Careers & Student Bios

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.

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 and Health Science program. She works 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.

Brashich earned her master’s degree in Nursing Education from Roberts Wesleyan College and her bachelor of science degree from the RN-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.

Lea Brown, MSN, RN, NPD-BC

Lea Brown is a doctoral student at the University of Rochester 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.

Wonkyung Chang, RN, BSN

Wonkyung Chang, MS, RN, PMHNP, is a doctoral student at the University of Rochester School of Nursing, studying mental health and substance use treatment among marginalized populations. Her dissertation explores discrimination, stress, and substance use among sexual minority men of color. As a member of the INSHHR group, Chang is mentored by faculty conducting research in sexual health and HIV-related outcomes. She also enjoys working with her psychiatric patients. Before moving to the U.S., Chang 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.

Yuri Choi, MSN, RN

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.

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. Emmanuel 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 entitled; Workplace Bullying among Nurses: A Cross-sectional Study in the Upper West Region of Ghana. In leadership, Mr. 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 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.

Khairul Islam

I am an international doctoral student at the University of Rochester’s School of Nursing (UR SON). I graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS), an international undergraduate medical degree equivalent to a Doctor of Medicine (MD), from Khulna Medical College, Bangladesh. I also earned a Master of Public Health from North South University, Bangladesh. I was a Project Research Physician for the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh. I am also a current member of Public Health Promotion and Development Society, Bangladesh. My supervisor is Dr Gamji Rabiu Abu-Ba’are,who is also the principal investigator of the Behavioral, Sexual, and Global Health Lab. I am a proud voluntary member of it..My future goal is to work on improving access to HIV prevention and healthcare services for high-risk populations in the United States and South Asia.

JJ (John) Jackson

JJ Jackson, LCPC, LPC, NCC is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor and a doctoral student at the University of Rochester, School of Nursing. Before joining the PhD program, he served as a Project Officer with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, HIV/AIDS Bureau, overseeing the distribution of multi-billion-dollar Ryan White HIV/AIDS funding to states and territories. His research explores how licensed mental health providers communicate about and integrate HIV prevention and care within mental health encounters with Black and Hispanic MSM. JJ’s work aims to identify contextual determinants influencing provider engagement in HIV prevention and care and to inform interventions that enhance health equity and access for 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’s School of Nursing (UR SON). His research interests include using electrocardiography (ECG) to characterize cardiac depolarization and repolarization dynamics more accurately. For Sudhir’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 UR SON.

Laura M. Raniewicz, RN, MS

Laura Raniewicz is a doctoral student in the PhD 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.

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.

Yu-Ching (Katie) Yang

Kuanlin Yeh

Kuanlin Yeh is an international student in the PhD program at the University of Rochester School of Nursing. Before pursuing an advanced degree in the U.S., she was a registered nurse for five years in hospitals and clinics in Taiwan. She earned her master's degree in nursing informatics at Georgia State University. After graduation, she worked as a medical-surgical nurse at Emory Hospital Midtown in Atlanta, Georgia. She is a research assistant for the Upside Moms study. Her research focuses on the impact of dietary components on postpartum adiposity. Yeh is currently a member of the Eastern Nurses Research Society and Sigma Theta Tau Honor Society.