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
2018 Cohort
Shazia Mitha, MSN, AG-ACNP-BC, RN
Shazia Mitha, MSN, AG-ACNP-BC, RN, is a RWJF Future of Nursing Scholar. Her research interests include the intersection of oncology and cardiology with a strong emphasis in symptom science, precision medicine, genomics and the use of big data and informatics to examine complex problems of the aging population. Her dissertation focuses on phenotyping cardiotoxicity in cancer patients using electronic health record and natural language processing.
Faculty Mentors: Arlene Smaldone, PhD, CPNP-PC, CDE, FAAN and Maxim Topaz, PhD, RN
![Headshot of Shazia Mitha]()
2019 Cohort
Joseph Belloir, MSc, PMHNP-BC
Joseph Belloir, MSN, PMHNP-BC, is a nurse practitioner with experience in community psychiatry. His research interests include sexual and gender minorities, mental health, substance abuse, and health disparities.
Faculty Mentor: Walter Bockting, PhD
Christine DeForge, MSN, RN, CCRN
Christine DeForge, MSN, RN, CCRN was a 2017-2019 Academic-Practice Research fellow through Columbia Nursing and NewYork-Presyterian Hospital. Her research interests include ICU delirium and outcomes after critical illness for patients and families.
Faculty Mentor: Maureen George, PhD, RN, AE-C, FAAN
Katherine South, BSN, RN
Katherine South, BSN, RN, has experience in inpatient pediatrics. Her research interests are adolescents with chronic illness, treatment adherence, self-management, transition of care, and cystic fibrosis.
Faculty Mentors: Maureen George, PhD, RN, AE-C, FAAN and Arlene Smaldone, PhD, CPNP-PC, CDE, FAAN
Sarah Zollweg, BSN, RN
Sarah Zollweg, BSN, RN has experience in oncology, med/surg, dermatology, and health education. Her research focuses on social and structural determinants of sexual minority women’s alcohol use. Her interests include health inequities, neighborhoods, housing and financial insecurity, and policy.
Faculty Mentor: Tonda Hughes, PhD, RN, FAAN
2020 Cohort
Kylie Dougherty, BSN, RN
Kylie Dougherty, BSN, RN, has experience working as an international volunteer nurse in both Haiti and Honduras. Her research interests are maternal healthcare, global health, and access to healthcare. Kylie’s work focuses on preventing preterm birth in developing countries.
Faculty Mentors: Elizabeth J. Corwin, PhD, RN, FAAN and Tonda L. Hughes, PhD, RN, FAAN
Mollie Hobensack, BSN, RN
Mollie Hobensack, BSN, RN has experience working on a geriatric inpatient unit. Her research interests include the use of big data and informatics to improve geriatric outcomes.
Faculty Mentor: Maxim Topaz, PhD, RN
Chloe (Jung A) Kang, MSN, AGACNP-BC, AGCNS-BC, RN
Chloe (Jung A) Kang, MSN, AGACNP-BC, AGCNS-BC, RN has experience in critical care and oncology. Research interest includes infection prevention and control, end-of-life care, palliative care, and health care quality.
Faculty Mentor: Patricia Stone, PhD, RN, FAAN, CIC
Sarah Leonard, MSN, RN
Sarah Leonard, MSN, RN (pronouns: she/her/hers) is a 2021-2023 Jonas Scholar with research interests including weight discrimination, intersectional discrimination, LGBTQ+ mental health disparities, adolescent mental health, and school policy. She is particularly interested in the potential for school policy to reduce discrimination and support the mental health of LGBTQ+ and other minoritized students.
Faculty Mentor: Jean-Marie Bruzzese, PhD
Amy McMenamin, BSN, RN
Amy McMenamin, BSN, RN, is a Certified Emergency Nurse whose work focuses on health care policy and organizational structure.
Faculty Mentor: Lusine Poghosyan, PhD, RN
Yashika Sharma, RN, MSN
Yashika Sharma, MSN, RN earned a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry from University of Rochester and Masters of Science in Nursing from Columbia Nursing. Her research interests include sexual and gender minority health, intersectionality, and health inequities, in particular the effects of minority stressors on tobacco use among marginalized populations. Her research focuses on eliminating tobacco-related disparities in sexual and gender minority adults.
Faculty Mentors: Tonda Hughes, PhD and Billy Caceres, PhD
Brittany Taylor, BS, RN
Brittany Taylor, BS, RN is T32 predoctoral trainee for Reducing Health Disparities Through Informatics (RHeaDI). She has a prior BS in biomedical informatics and experience in med/surg, telemetry, and pediatric congregate care. Her research interests include genomics, data mining, and health disparities.
Faculty Mentors: Kenrick Cato, PhD, RN, CPHIMS, FAAN and Jacquelyn Taylor, PhD, PNP-BC, FAHA, FAAN
Eleanor Turi, MPhil, BSN, RN, CCRN
Eleanor Turi, MPhil, BSN, RN, CCRN has experience in pediatric intensive care. Her research interests include mental health services, nursing workforce, and health disparities.
Faculty Mentor: Lusine Poghosyan, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN
2021 Cohort
Christina Congdon, MS, CRNA
Christina R. Congdon, MS, CRNA, has experience in anesthesiology, critical care, and international healthcare. Her research interests include health care policy, workforce, maternal health, and improving global access to safe surgical and anesthesia care.
Faculty Mentor: Gregory L. Alexander, PhD, RN, FAAN, FACMI
Danielle Scharp MSN, RN, APRN, FNP-BC
Danielle Scharp MSN, RN, APRN, FNP-BC is a family nurse practitioner with experience in primary care. Her research interests include lower urinary tract symptoms in women, pelvic floor disorders, and symptom science.
Faculty Mentor: Maxim Topaz, PhD, RN
2022 Cohort
Justinna Dixon, BSN, RN
Justinna Dixon, BSN, RN is a T32 predoctoral trainee for Comparative and Cost-Effectiveness. Research Training for Nurse Scientists (CER2). She has clinical experience in psychiatric and substance abuse units. Her research interests include mental health services, the nursing workforce, and health disparities.
Faculty Mentor: Lusine Poghosyan, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN
Dawn M Feldthouse, MSN RN-BC
Dawn M Feldthouse, MSN RN-BC (pronouns she/her/hers) is a board-certified nurse informaticist who graduated from New York University's informatics program as the Valedictorian and Distinguished Master’s Student of her class. She is currently working on her PhD at Columbia University where she is focusing on leveraging user-centered design methodologies and data visualization to innovate and optimize the way critical healthcare information is communicated. She is an active member of various professional organizations including HIMSS and ANIA and speaks regularly at conferences. She has published on topics such as digital diabetes prevention, secure healthcare communication, and nursing education and professional development.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Suzanne B. Bakken, PhD, RN, FAAN, FACMI
Tyler Gaedecke, BSN, RN
Tyler Gaedecke, BSN, RN (pronouns: he/him, they/them) is a nurse with clinical experience in pediatric critical care and an academic background in gender and sexuality studies. Their research interests include LGBTQ health disparities, health policy, nursing empowerment, and the optimization of health services and systems to best serve the needs of transgender and nonbinary populations.
Faculty Mentors: Walter Bockting, PhD and Kasey Jackman, PhD, RN, PMHNP-BC
Alexandria L. Hahn, MSc, MS, RN
Alexandria L. Hahn, MSc, MS, RN (pronouns: she/her/hers) is a T32 predoctoral trainee for Reducing Health Disparities Through Informatics (RHeaDI). She earned a Masters of Science in Medical Anthropology from University of Edinburgh, UK and a Masters of Science in Nursing from Columbia University. Her research interests include maternal health, disease experience and beliefs, health disparities, and self-management support and education.
Faculty Mentor: Rebecca Schnall, PhD, MPH, RN-BC, FAAN
Sarah E. Harkins, BSN, RN
Sarah E Harkins, BSN, RN has experience in maternal fetal health and adult emergency services. Her research interests include early identification and treatment of maternal mood disorders and obstetric emergencies. Her focus is to improve birth outcomes and experiences for vulnerable populations.
Faculty Mentors: Veronica Barcelona, PhD, MSN, RN and Maureen George, PhD, RN, AE-C, FAAN
Madison D. Horton, BSN, RN
Madison D. Horton, BSN, RN (pronouns: she/her/hers) has experience with nursing research in global settings and applying the discipline of Anthropology to further nursing theory and approaches to practice. Research interests include working with Non-English-Speaking populations and using the nursing workforce to improve healthcare infrastructure to reduce experienced healthcare disparities and chronic outcomes.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Lusine Poghosyan PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN
David López Veneros, MA, BSN, RN
David López Veneros, MA, BSN, RN (pronouns: he/him/his) has international clinical experience in health education, community, school and rural health, and research experience in behavioral cardiovascular health. His research interests include stress management, cardiovascular health, and health disparities among sexual and gender minority people.
Faculty Mentors: Billy Caceres, PhD, RN, FAHA, FAAN and Walter Bockting, PhD, LP
NYP Part-time Program
Danica Dorlette MPH, BSN, RN, OCN
Danica Dorlette MPH, BSN, RN, OCN is an oncology nurse specialized in hematologic malignancies. She has public health experience ranging from environmental justice efforts to involvement in qualitative research on disaster-exposed populations. Her research interests are in cancer health disparities, health literacy, public health, and health policy.
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 and Arlene Smaldone, PhD, CPNP-PC, 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.
