Careers & Student Bios

Yahaya Abdulai

Yahaya Abdulai is an international doctoral student at the University of Rochester School of Nursing, where his research focuses on HIV-related stigma and its impact on healthcare delivery and patient well-being. His work seeks to deepen understanding of the social and psychological dimensions of stigma and to promote inclusive and compassionate nursing practices in Ghana and beyond. Yahaya holds an M.Phil. in Nursing from the University of Ghana, a B.Sc. in Nursing from the University for Development Studies (UDS), a Diploma in Nursing from the Bawku Presbyterian Nursing and Midwifery Training College (NMTC), and an LLB from the S.D. Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies. With over 15 years of combined clinical and academic experience, Yahaya has served in various key leadership, educational, and administrative roles. He remains an active member of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA), the Nurse Educators Society of Ghana, and the Ghana Fertility Society. Yahaya has presented his research at professional forums, including the Ghana Fertility Society Conference (2024) and the Tamale NMTC Research Day (2025). His academic and professional journey is driven by a passion for nursing education, quality care, and research that advances health equity and combats stigma in healthcare settings.

Kofi Gyasi Agyei

Kofi Gyasi Agyei is a registered nurse and nursing educator from Ghana, West Africa. He is a doctoral student at the University of Rochester School of Nursing. He obtained his BSc in Nursing from Ghana and his Masters in Nursing from the United Kingdom. His research interest is palliative and end-of-life care management, focusing on serious illness conversations/communication and advance care planning. He is currently working on healthcare clinicians' perspectives and practices regarding communication with patients with advanced cancer.

Mary Antwi

Mary Antwi is an international doctoral student at the University of Rochester School of Nursing and the recipient of the Loretta Ford Fellowship for the 2024/25 academic year. She holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana and a Master of Public Health from the University of Northumbria in the United Kingdom, fully funded by the prestigious Commonwealth Shared Scholarship. She is a registered nurse and has worked at various health facilities in Ghana. She is an accomplished nurse leader and educator, and previously taught in Nursing and Midwifery Training college in Tepa, Ghana. Mary's research interest is adolescent sexual health promotion with a focus on adolescent perspectives. In the future, she hopes to advocate for health providers', parental and community support for adolescents as they navigate their transition into adulthood within the context of peer influences, HIV/AIDS and other STIs prevention, condom use and negotiation.

Nafisatu Ayeley Armah

Nafisatu Ayeley Armah is an international doctoral student at the University of Rochester School of Nursing, with a strong academic and professional background in maternal and neonatal health. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Midwifery from the University of Health and Allied Sciences in Ghana. She was subsequently awarded the highly competitive and prestigious Queen Elizabeth Commonwealth Scholarship, which enabled her to pursue a Master of Science in Midwifery at the University of Eswatini, where she graduated with distinction. Professionally, Nafisatu has five years of clinical experience as a licensed midwife, where she provided comprehensive care to mothers and newborns across antenatal, intrapartum, and postpartum settings. She later transitioned into academia as an assistant lecturer in midwifery education, contributing to the preparation and mentorship of future maternal and newborn health professionals in Ghana. Her research interests focus on maternal and neonatal health during pregnancy and the postpartum period, particularly pregnancy-related weight gain, postpartum weight loss trajectories, cardiometabolic risk, and how social and structural determinants influence health outcomes. Nafisatu is committed to generating evidence that informs policy, strengthens health systems, and advances culturally responsive perinatal care, with a particular focus on underserved communities.

Pamela Brashich

Pam Brashich, MS, RN, CNE, CLC is a doctoral student at the University of Rochester School of Nursing in the PhD in Nursing & Health Science program. She earned her master’s degree in Nursing Education from Roberts Wesleyan College and her bachelor of science degree from the RN to BS program at the University of Rochester School of Nursing. The bulk of her nursing career has been in the areas of maternal-child health and nursing education. Brashich currently works as a teaching associate in the graduate program for the School of Nursing, as well as a research assistant with Dr. Susan Groth for the Longitudinal Changes in Weight and Biology in the Pregnancy-postpartum Period and Subsequent Cardiometabolic Risk study, which is conducted in conjunction with the Understanding Pregnancy Signals and Infant Development study. Her research focus is on lactational and hormonal influences of maternal weight regulation in the post-partum period.

Lea Brown, MSN, RN, NPD-BC

Lea Brown is a doctoral student at the University of Rochester School of Nursing and the recipient of the Loretta Ford Fellowship. She was a registered nurse in Surgical Services, Human Resources, and Nursing Professional Development for 25 years before beginning the program. Her research interests include the relationship between nurse competency assessment and patient outcomes, the value of nurses working in professional development, and the use of adaptive learning in the healthcare industry.

Claire Choi

Emmanuel Dapilah, MN, BSc, RN

Emmanuel Dapilah is an international doctoral student at the University of Rochester School of Nursing focused on promoting Maternal and Child Health (MCH), especially among those with noncommunicable diseases. His current focus is investigating how various maternal and sociodemographic factors influence the risk of obesity in children and adolescents. Dapilah earned his master's and bachelor's degrees in nursing from the University of Cape Coast in Ghana, a top University in West Africa. By background, he is a Registered General Nurse (RGN) and was a recipient of the Dean’s Excellence Award at the Master’s level for producing an outstanding thesis titled Workplace Bullying among Nurses: A Cross-sectional Study in the Upper West Region of Ghana. In leadership,  Dapilah has held roles as Municipal Chairman and Secretary of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association and remains an active member.

Jacob Dogtir

Jacob Deri Dogtir is an international doctoral student at the University of Rochester School of Nursing. His research focuses on family caregivers in palliative care, particularly in end-of-life settings. Jacob holds an M.Phil. in Nursing from the University of Ghana, one of West Africa’s leading institutions, and a B.Sc. in Nursing from Garden City University, where he graduated with first-class honors. Jacob received the Roche Ghana Research Grant for his thesis “Family Caregivers Burden of Caring for Patients with End-stage Liver Disease in a Tertiary Hospital in Ghana.” With extensive experience in nursing education and leadership, he has served as Head of the Department of Nursing at Presbyterian Nursing and Midwifery Training College, Dormaa, and as Chief Examiner with the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Ghana. He is an active member of several professional organizations, including the University of Rochester School of Nursing Oncology Nursing Society Chapter, the Eastern Nursing Research Society, the African Palliative Care Association, the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association, and the Nurse Educators Society of Ghana. Through his research and leadership, he is committed to advancing palliative care and improving support systems for family caregivers.

Nasim Hurd, MS, RN

Nasim Hanif Hurd is a student in the MS-PhD Combined program at the University of Rochester School of Nursing, and a recipient of the Loretta Ford Fellowship. He holds both a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from the University of Rochester, as well as a master's degree in Conflict Resolution from Portland State University. Nasim is a psychiatric nurse and practices at Strong Memorial Hospital.

A M Khairul Islam, MBBS,MPH

A M Khairul Islam is an international doctoral student at the University of Rochester School of Nursing. He graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS)—an international undergraduate medical degree equivalent to a Doctor of Medicine (MD)—and a Master of Public Health in Bangladesh. Islam worked as a Project Research Physician for the International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, and is a current member of the Public Health Promotion and Development Society, Impact BD, HealthEd BD, and many other volunteer community health-based organizations in Bangladesh. His advisor is Dr. Gamji Rabiu Abu-Ba’are, who is also the principal investigator of the Behavioral, Sexual, and Global Health Lab for which Islam proudly volunteers. Islam is also a member of the INSHHR group. Islam loves to explore people, places, mentoring, and volunteering for a better, happier world without stigma, discrimination, and barriers. His future goal is to work on improving access to HIV prevention and sexual healthcare services for high-risk populations in the United States and South Asia.

JJ (John) Jackson

JJ Jackson, LCPC, LPC, NCC, is a PhD candidate in Nursing & Health Science at the University of Rochester School of Nursing and a licensed psychotherapist in private practice. He previously worked as a federal Public Health Analyst overseeing the dissemination of HIV treatment and care funding through the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program. His future research will focus on integrating stigmatized and comorbid preventive services - such as HIV and STI care - into trusted, nontraditional settings like mental health. His dissertation will explore how mental health providers, particularly those serving Black and Hispanic men who have sex with men (MSM), can serve as strategic access points for delivering status-neutral, culturally responsive sexual health interventions. He will examine multilevel determinants - such as provider training, system infrastructure, and implementation context - that shape how innovations like PrEP, PEP, and STI screening are delivered in practice. Through a translational lens, his work will aim to generate actionable strategies that bridge evidence and implementation to inform health policy, shift clinical practice, and accelerate equity in sexual health care. His long-term goal is to design sustainable, provider-informed models that advance health equity and transform the delivery of preventive services for historically marginalized communities.

Nicole Koopman

Nicole Koopman, PT, DPT, is a doctoral student in the PhD in Nursing & Health Science Program at the University of Rochester School of Nursing. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree and a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from Nazareth University. As a licensed physical therapist in the Neuromuscular Division of the Neurology Department at the University of Rochester, Nicole is involved in both clinical care and research. Her research interests include developing strategies to engage individuals with neuromuscular conditions in regular physical activity and exercise to promote health and well-being, and to evaluate the utility of wearable sensors in clinical research on neuromuscular conditions.

Hilary Marsfelder-Clark

Dana Mitchell, MS, RN

Sudhir K Mummidi, MBBS, RN

Sudhir Mummidi is a doctoral student at the University of Rochester School of Nursing. His research interests include using electrocardiography (ECG) to characterize cardiac depolarization and repolarization dynamics more accurately. For Mummidi’s developing program of research, an increased understanding of these phenomena can enhance the prediction of lethal ventricular tachyarrhythmias in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and other inherited cardiac diseases. Previously, he graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS), an international undergraduate medical degree equivalent to a Doctor of Medicine (MD), from Kasturba Medical College, India. He also earned a Master of Science in Experimental Pathology from New York Medical College and graduated summa cum laude with an Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the UR School of Nursing.

Laura M. Raniewicz, RN, MS

Laura Raniewicz is a doctoral student in the PhD in Nursing & Health Science program at the University of Rochester School of Nursing. She is a professional Registered Nurse who works in the Department of Surgery QA/QI at URMC. Her research interests include patient outcomes, patient reported outcomes, frailty, falls, geriatric surgical outcomes, and delirium.

Vanessa Riley, MSN RN FNP-C

Vanessa Riley is a Family Nurse Practitioner at the University of Rochester Medical Center where she practices in general infectious diseases and hospital medicine. She brings more than 18 years of healthcare experience across clinical practice, acute care, and leadership in long term care.

Her doctoral research interests encompass cardiology, health equity, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. She is particularly passionate about exploring innovative technology enabled approaches to improve patient care, enhance decision making, and transform healthcare delivery.

Brian Smith, MSW

Erin Vernetti, MS, RN

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.