraj, PhD

Scholarship Day

PhD in Nursing Best Poster Award
Nadia Elliott-Hernandez, MSN, RN
Collection and use of childhood sexual trauma history in adult psychiatric inpatient care an exploratory case study proposal. Lin Drury, PhD, RN, dissertation chair.

American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN)

Student Policy Summit Ambassador 2025
Sean Ryan

New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM)

FIRE 2024 Showcase
Best PhD Student Presentations
Carla McNulty
One of four PhD student winners selected to present her study as a podium presentation.

Grant Awards

Canadian Alliance of Nurse Educators Using Simulation (CAN-Sim)
Esmira Yusofova
2025

Center for Nursing Foundation of New York State of Nursing
Mary J. Finnin Grant
Carla McNulty
2025

Omega Delta Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International Nurses Honor Society
Amir Islam
2025

Jonas Doctoral Student Program
Rachel Robins
2024-2026

National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Carla McNulty
For attendance at ELNEC Oncology APRN
2024

Amelia Gould Endowed Professorship for PhD in Nursing
Catherine S. Finlayson, PhD, RN, OCN
Decisional conflict and self-efficacy in women with recurrent ovarian cancer.

Student Peer-reviewed Presentations

We are excited to report our doctoral students have presented 53 podium and/or poster research throughout 2024 and 2025!

• American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) Graduate Students Association Meeting: 2
• American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) Diversity Leadership Institute Capstone Poster Showcase: 1
• Eastern Nurses Research Society (ENRS): 18
• Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Aging Conference: 1
• Inaugural 91ÊÓƵ Research Conference Innovative Solutions in the Service of Humanity: 11
• Montefiore Medical Center 10th Annual Nursing Research Conference: 3
• Montefiore Research Day: 2
• National League for Nursing (NLN) Education Summit: 3
• New York Academy of Medicine Forum for Intercollegiate Regional Events (FIRE) Showcase of Doctoral Student Research: 7
• Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society Region 14 Research Conference: 2
• Society of Pediatric Nurses 32nd Annual Conference: 2
• Transcultural Nursing Society Annual Meeting: 1

Student Publications

• Velasquez, J. & Smith, A. Nurse Educator 51(1):p E8-E12, January/February 2026.
• Lasater, K.B., Annis, A., DeGuzman, P.B., Dixon, J., Kett, P., Kim, S., Mason, A., Montgomery, A.P., Muir, J.K., Olanrewaju, S., O’Reilly-Jacob, M., Porat-Dahlerbruch, J., Sliwinski, K., Smith, J.M., Adeleye, K., Adekeye, O.T., Agyei, J., Carrico, S., Gil, J., Kumarasamy, H.E., Maye, A., McNulty, C., Odii, C.O., Reed, T., Ryamukuru, D., Shah, R., Stevens, J.B., Tibbit, C., Yu, H., Ghazal, L., Nikpour, J., Squires, A., Thompson, R.A. & Connell, K.(2025). Journal of Nursing Regulation.
• Nowlin, Sarah Y. PhD, MSN, RN; Boychuk, Natalie MPH; Essein, Nicole MSN, RN-BC; Glazer, Kimberly PhD, MPH; Howell, Frances M. PhD, MA; Burdick, Micki PhD, MA; Oshewa, Oluwadamilola BS; Monterroso, Maria BS; Rodriguez, Alva MPH; Cabrera, Camila MD; Maru, Sheela MD, MPH; Lewey, Jennifer MD, MPH; Howell, Elizabeth A. MD, MPP; Levine, Lisa MD, MSCE; Janevic, Teresa PhD, MPH. MCN, The American Journal of Maternal/Child Nursing ():10.1097/NMC.0000000000001156, September 17, 2025.
• Yang, Cl., Yang, Wh., Gao, Z. et al. Probiotics & Antimicro. Prot. (2025).
• Mathew, R., FNP-BC, NP, RN, Wexler, S. S., PhD, RN, FNGNA, & Roush, K., PhD, RN, FNP. (2024). The Journal of the New York State Nurses Association, 51(2).
• Robins, Rachel CNM, MSN, CLC; Ryan, Sean James FNP-BC, MSN; Villarente, Farley A. MSN, RN, FNP, CCRN. Nursing Research 73(6):p 424-425, 11/12 2024.
• Finlayson, C. S., Banfield, A., Robalino, H., & Hickey, P. (2024). Practical Implementation of Nursing Science, 3(1), pp. 12–15.

Events

PhD Milestone Day

December 2025

A celebration of all PhD in Nursing students and the progress they made during the Fall 2025 semester. All students in the proposal development phase of their research presented a poster highlighting their progress. December 2025

Inaugural Graduating Class

May 2021

The College of Health Professions celebrated the very first graduates of the Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing program. Brava, Doctors Michele Flynch, Delores McGregor, and Chava Pollak!

Image

Harriet S. Feldman Center for Doctoral Education in Nursing Dedication

September 2021

91ÊÓƵ celebrated the leadership and legacy of Dean Emerita Harriet R. Feldman, PhD, RN, FAAN with a ribbon cutting and formal dedication of Wright Cottage on the Pleasantville Campus as the Harriet R. Feldman Center for Doctoral Education in Nursing. The Center, generously allocated and renovated by the University for the College of Health Professions, houses administration, faculty, and staff of both doctoral programs, and provides a welcome space for students to conduct research, connect with their professors, and continue the leadership of the College of Health professions that is the legacy of Dean Feldman.

Past News

PhD Student Receives Sigma Theta Tau Grant

Student Kisha Thompson was awarded a $5,000 Sigma Theta Tau grant for her proposal, Reflection and Resilience Influences that Support Survival in Young Black Men.

Student poster presentation

PhD in Nursing student Wen Hsing Yang presented his poster, An integrative review of an ecological approach to childhood obesity, at the Pediatric Endocrinology Nursing Meeting 2021. March 2021

Congratulations to Jacqueline Cassagnol, A Jefferson Award winner for Outstanding Public Service

Jacqueline Cassagnol, MSN, RN, PMC, a 91ÊÓƵ College of Health Professions student has been recognized with a 2020 Jefferson Award, a prestigious national honor that celebrates ordinary citizens who are doing extraordinary acts of public service. Cassagnol, a PhD in Nursing candidate at CHP, is the first student from 91ÊÓƵ to earn the national honor, and the third member of the 91ÊÓƵ community. She joins an impressive list of people who have earned an award that is often considered the 'Nobel Prize for Public Service'.

Student receives ENRS Scholarship

Congratulations to Cindy Paradiso, clinical adjunct nursing instructor, for being chosen as a 2020 Eastern Nursing Research Society (ENRS) Student Travel Scholarship Recipient. Thanks to generous donations from ENRS members, these scholarships give opportunities to students to attend ENRS Virtual Annual Scientific Sessions or to extend their membership for a year. Brava, Cindy!

Program chair receives GAPNA Grant

Congratulations to Sharon Stahl Wexler, PhD, RN, FNGNA, chair, PhD in Nursing, who received the Foundation of the Gerontological Advanced Practice Nurses Association (GAPNA) Virginia Lee Cora Research Grant at the GAPNA annual meeting in San Diego California. The Grant was established in memoriam to one of the founding members of GAPNA and is awarded to an Advanced Practice Nurse Researcher for a research study with a focus on APRNs, older adults and their families. The grant was given to fund her, Examining the feasibility of a novel animatronic pet to increase walker use in a sample of community dwelling older adults with co-author Lin Drury, PhD, RN, professor. Dr. Wexler is the chair elect of the Research Committee of GAPNA. September 2021

PhD students present at Digital Innovators inaugural program

Image

PhD in Nursing students Kisha Thompson and Shiyon Mathew represented 91ÊÓƵ College of Health Professions at the Digital Innovators inaugural program. This was a collaboration between Apple and the Graduate Student Nursing Society (GNSA) designed to demonstrate how nursing education can be enhanced using technology. August 2021

PhD in Nursing students and professors advocate for Clinical Preceptor Tax Credit Act

PhD in Nursing students, Roxanna Raffa, Cynthia Paradiso, and Carol Ann Wanyo, along with Andrea Sonenberg, PhD, WHNP, CNM-BC, FNAP, FNYAM, professor, and Government and Community Relations Director Rachana Shah, spent time in Albany advocating for the Clinical Preceptor Tax Credit Act, an initiative that CHP and GCR have been working on for several years. Pictured below are Rachana Shah, Roxanna Yukiko Raff, Professor Andrea Sonenberg, Carol Ann Wanyo, and Cynthia Kay Paradiso. November 2021

Image