Featured Graduates

Columbia University School of Nursing PhD program graduates serve in a variety of academic, health care, government, policy, and nonprofit organizations. These nurse scientists help increase knowledge about health outcomes and disparities, provide leadership in improving health care delivery, and translate evidence into practice and policy. 

Our Graduates

  • Ragnhildur Bjarnadottir, PhD, MPH

    • Assistant Professor, University of Florida

    Dr. Bjarnadottir's area of research is leveraging health informatics and data science to improve health care quality for underserved populations.

    Dissertation title: Assessment and Documentation of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Home Health Care.

  • Sharron Close, PhD

    • Assistant Professor, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University

    Dr. Close's research areas include pediatric primary care, developmental pediatrics, and management of chronic conditions of genetic origin and variations of sex chromosome aneuploidy.

    Dissertation title: An Exploratory Study of Physical Phenotype, Reproductive Hormones, Cardiometabolic Biomarkers and Psychosocial Health Parameters in Boys with Klinefelter Syndrome.

  • Catherine C. Cohen, PhD, RN

    • Associate Policy Researcher at the RAND Corporation

    Dr. Cohen's research areas include prevention of health care-associated infections, particularly those with antibiotic resistance, and improvements in post-acute and end of life care, especially among older adults.

    Dissertation title: Multidrug-Resistant Organism Infection & Isolation Precautions in Nursing Homes.

  • Yamnia Cortes, PhD, MPH, FNP-BC

    • Assistant Professor at UNC Chapel Hill School of Nursing

    Dr. Cortes's research areas include cardiovascular disease in midlife women, reproductive health across the life course, and behavioral interventions.

    Dissertation title: Menopause Effects on the Cardiovascular System and Bone Loss in Postmenopausal Women with HIV.

  • Patricia Dykes, PhD, MA, RN, FAAN, FACMI

    • Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; and Senior Scientist, Program Director, Research, Center for Patient Safety, Research and Practice, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital

    Dr. Dykes's research focus area is quality and safety of care and adverse event prevention. Dr. Dykes and her team have developed Fall TIPS, a decision-support and communication intervention for use by the care team, patients and family members to prevent patient falls (www.FallTIPS.org). In addition, she is conducting research on the bedside data needs and preferences of hospitalized patients, and evaluating the use of patient-centered technology for patient engagement in their plan of care and adverse event prevention. Dykes is the Partners HealthCare site PI for the STRIDE Fall prevention clinical trial, a national PCORI/NIA-funded study that seeks to integrate known fall prevention evidence into primary care practices. In addition, she is leading the development of electronic clinical quality measures (eCQMs) for use in the national Quality Payment Program related to care of patients post total joint surgery including complications, opioid-related adverse events and opioid extended use.

    Dissertation title: Adherence to Practice Guidelines and Heart Failure Outcomes before and after Implementation of the HEARTFELT.

  • Jasmine Travers, PhD, AGNP-C, RN CCRN

    • (Nursing), (VA Scholar), National Clinician Scholars Program

    Dr. Travers is currently pursuing a research career that advances and implements knowledge designed to reduce health disparities experienced by vulnerable older adult populations. Her long-term career goal is to transform healthcare delivery for older adults through evidence, clinical practice, and health policy. She has published on several topics related to aging, health promotion, long-term care and access to care.

    Dissertation title: Infection Control and Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Influenza and Pneumococcal Vaccination in Nursing Home.

Recent Dissertation Titles