2010 Post Docs

Laura L. Ardizzone, DNP, CRNA received her BSN from the University of Pennsylvania and her MS and DNP from Columbia University School of Nursing. Laura is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Nursing and the Director of Clinical Education for the Nurse Anesthesia Program at Columbia University School of Nursing. She maintains a clinical practice at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center where she provides anesthesia services for a wide variety of surgical procedures and all age groups. Laura serves as a member of the board of directors of the New York State Association of Nurse. Her research interests include patient safety and patient outcomes and for her post-doctoral project she will spend 20% of her time for a year leading a project with a team from the School of Nursing and Memorial Sloan Kettering to examine surgical patient's knowledge about hand hygiene practices.

Phyllis Tarallo, DNP, has practiced as a Family Nurse Practitioner in gynecologic oncology and co-investigator on women's health clinical trials for the past ten years. In 2007, Phyllis joined the faculty of Columbia University School of Nursing as an Assistant Clinical Professor of Nursing and the Director of the Hepatobiliary Oncology Program in the Center for Liver Disease and Transplantation. It was in this role that she began to develop her interest in detecting the impact of liver transplantation on cervical dysplasia and Human Papilloma Virus. As a member of the Center for Clinical Practice and a recipient of the Dean's Distinguished Post-Doctoral DNP fellowship she will spend 20% of her time for the next year to examine the impact of immunosuppression on women at high risk for HPV and the need for closer monitoring for early detection of cervical dysplasia. She will also initiate a women's health program in the Center for Liver Disease and Transplantation.

Argerie Tsimicalis, PhD, has been awarded a Dean's Distinguished Scholar Award. Dr. Tsimicalis recently completed her doctoral education at the Lawrence S. Bloomberg School of Nursing, University of Toronto. For her dissertation, she conducted a mixed methods study to determine the costs incurred by families with children diagnosed with cancer. This important research was highlighted in the Canadian National Post newspaper and supported by the Canadian Cancer Society, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario (POGO), the University of Toronto, and The Hospital for Sick Children. Under the mentorship of Dr. Stone and as a member of the Center for Health Policy, Dr. Tsimicalis will spend one year investigating the societal costs incurred by other families with children diagnosed with complex chronic conditions.

The Center for Interdisciplinary Research to Reduce Antimicrobial Resistance (CIRAR) is pleased to appoint Dr. Benjamin Miko as a postdoctoral trainee to its training grant, T90 NR010824. Dr. Miko is a second year fellow in the Division of Infectious Diseases, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. After graduating from Boston University Medical School in 2006, Dr. Miko also completed his internship and residency in the Department of Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center. Dr. Miko's research interests include transmission of community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus through sexual activity.