Careers & Student Bios
Students in the PhD in Nursing & Health Science program are licensed clinical health care professionals from a variety of disciplines, including nursing and social work. They work closely with School of Nursing research faculty in a meaningful area of interest to help improve care and set standards for research and practice. This research is enriched by interaction with scholars and practitioners across the University of Rochester Medical Center
Current PhD Students

Lindsay Batek, ND, MS, RN, FNP-C
MS-PhD Student (Family Nurse Practitioner)
Research Interests: Adolescent sexual health promotion, integrative health, global health
Advisor: James McMahon, PhD
Lindsay Batek is a naturopathic doctor and family nurse practitioner who is a fourth-year doctoral student at the University of Rochester School of Nursing. She is the recipient of the Loretta Ford Fellowship and Katharine Donohue Award. She works clinically in her private naturopathic practice and has worked as a nurse in public health settings as a school nurse and in the Monroe County Health Department. Her research interests include sexual health promotion and health literacy in adolescents and young adults, integrative health, and global health. Her dissertation research entitled “Positive Deviance and Health Literacy: Underexplored Concepts for Successful Translational Science” is funded by a UR CTSI grant and will explore the relationship between sexual and reproductive health literacy and healthcare access in Mexican American young women in Upstate NY.
Contact Information: Lindsay_Batek@urmc.rochester.edu

Sunita Pokhrel Bhattarai, MS, RN
PhD Student
Research Interests: Cardiovascular nursing, heart failure, electrocardiography, nursing care
Advisor: Mary G. Carey, PhD, RN, CNS, FAHA, FAAN
Sunita Pokhrel Bhattarai is an international doctoral student at the University of Rochester School of Nursing studying cardiovascular nursing. Her research focus is on characterizing the electrographic changes among acute heart failure patients who present to the Emergency Department. Bhattarai works as a research assistant in the Cardiovascular Research Lab and on the QUAFFER Study (Heart Failure) at the University of Rochester Medical Center. She is also a member of the Eastern Nurses Research Society and the Nepal Critical Care Nurses Association and serves as a registered nurse on the Nepal Nursing Council. She earned her master’s in emergency and critical care nursing from the Erasmus Mundus in collaboration with the University of Oviedo, University of Algarve, Polytechnic Institute of Santarém and Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, and bachelor’s degree from Tribhuvan University in Nepal.

Melanie D. Bobry, BS, RN, OCN
PhD Student
Research Assistant
Research Interests: Cancer, Loneliness
Advisor: Sally Norton, PhD, RN, FNAP, FPCN, FAAN
Melanie D. Bobry is a doctoral student at the University of Rochester School of Nursing in the MS-PhD Combined Accelerated Program. She also works as a research assistant on Connect for Caregivers (PI: Norton), a pilot study of the Rochester Roybal Center for Social Ties and Aging Research. Bobry will earn her master's degree in nursing education in May 2022 and has completed an advanced certificate in online teaching from the Warner School of Education. Her research focus is on understanding the experience of loneliness in individuals with cancer. Bobry is a member of the Eastern Nursing Research Society , and Oncology Nursing Society and serves as the activity coordinator for Sigma Theta Tau, Epsilon Xi chapter. Bobry was awarded the 2021 Nurse of Distinction by the Genesee Valley Oncology Nursing Society, Oncology Nursing Foundation Masters Academic Scholarship, and the Jeanne T. Grace Excellence in Evidence-Based Practice Award from Sigma Theta Tau, Epsilon Xi chapter.

Pamela Brashich
PhD Student
Research Interests: Maternal and Child Health, Obesity
Advisor: Susan Groth, PhD, WHNP-BC, FAANP

Wonkyung Chang, RN, BSN
MS-PhD Student (Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner)
Research Interests: Adverse Childhood Experiences, Young Adult Alcohol Use, Emotion-related Behaviors
Advisor: Karen Stein, PhD, RN, FAAN
Wonkyung Chang is a doctoral student at the University of Rochester School of Nursing. Before moving to the U.S., she worked as a psychiatric nurse in an inpatient alcohol treatment center in South Korea. She continues to practice as a certified nurse at Hillside Children’s Center, where she cares for youth who have experienced significant trauma. Based on her clinical experiences, she is particularly interested in mechanisms underlying the relationship between early traumatic experiences and drinking behaviors in later lives. She plans to pursue a master’s program in the psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner specialty during her PhD program. She is also an active member of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association.

Yuri Choi, MSN, RN
PhD Student
Research Interests: Adolescent, Young Adult, Survivors of Cancer, Health Behaviors
Advisor: Meghan Underhill-Blazey, PhD, APRN, FAAN
Yuri Choi is a third-year international doctoral student at the University of Rochester School of Nursing focused on promoting health in adolescents and young adults who are survivors of cancer. Choi serves as a member of the UR School of Nursing oncology nursing team and as a research assistant with Meghan Underhill-Blazey. Yuri earned both her master's and bachelor's degrees in nursing from the Catholic University of Korea. She is an active member of the Oncology Nursing Society, Genesee Valley Oncology Nursing Society Chapter, and the Eastern Nursing Research Society. She is an associate board member of the 13Thirty Cancer Connect, a local Rochester, NY non-profit organization for adolescent and young adult cancer survivors.

Nasim Hurd, MS, RN
PhD Student
Research Interests: Deprescribing, Polypharmacy, Transitions of Care, Violence Prevention, and the Philosophy of Nursing and Psychiatry.
Advisor: Jinjiao Wang, PhD, RN
Nasim Hanif Hurd is a recipient of the Loretta Ford Fellowship and is a student in the MS-PhD Combined Accelerated program. He holds bachelor of arts and bachelor of nursing science degrees from the University of Rochester and a master's degree in conflict resolution from Portland State University. Nasim is a psychiatric nurse and practices at Strong Memorial Hospital.

Faith Lambert, MS, RN, FNP-BC
MS-PhD Student, Family Nurse Practitioner
Research Interests: Adolescent and Adult Health, Health Disparities, HIV
Advisor: James McMahon, PhD
Faith Lambert is a doctoral student, research assistant and graduate of the Family Nurse Practitioner program at the University of Rochester School of Nursing. Lambert's research interests include health disparities in marginalized populations, pediatric to adult care transition, adolescent and adult health and HIV care management. Her dissertation focuses on investigate psychosocial relationships and transitional care for young adults living with HIV infection. Lambert's work is supported by a grant from the Interdisciplinary Sexual Health and HIV Research (INSHHR) group at the University of Rochester. She is a 2021 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Student Fellow for the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, an active member of the School of Nursing's INSHRR group and Rochester Black Nurses Association and a recent inductee to the Sigma Theta Tau Honor Society.
More about Faith
Hilary Marsfelder-Clark
PhD Student
Research Interests: Nursing Workforce
Advisor: Sue Groth, PhD, WHNP-BC, FAANP

Shelby Przybylek, RN, BSN, CCRN
PhD Student
Advisor: Craig Sellers, PhD, RN, AGPCNP-BC, GNP-BC, FAANP

Brian Smith, MSW
PhD Student
Research Interests: Health Care Models for Mental Illness
Advisor: Ying Xue, DNSc, RN

Erin Vernetti, MS, RN
PhD Student
Research Interests: Stigma, Sexual Assault, Community Influences on Health
Advisor: Natalie Leblanc, PhD, MPH, RN, BSN
Erin Vernetti is a doctoral student at the University of Rochester School of Nursing and a senior level III RN in F.F. Thomspon Hospital's Operating Room. She also works as a research assistant with Danielle Alcéna-Stiner, PhD, RN, an assistant professor at the School of Nursing, on community environmental and sexual health projects. For her doctoral work, Vernetti is interested in exploring how stigma and community affect healing for survivors of sexual assault. Prior to her nursing degree, her master's degree thesis involved looking at the Democratic Republic of Congo and how the war was fought on the bodies of the county's women and girls. Vernetti is a member of Sigma Theta Tau Honor Society, Association of periOperative Registered Nurses, and the Rochester Black Nurses Association.

Yu-Ching (Katie) Yang
PhD Student
Research Interests: Identity Development/Schema
Advisor: Karen Stein, PhD, RN, FAAN

Kuanlin Yeh
PhD Student
Research Interests: Maternal and Child Health, Obesity
Advisor: Susan Groth, PhD, WHNP-BC, FAANP

Zhihong Zhang, MS, RN
PhD Student
Research Interests: Resilience, geriatric oncology, patient-reported symptoms
Advisor: Marie Flannery, PhD, RN
Zhihong Zhang is a doctoral student at the University of Rochester School of Nursing. She is specifically interested in examining resilience in symptom trajectory in older adults with advanced cancer receiving cancer treatment. Zhihong is also an active member of the Oncology Nursing Society, Sigma Theta Tau, and Eastern Nursing Research Society.

JJ (John) Jackson
PhD Student
HIV Prevention and Care, Sexual Health, Sexual Health Navigation, Status Neutrality, Social Determinants of Health
Advisor: Natalie LeBlanc, PhD, MPH, RN, BSN
JJ Jackson is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor and doctoral student at the University of Rochester School of Nursing. His research interests center around help-seeking behaviors of sexual minority men within the context of status neutral HIV prevention and care. His future research hopes to address the social, structural and systemic barriers that impact sexual health navigation for sexual minority men including ways to leverage asset-based interventions to improve their health outcomes and health equity.
Connect With Us
Interested in earning your PhD? Connect with us to discuss the PhD degree in nursing and health science and the opportunities available at the University of Rochester.