Meet Our Students
Columbia Nursing PhD student enter the program from Bachelor of Science, Masters Direct Entry, and Master's programs.
Bachelor of Science to PhD:
The Columbia Nursing PhD program provided the foundation necessary for me to identify and refine my research topic.
Katherine Zheng, BSN, PhD '20
Accelerated degree/Master's Direct Entry (MDE) to PhD:
The program built on my prior MDE studies to give me the skills needed to approach health issues as a nurse researcher.
Meghan Murray, MPH, MS '16, PhD '19
Master's to PhD:
After completing my master's degree in informatics, I knew I needed a PhD program with top thought-leaders in the field to mentor me toward my research goals. That's why I chose Columbia University, with their outstanding faculty of informatics innovators.
Dawn M. Feldthouse MSN, RN-BC
2023 Cohort
Susan Maloney, BSN, RN
Susan Maloney, BSN, RN (pronouns: she/her/hers) has an academic background in Gender and Women’s Studies and Creative Writing for which she earned a BA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2019. In 2021, she received her BSN, also from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Susan’s clinical nursing background is in pediatric general care. Her PhD research centers transgender and gender diverse adolescent sexual health as it relates to policy at the school-, district-, and state-levels. Her interests include gender diverse populations, pediatrics, sexuality and gender, and an intersectional approach to public policy.
Faculty Mentors: Kasey Jackman, PhD, MPhil, MS, BS, BA, PMHNP-BC & Jean-Marie Bruzzese, PhD
2024 Cohort
Sarah S. Giordano BSN, RN, AHN-BC
Sarah S. Giordano BSN, RN, AHN-BC (pronouns: she/her/hers) is a Columbia University School of Nursing PhD student. Her research interests are universal access to healthcare, public health, primary care, nurse empowerment, nurse leadership, the healing properties of consciousness and the connection within and between us and our environment.
Faculty Mentors: Lusine Poghosyan, PhD, MPH, RN & Monica O'Reilly-Jacob PhD, APRN, FNP-BC, FAAN
Sophia Kalomeris, BSN
Sophia Kalomeris, BSN is a Phd Nursing Student passionate about advocating for sexual minority women and enhancing their sexual health outcomes. Her research focuses on identifying and mitigating barriers to care that these women often face, particularly concerning their STD/STI status. She graduated with her BSN from University of San Francisco and has worked in Trauma/Orthopedics and Cardiology as a bedside nurse. She also has been very involved in community health initiatives and working with the non-profit Walking Palms Global Health, where she gained a passion for women’s/reproductive health.
Irvin Ong, EdD, DNP, RN, LPT, AGPCNP-BC, FPSQua, FAAN
Irvin Ong, DNP, RN, LPT, AGPCNP-BC, FPSQua, FAAN (pronouns: he/him/his) has over 15 years of professional experience in education, healthcare, and research. He is a champion of continuing professional development and an advocate of gerontologic health using innovative technology. Dr. Ong is the president of Phi Gamma, Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing's ONLY virtual chapter. His research interests are older adult health, advanced health technologies, omics research, lifelong learning, and health equity.
Diego Redondo-Sáenz, MSN, BSN
Diego Redondo-Sáenz, MSN, BSN (pronouns: he/him/his) has clinical experience in occupational health, emergency nursing, and perioperative care, and research experience in qualitative approaches (particularly life history and qualitative descriptive designs), as well as quantitative approaches, including correlational studies and factor analysis. Prior to joining the PhD program he was a faculty member at the University of Costa Rica, with a joint appointment at the School of Nursing and the School of Medicine. His research interests include cognition, symptom science, "omics" approaches, and perioperative care.
Faculty Mentors: Ulf G Bronas, PhD, ATC, ATR, FSVM, FAHA & Ruth Masterson Creber, PhD, MSc, RN, FAAN, FAHA, FHFSA
Kyle Edward Reyes, MSN, BSN, RN, CCRN, CWCN
Kyle Edward Reyes, MSN, BSN, RN, CCRN, CWCN (pronouns: he/him/his) is a critical care RN with diverse clinical bedside experiences across varied inpatient departmental specialties since 2016. He started his career on a general surgery/orthopedic/bariatric unit in New Jersey before eventually transferring to NewYork-Presbyterian - Columbia to a cardiothoracic surgery stepdown unit. During that time, he obtained a post-baccaularate CWOCN certificate from Cleveland Clinic, and spent his extra time actively engaging within their wound care committee, specifically focusing on audits/documentation, education, and quality improvement of wound care practices. His most recent experiences were in the Medical ICU within the Department of Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine and is trained in VV-ECMO. He recently graduated with an MSN degree with a AG-ACNP specialization, and hopes to become an Ph.D.-prepared nurse practitioner, researcher, and educator. His underlying clinical experiences and collaboration with nurse researchers were elemental in informing his interests toward how research has influences, guides, and improves RN/APN standards of practice and shapes evidenced-based clinical practice appoaches as it relates to patientcare safety, efficacy, and quality.
Research interests include: cardiac palliative care models in heart failure populations; palliative care experience(s)/early intervention/guideline-directed therapy/patient-centered philosophy on recovery; cardiology/cardiovascular health/structural heart; heart failure (HF)/HF phenotyping, HF symptom experiences, HF prognostication; genomics/proteonomics; data-analysis and forecasting
Faculty Mentor: Ruth Masterson Creber, PhD, MSc, RN, FAAN, FAHA, FHFSA
Jiaojiao Wright, MSN, RN
Jiaojiao Wright, MSN, RN graduated from Traditional Chinese Medicine University in China, holds a master’s degree in Chinese-English translation and interpretation from Xian Jiaotong University and an MSN from Johns Hopkins. She was a frontline nurse during covid and worked as an ER nurse at New York Presbyterian lower Manhattan hospital. She is the recipient for best poster award in the 2024 NYP Emergency Medicine Symposium. Her research interests are AI-based tools to assist the communication between providers and non-English speaking patients
Faculty Mentors: Maxim Topaz, PhD, MA, RN, FAAN & Meghan Reading Turchioe, PhD, MPH, RN
2026 Cohort
Samantha Cueto, BS, RN
Samantha Cueto, BS, RN is a PhD Nursing student experienced in critical care and cardiac nursing at the bedside. She is a graduate from University of Pennsylvania's BSN program, where she engaged in R01 research interventions such as implementation science frameworks and community-based participatory research (CBPR). Samantha also served as a Public Health Nurse Fellow through Americorps and a Sands Nursing Scholar at Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center. Her current research interests include preventive health promotion for ethnic minority populations and AI governance in hospital settings
Faculty Mentors: Natalie Benda, PhD and Ruth Masterson Creber, PhD, MSc, RN, FAAN, FAHA, FHFSA
Ann Godzwon, BSN, BA, MBA, RN
Ann Godzwon, BSN, BA, MBA, RN (pronouns: she/her/hers) has research interests in serving sexual and gender minority populations in areas of mental health, substance abuse and pain management.
Faculty Mentors: Walter Bockting, PhD, LP and Kasey Jackman PhD, RN, PMHNP-BC
Victoria Jensen, MS, FNP-BC
Victoria Jensen, MS, FNP-BC (pronouns: she/her/hers) is a Registered Nurse and Family Nurse Practitioner with eight years of clinical experience in the operating room, with a focus on orthopedic surgery. Victoria’s academic background reflects an interdisciplinary foundation in both social sciences and nursing. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University of California, Los Angeles, followed by a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, and a Master of Science in Nursing from Georgetown University. This combination of sociologic and clinical training frames her research interests, which center on perspectives, beliefs, and attitudes towards universal healthcare, as well as the structural and individual barriers that impede access to health insurance and therefore timely, appropriate medical care. Through her work, she seeks to better understand how healthcare systems, policy, and individual circumstances intersect to shape patients’ ability to obtain the care they deserve.
Faculty Mentor: Lusine Poghosyan, PhD, MPH, RN
Hsin-Ni Lee, BSN, RN
Hsin-Ni Lee, BSN, RN (pronouns: she/her/hers) graduated with a BSN from the University of Washington, she was a de Tornyay Center for Healthy Aging’s 2023-2024 Myrene C. McAninch Undergraduate Scholar. She has one year of medical-surgical nursing experience at Olympic Medical Center, Port Angeles, Washington. Prior to joining Columbia, she completed clinical training in Taiwan and earned my Taiwan registered nursing license. Her research Interests center on older adult health and family caregiving support, with a specific focus on the Asian immigrant population in the US.
Faculty Mentors: Jingjing Shang, PhD, FAAN and Maryam Zolnoori, PhD
Nelson Omweno, MHA, BSN, RN
Nelson Omweno, MHA, BSN, RN (pronouns: he/him) is a PhD student at Columbia University School of Nursing. His research interests focus on the trustworthy and equitable use of digital health interventions, particularly artificial intelligence, in cardiovascular and mental health care among sexual and gender minority populations. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) from Chuka University in Kenya and his Master of Healthcare Administration (MHA) with a specialization in Public Health from Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP). He previously practiced as a nurse at Kenyatta National Hospital in Kenya. His research experience spans Kenya and the United States and includes qualitative and mixed-methods research. During his master's program, he supported nursing faculty with research activities and curriculum development.
Faculty Mentors: Billy Caceres, PhD, RN, FAAN, FAHA and Meghan Reading Turchioe, PhD, MPH, RN, FAHA
Maryann Peterson, MSN, RN, CPN, C-NPT
Maryann Peterson, MSN, RN, CPN, C-NPT (pronouns: she/her/hers) has clinical experience in pediatrics, pediatric critical care, and neonatal/pediatric critical care interfacility transport. She has collaborated with multiple disciplines on poster presentations, an oral presentation at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and has led a publication in the Transport Dispatch, the journal led by the Section of Transport Medicine at AAP. All these projects were focused on exemplary interfacility transport practices. Prior to joining the PhD program, she was an adjunct professor at Adelphi University, lecturing on fundamentals and pharmacology for undergraduate nursing students. Her research interests include improving care for pediatric patients with asthma in under-resourced communities.
Faculty Mentors: Maureen George, PhD, AE-C, RN, FAAN and Melissa Beauchemin, PhD, MSN, BSN, BA, CPNP-PC, CPON, FAAN
Shuyao (Suzy) Ran, MPH, RN, BSN
Shuyao (Suzy) Ran, MPH, RN, BSN is a PhD student and NIH/NINR T32 RHeaDI Predoctoral Research Fellow at Columbia University School of Nursing. Her research interests include health informatics, substance use, behavioral health, and health services research. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) from the University of Iowa and my Master of Public Health (MPH) from the University of Southern California. She had approximately 2.5 years of experience managing Phase I-III COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials in the pharmaceutical industry. She also has approximately 2 years of research experience in digital health and health informatics. Her research has focused on substance use behaviors, particularly smoking and vaping, and the use of wearable devices (e.g., smartwatches) to detect health behaviors and support mobile health interventions.
NYP Part-time Program
Amanda DiSerio, BSN, RN
Amanda DiSerio, BSN, RN is a critical care nurse at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, specializing in cardiac intensive care. Her research interests focus on capturing and supporting the experiences of patients with advanced heart failure. She is a graduate of the NewYork-Presbyterian Academic Practice Nurse Research Fellowship and intends to continue her work examining moral distress among ICU nurses and identifying interventions that support and empower nurses’ involvement in end-of-life decision-making conversations. Amanda is actively involved in the Research & Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) Council at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell, where she has held both Chair and Co-Chair roles. Her fellowship research is forthcoming in the American Journal of Critical Care in 2027.
Faculty Mentor: Ruth Masterson Creber, PhD, MSc, RN, FAAN, FAHA, FHFSA
Lenka Hellerova, MS, BSN, AE-C
Lenka Hellerova, MS, BSN, AE-C is a pediatric emergency room nurse and a former Academic-Practice Research fellow (2018-2020) through CUSON and NYP. Her research interests include adolescent mental and behavioral health, and disparities in healthcare access among minoritized urban populations.
Faculty Mentors: Jean-Marie Bruzzese, PhD & Arlene Smaldone, PhD, CPNP-PC, FAAN
Brianna Lin, BSN, RN
Brianna Lin, BSN, RN is a critical care nurse at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Her research program is focused on the interplay of interprofessional collaboration, nursing work environment factors, and clinician outcomes including wellbeing and workforce retention. Over the past 4 years, she has been active on several research initiatives through the New York Presbyterian Research Council, including a study of the physical and psychological effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on nursing workforce. She is an active member of the Eastern Nursing Research Society
Faculty Mentors: Allison Norful PhD, RN, ANP-BC, FAAN & Jean Marie Bruzzese, PhD
Simon Paul P. Navarro, MA, BSN, RN, CCRN, TCRN
Simon Paul P. Navarro, MA, BSN, RN, CCRN, TCRN (pronouns: he/ him/ his) has international clinical experience in critical care, perianesthesia, and medical-surgical nursing. He’s a nursing research fellow in the Academic-Practice Research Fellowship Program at New-York Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University School of Nursing (CUSON). His research interests center on workforce dynamics, issues, and outcomes within nursing practice environments.
Faculty Mentors: Allison Norful PhD, RN, ANP-BC, FAAN & Gregory L. Alexander, PhD, RN, FAAN, FACMI
Helen Park-Chong, MS, FNP-BC, BC-ADM
Helen Park-Chong, MS, FNP-BC, BC-ADM (pronouns: she/her/hers) is a family nurse practitioner at New York Presbyterian Hospital - Columbia University Medical Center and a PhD Nursing student. She is passionate about optimizing chronic disease management and prevention care as a primary care provider, and her research focuses on self-management and self-efficacy interventions in adults with diabetes and obesity.
Faculty Mentors: Jean-Marie Bruzzese, PhD & Maureen George, PhD, RN, AE-C, FAAN
Eunice Eunyoung Yang, MSN, AGACNP-BC, CNN, CDCES
Eunice Eunyoung Yang, MSN, AGACNP-BC, CNN, CDCES, is an adult gerontology acute care nurse practitioner specializing in diabetes education and end-stage renal disease management. Eunice's research interests are health promotion for people with diabetes and diabetes-related complications.
Faculty Mentor: Arlene Smaldone, PhD, MA, BS, PNP-PC, CDCES
