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The Student and Trainee Scholar Development (STSD) service collaborates with the Offices of Academic Affairs and Clinical and Global Partnerships to support doctoral students, postdoctoral fellows, and international scholars in developing programs of scholarship.
STSD Faculty & Staff
Edwin Aroke
PhD, CRNA, FAANDirector, Student and Trainee Scholarship Development
Director, PhD ProgramDoctor of Philosophy in Nursing (PhD)
A research-focused terminal degree, the Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing (PhD) program prepares nurse scientists to generate new knowledge that can be translated for improvements in clinical practice. The PhD program includes pathways for both the BSN and MSN prepared nurse.
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
A practice-focused terminal degree, the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program prepares graduates to lead the translation of scientific evidence into best practices for improving population health and health systems outcomes. The DNP program includes pathways for both the BSN and MSN prepared nurse.
Dual DNP-PhD Pathway
A dual DNP-PhD degree prepares graduates to lead improvements in practice supportive of population health and health system change, and expand that focus into a related research area to generate new knowledge. This pathway is open to MSN-prepared nurses with certification in an advanced practice role.
Post-Doctoral Fellows
The UAB School of Nursing offers a vibrant post-doctoral fellowship program. We tailor the experiences for each individual. Common threads include mentored research experiences with senior scientists and protected time to develop both a publication and grant submission timeline.
International Scholars Programs
The International Scholars Programs allow select faculty, post-doctoral fellows, and students to gain valuable experience in advancing nursing education, research and practice. Three flexible programs provide a variety of opportunities to meet international scholars needs.
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Current PhD Students
Interested in learning more, program specific information can be found on our PhD program webpage.
Lindsay Aaron-Wade, MSN, RN, CNL, CCRN
PhD Research Area
Mahdiyeh Ahmadi, BScN
PhD Research Area
Cohort: 2023
Funding: Blazer Fellowship
Mentors: Marti Rice, PhD and Felesia Bowen, PhD
Mahdiyeh Ahmadi’s research interest is examing factors related to blood pressure in pre-school and school-aged children, including psychological, behavioral, environmental, and biological factors.
Agbor Tabe Fiona Besem Atem, MSN, BSN
PhD Research Area
Cohort: 2023
Funding: Blazer Fellowship
Mentor: Edwin Aroke, PhD
Fiona Atem's research interest is the study of chronic pain perception and beliefs in African Americans. This will allow us to better compare their pain sensitivity while living in Cameroon to that following immigration to the US.
Hannah Bergbower, MSN, MPH, CNM, WHNP-BC
PhD Research Area
Cohort: 2022
Funding: Nurse Faculty Loan Program
Mentor: Patricia Patrician, PhD
Hannah Bergbower, MSN, MPH, CNM, WHNP-BC (she/her/hers) is a nurse-midwife and women's health NP who practices in Atlanta, Georgia at a public-academic hospital system. Her broad area of research interest is focused on maternal health outcomes and experiences and the impact of midwifery care.
Elizabeth Coleman, MSN, CRNP, CPNP-PC
PhD Research Area
Cohort: 2020
Funding: Nurse Faculty Loan Program, UAB Employee Assistance Program
Mentor: Marti Rice, PhD
Elizabeth Coleman is a faculty member at UAB, where she teaches in the primary care pediatric nurse practitioner specialty track. Her research interests include adiposity, self-esteem, and depressive symptoms in racially and ethnically diverse early adolescents. She received the Florence Nightingale Scholarly Work award from UAB in 2022, along with the Alabama Nurses Foundation (ANF) scholarship.
Nury Alejandra Rodriguez Colmenares, BSN
PhD Research Area
Madison Finch, BSN, RN
PhD Research Area
Cohort: 2022
Funding: NIOSH
Mentor: Allison Jones, PhD
Madison D. Finch has experience in emergency nursing. Her area of research includes decreasing preventable mortality caused by penetrating injuries and uncontrolled hemorrhage through community-based education programs training lay individuals in how to respond to life-threatening injuries. For her dissertation, Ms. Finch will be conducting a mixed methods study exploring psychosocial performance barriers and facilitators to responding to injury in others prior to the arrival of Emergency Medical Services (EMS).
Cara Harris, BSN, RN
PhD Research Area
Cohort: 2022
Funding: Blazer Fellowship, NIOSH Fellowship
Mentor: Karen Heaton, PhD
Cara Harris’ research interests revolve around nicotine exposure measures within the trucking industry.
Shemeka Hill, MSHA, RN-BSN, AMB-BC, LSSGB
PhD Research Area
Cohort: 2022
Funding: Nurse Faculty Loan Program
Mentors: Jenni Wise, PhD and Frank Puga, PhD
Shameka Hill’s focus is on understanding why there are provider driven delays in diagnosis or linkage to care in patients presenting with Multiple Sclerosis symptoms She has a specific interest in the African American population to determine if socioeconomic factors have an effect on experienced delays.
Kristal Hock, MSN, RN, CNL
PhD Research Area
Cohort: 2021
Funding: UAB EA
Mentor: Patricia Patrician, PhD
Kristal Hock’s area of focus is improving parental comprehension of the informed consent process for complex congenital heart disease surgery. She is currently focusing on individual aspects of the process (i.e., the dimensions involved, the document used) to identify areas for improvement.
Meghan Jones, MSN, RN, CHE-A
PhD Research Area
Cohort: 2020
Funding: Nurse Faculty Loan Program
Mentors: Allison Shorten, PhD and Mirjam-Colette Kempf, PhD
Meghan C. Jones, MSN, RN, CHSE-A is a nurse with clinical experience in critical care and women’s health and an academic background in simulation education. Her research interests include anxiety among reproductive-age women and its impact on maternal health outcomes.
Kayleigh Keith, BSN, RN
PhD Research Area
Cohort: 2021
Funding: UAB COERE Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality National Research Training Award (T32), Institute of Cancer Outcomes and Survivorship Fellowship, and Jarman F. Lowder Foundation Scholarship
Mentor: Wendy Landier, PhD
Kayleigh Keith’s research interests include patient/family education in pediatric oncology and health literacy. Her current research focuses on understanding the role health literacy may play in parental ability to comprehend education related to caring for their child with cancer at home.
Kiari Kinnie
PhD Research Area
Maria Lanzi, MS, MPH, ANP-BC, COHN-S
PhD Research Area
Cohort: 2023
Funding: NIOSH
Mentors: Adelais Markaki, PhD and Allison Jones, PhD
Maria C. Lanzi, MS, MPH, ANP-BC, COHN-S is a highly experienced Occupational and Environmental Health (OEH) Nurse Practitioner. Most proud of developing and leading the first joint-collaboration on improving content knowledge for OEM clinicians across two different organizations, as an inaugural Faculty, she is admitted to UAB as a NIOSH Scholar. Her area of interests includes development of competency-based education and training for OEHNPs; and research in building collaborative practice models which would improve OEH access and quality of care across multiple arenas and international settings.
Jennifer Ledlow, MSN, RN, CCRN-K, CNL, CNE
PhD Research Area
Cohort: 2019
Funding: Nurse Faculty Loan Program, UAB EA
Mentors: Patricia Patrician, PhD and Rebecca Miltner, PhD
Jennifer H. Ledlow is a nurse with experience in adult critical care, hospice care, patient safety, quality assurance, and risk management. Her research interest is identifying nurses’ cognitive workload associated with medication administration using different care delivery models.
Kathryn Lenington
PhD Research Area
Cohort: 2022
Funding: Blazer Fellowship
Mentors: Katherine Dudding, PhD and Marti Rice, PhD
Kate Lenington’s research interest is palliative care outcomes for infants with genetic disorders
Peyton Lewis
PhD Research Area
Cohort: 2021
Funding: Nurse Faculty Loan Program
Mentors: Katherine Dudding, PhD and Marti Rice, PhD
Alexis Long, RN
PhD Research Area
Cohort: 2021
Funding: Blazer Fellowship, RO1 (Wheeler, PI)
Mentor: Pariya Wheeler, PhD
Alexis Long’s broad research interest is LGBTQ+ health, and their dissertation is exploring the sexual risk behaviors of middle-aged and older adults living with and without HIV.
Justin Miller, DNP, RN, AGCNS-BC, CCRN
PhD Research Area
Cohort: 2019
Funding: Military
Mentors: Patricia Patrician, PhD and Allison Jones, PhD
Justin Miller’s research interest is improving the outcomes of trauma patients who experience trauma-related hemorrhage.
Stacy Mitchell
PhD Research Area
Cohort: 2023
Funding: NIOSH
Mentors: Bryan Wilbanks, PhD and Karen Heaton, PhD
Stacey Mitchell’s research interest lies in the area of workplace violence and the intersection with forensic nursing. Workplace violence occurs in hospitals and the forensic nurse is positioned to intervene in a trauma-informed manner. My goal is to study the connection and show the impact forensic nurses can have in this area.
Chisom Odii, BSN
PhD Research Area
Cohort: 2023
Funding: Blazer Fellowship
Mentor: Ellen Smith, PhD
Chisom Odii’s research interests are factors mitigating against post-operative pain control and barriers and facilitators to safe surgery
Ikenna Obasi Odii, MScN-Ed, BSN
PhD Research Area
Cohort: 2022
Funding: Blazer Fellowship
Mentors: Crystal Chapman Lambert, PhD and David Vance, PhD
Ikenna Odii is an international student born in Nigeria. He practiced nursing in Nigeria, Israel and Belize, and served as a Nursing Lecturer in Jamaica prior to joining the UAB School of Nursing. His research interest is clinical and policy driven HIV prevention among college students.
Hathaichanok Phaowiriya, MSN
PhD Research Area
Leslie Pitts, MSN, CRNP, CRNP-AC, CDES, AP-PEN
PhD Research Area
Cohort: 2022
Funding: Blazer Fellowship
Mentors: Sigrid Ladores, PhD
As a current UAB Graduate Research Fellow, Leslie Pitts is interested in researching and improving the clinical care of patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia. Her experiences working with this population led her to pursue dual doctoral education in nursing. This pathway allows her to develop her skills as a crucial link between research and clinical practice improvements. Her work focuses on improving healthcare transition and adult outcomes for individuals with rare pediatric disorders.
Abigail Poe, BSN, RN
PhD Research Area
Cohort: 2021
Funding: Graduate Research Assistant, R01 (Puga, PI)
Mentor: Frank Puga, PhD and Sigrid Ladores, PhD
Abigail Poe’s research interests are mental health trajectories of dementia caregivers, primarily in relation to a caregiver’s involvement in everyday decisions of the care recipient.
Diana Pulido, MSN, AGACNP-BC, ACNPC-AG
PhD Research Area
Cohort: 2023
Funding: Nurse Faculty Loan Program
Mentor: Pamela Bowen, PhD
Diana Pulido’s research interest is stress eating and chronic illness.
Leslie Quinlan, MSN, CRNA
PhD Research Area
Cohort: 2022
Funding: Nurse Faculty Loan Program
Mentor: Susan McMullan, PhD
Leslie Quinlan is a first-year part time PhD student. Her research interests include nurse anesthetist workload, turnover, burnout, and patient safety. She is currently a clinical and didactic faculty member with York College of Pennsylvania’s Nurse Anesthesia program. She has been a nurse since 2006 and a nurse anesthetist since 2014. She decided to start teaching in 2020 and it has been very rewarding.
Asiah Ruffin, BSN, RN
PhD Research Area
Cohort: 2021
Funding: Blazer Fellowship
Mentor: Patricia Patrician, PhD
Asiah Ruffin is a full-time VA Quality Scholar Predoctoral Fellow. Her research interests include the nursing workforce and work environments with an emphasis on nursing leadership and management. She is particularly interested in understanding how to promote nurse wellness and minimize burnout among nurses and nurse leaders.
Allyson Sanders, MSN, RN, CNE
PhD Research Area
Cohort: 2019
Funding: Nurse Faculty Loan Program, UAB EA
Mentors: Allison Shorten, PhD and Marti Rice, PhD
Allyson Sanders’ research focus is on opioid-exposed mothers and babies. I am specifically interested in disruptions in maternal-infant bonding and maternal role attainment for mothers with opioid use disorder who are caring for babies with neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome.
Heather Shelton
PhD Research Area
Cohort: 2023
Funding: Blazer Fellowship
Mentors: Marie Bakitas, DNSc and Pamela Bowen, PhD
Heather Shelton’s research interest is rural healthcare accessibility and the role of home health and technology in delivering healthcare services to rural areas.
Tina Smith, MSN, CRNP, FNP-BC
PhD Research Area
Cohort: 2023
Funding: Nurse Faculty Loan Program, UAB EA
Mentors: Hsiao-Lan Wang, PhD and Allison Shorten, PhD
Tina Smith’s research interests are maternal-child health and health disparities. The goal of her research focus is to improve maternal health outcomes by identifying strategies that decrease maternal morbidity and mortality.
Joyce Stevens
PhD Research Area
Tonya Stoudmire, MSN, CRNA, FNP
PhD Research Area
Cohort: 2022
Funding: Nurse Faculty Loan Program
Mentors: Edwin Aroke, PhD and Felesia Bowen, PhD
Tonya Stoudmire is a first-year part-time student. Her research interests are chronic pain and health disparities among sexual and gender minorities. She is currently employed at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Tonya has been practicing as a nurse since 1998 and working as CRNA since 2009. She is not currently practicing as a Family Nurse Practitioner but has held the certification since 2004.
Krisada Suamchaiyaphum, MSN
PhD Research Area
Cohort: 2021
Funding: Thai government
Mentors: Allison Jones, PhD and Ada Markaki, PhD
Krisada (Aof) Suamchaiyaphum, has experience working in prehospital and emergency care in Thailand. His research interests include triage accuracy performed by emergency nurses and the processes through which they make decisions.
Narissara Visungrae, MNsc, BSN
PhD Research Area
Jessica Volz, DNP, CRNP, FNW, A/P, FNC-BC, AFN-C, SANE-A, SANE-P
PhD Research Area
Cohort: 2022
Funding: Nurse Faculty Loan Program
Mentors: Karen Heaton, PhD and Patricia Speck, DNSc
Jessica Volz is a PhD student and National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety fellow. She is a nurse practitioner with a clinical background in emergency nursing and is the Clinical Director of the Forensic Medical Unit at Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center. Her research interests are focused on the impact of workplace violence and trauma on total worker health.
Jennifer Ware, DNP, CRNP, FNP-C
PhD Research Area
Cohort: 2023
Funding: NIOSH
Mentors: Jenni Wise, PhD and Karen Heaton, PhD
Jennifer Ware’s research interests are occupational health and safety, wellness and burnout.
Andrea Wells, MSN, RN
PhD Research Area
Cohort: 2018
Funding: UAB Employee Assistance
Mentor: Gwendolyn Childs, PhD
Andrea Wells, MSN, RN, has experience in women’s health and med/surg. Her research interests are women’s reproductive health and health disparities. Her focus is to improve fertility care for minority women.
Kate Wells
PhD Research Area
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PhD Graduates with Fellowships
Brooke Cherven, PhD, MPH, RN, CPON
Post-Doctoral Research
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine
Nurse Scientist, Aflac Cancer & Blood Disorders Center at Children’s Healthcare of AtlantaHer research focuses on reproductive health among adolescent and young adult cancer survivors and is informed by her clinical experience as a pediatric oncology nurse with the Aflac Cancer Survivor and Fertility Preservation programs. In her role as Nurse Scientist, she provides research mentorship to nurses and advanced practice providers in the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center. She earned a BSN from the University of Michigan, MPH from Emory University, and PhD from the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing. Dr. Cherven’s research has been supported by the American Cancer Society, Children’s Oncology Group, and National Institutes of Health/National Institute for Nursing Research.
Bailey Hendricks, PhD, RN
Post-Doctoral Research
Post-Doctoral Research Associate, University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Nursing
2021 UAB SON PhD Program Graduate
Her research focuses on the health and well-being of young carers (<18 years old) who provide care to an ill parent. During her time at UAB she explored the experience of young carers of a parent with Huntington’s Disease. For her postdoctoral work she will be focusing on the experiences and support needs of young carers in the context of cancer with the goal of future intervention work.
Timiya S. Nolan, PhD, RN, ANP-BC
Post-Doctoral Research
Associate Professor, UAB Heersink School of Medicine
2016 UAB SON PhD Program Graduate
Dr. Timiya S. Nolan is an Associate Professor in the Division of Preventive Medicine and Associate Director of Community Outreach and Engagement the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at The University of Alabama at Birmingham. Nolan studies issues in self-management and prevention of chronic conditions (i.e., breast cancer and cardiovascular disease). Her community-based research program is looking at ways to improve quality of life and health among individuals from underrepresented, underserved. She is the co-organizer of The Ohio State University’s Health Equity through Diversity Conference. Nolan’s work has been supported by the National Cancer Institute, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, and others. She earned a BSN, MSN and PhD at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing, and completed postdoctoral training at The Ohio State University College of Nursing.
Nadia Markie Sneed, PhD, RN, FNP-BC
Post-Doctoral Research
Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, Vanderbilt University
2021 UAB SON PhD Program Graduate
Her program of research focuses on the development and implementation of family-centered and community-based dietary lifestyle interventions for prediabetes management and multi-generational prevention of type 2 diabetes. Dr. Sneed’s postdoctoral fellowship is funded through the Vanderbilt University Medical Center Patient/ pRactice Outcomes Research in Effectiveness and Systems Science (PROgRESS) T32 Program supported by Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing.
Macy Stockdill, PhD, RN
Post-Doctoral Research
iCURE Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, National Cancer Institute
2021 UAB SON PhD Program Graduate
Her research focuses on the symptom burden of individuals living with a central nervous system tumor and the effect of their symptom burden on the quality of life of both members of the care recipient/caregiver dyad.
Jacqueline B. Vo, PhD, RN, MPH
Post-Doctoral Research
Cancer Prevention Fellow, National Cancer Institute
2018 UAB SON PhD Program Graduate
Vo completed her BSN and PhD in nursing science from UAB under the mentorship of the late Karen Meneses, PhD, RN, FAAN, and she completed her MPH in quantitative methods from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public health. At the NCI, she leverages her clinical expertise to drive her epidemiology research, where she studies late effects of cancer treatment (including cardiovascular disease and second cancers) among breast cancer survivors and racial/ethnic disparities among cancer survivors. Vo was awarded the NCI Director’s Award for Emerging Leader and NCI Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program Merit Award, and she has received NIH intramural research funding including the NCI Cancer Prevention Fellowship Transfellowship Research Award, NIMHD William G. Coleman Jr. PhD, Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Innovation Award, and the NCI Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics Cancer Health Disparities Research Award.
Natalie Wilson, PhD
Post-Doctoral Research
Assistant Professor, UCSF School of Nursing Community Health Systems
2016 UAB SON PhD Program Graduate
She started a sexual health and primary care faculty practice. She still has ties to UAB – she has a diversity supplement with Mike Saag’s CNICS grant studying Symptom Clusters.
