SCHOLAR DIRECTORY

Jennifer Withall is currently pursuing her PhD in nursing, with concentrations in health policy, leadership, and research at Molloy College, in Rockville Centre, NY. She earned her AAS in nursing at Ulster Community College, while simultaneously pursuing her BS in organizational leadership and communication at Marist College. She continued her education at SUNY New Paltz, where she completed her MS in nursing, with a concentration in adult health. She is credentialed as an Adult Health Clinical Nurse Specialist. Jennifer has practiced nursing for more than ten years. Her first five years were spent at the bedside, where she worked with medical-surgical and critical care patients. She then transitioned into a nursing leadership role at NYU Langone Medical Center’s Hospital for Joint Diseases. Presently, Jennifer is an Assistant Nurse Manager on an inpatient medical-surgical unit, which specializes in the care of patients undergoing large-joint replacement orthopedic surgeries. She maintains specialty certifications in Progressive Care Nursing (PCCN) and Orthopedic Nursing (ONC). Jennifer is a member of Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI), the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN), and the New York Organization of Nurse Executives and Leaders (NYONEL). A main clinical interest for Jennifer is working with older adults. She intends to focus her doctoral work on research designed to examine quality of life issues specific to the older adult population. Jennifer aspires to become nurse scientist at the completion of her doctoral work. She is hopeful that her enthusiasm for nursing research will inspire future nurse researchers, as well.

My name is Lauren, a 25 year old Nurse Practitioner and PhD student at the University of South with a focus in psychoneuroimmunology. I am passionate about preventative health in the global community and utilization of integrative medicine to improve health outcomes. The opportunity to further my education came in the form of an invitation to study abroad in India for four weeks with the support of the Benjamin A. Gillman International Scholarship. This comprehensive clinical and cultural immersion experience provided the opportunity to impart health care and patient education during clinical rotations in the underserved community of Dehradun, Patti, and Rishikesh while receiving didactic and hands on education in traditional medicine systems. Studying Ayurveda, Naturopathy, Homeopathy, Reiki and their interactions with Allopathic medicine under trained practitioners has provided a fundamental foundation necessary to reach my goals: my personal goal of providing compassionate care, professional goal of Adult Nurse Practitioner and Scientist, and academic goal of researching integrative medicine and psychoneuroimmunology. Working towards these goals included interning at the Florida Naturopathic Physician’s Association (FNPA) as Fundraising Chair, where I have gained leadership experience by collaborating with numerous health care professionals. During a research assistantship with holistic company, Medicine Talk, I gained experience with synthesis of evidence based articles to improve patient education. Currently, I work as a Graduate Research Assistant with Sigma Theta Tau International hall of fame Scientist, Dr. Munro, on a capstone Frequency of Oral Care Interventions Study to determine optimal toothbrushing frequency for mechanically ventilated adults.

Linden Wu earned her PhD ’19, MSN ’19, BSN ’14 at the University of Pittsburgh. Her dissertation examined the relationship among cyber dating abuse, binge drinking and emotion dysregulation. She has expanded her nursing research skills through receipt of multiple fellowships supported by the National Institute of Health, a fellowship with the GetWellNetwork’s O’Neil Center focusing on patient engagement using technologic tools, a fellowship with the Jewish Healthcare Foundation Feinstein Patient Safety Fellowship, participation in federally-funded research studies with well-established mentors, and presentations at the local, state, national, and international levels.

Linden is currently working as a Clinical Integration Specialist in the quality improvement department of a local hospital. She works to coordinate quality improvement and research projects/ initiatives. Her role is to ensure and introduce evidence based based standards and best practices at the hospital.

Linden has worked as an informatics nurse (2019-2020), a position that has allowed her to expand her knowledge regarding electronic health records, serve as an internal consultant to staff and create sustainable end user engagement. She has participated at system-wide go lives, educating staff regarding the transitions to the electronic health record, and new technological applications. Previously, she worked as a clinical psychiatric nurse (2015-2019) on an integrated health and aging program, where she had the privilege of caring for patients with co-occurring diagnoses including depression, suicide ideation, and post traumatic stress disorder, bandaging their wounds, and advocating for their health needs.

Sherry L. Yamamoto is a doctoral student at the University of California San Francisco with a focus on health policy and palliative care. Her interest in health policy stems from her extensive clinical background that traverses the life spectrum, from labor and delivery to critical care. She believes that nurses have the knowledge, strength, and expertise to contribute to rational and effective policy making that affects our health care system and individual health. Sherry’s experiences with death and dying as both a clinician, as well as a friend and daughter, sparked her passion for palliative care and improving the communication and care provided to those living with serious illness. She received her Master’s degree in Health Policy Nursing from the University of California San Francisco and also works in the Medical Center in a supervisory role. Her doctoral research is focused on policy issues surrounding advance care planning and end-of-life outcomes for those without surrogate decision makers.