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Given the public health impact of substance use disorders during pregnancy, it is critical to investigate the mechanisms that underpin alterations in fetal development resulting in adverse perinatal outcomes.
Meet Some of Our Faculty Researchers
Experienced researchers making an impact on health outcomes. Our faculty bring experience and expertise that is passed on to our students.
Mary Pat Couig, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN
Associate Professor
Dr. Couig , has expertise in public health emergency preparedness, health & public health policy and registered nurse transition-to-practice residency programs. Prior to joining the faculty at the College of Nursing in July 2019, she worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs, managing the national RN Transition-to-Practice Residency Program. She collaborated with the VA’s Office of Emergency Management on education and training issues. She also worked with the Veteran’s Emergency Management Evaluation Center (VEMEC) and is currently collaborating with VEMEC on a research study of nurses who have cared for patients with COVID-19. Additionally she is the PI on a research study with Sandia National Laboratories to use artificial intelligence to support national COVID-19 response. Dr. Couig completed a career in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. Her assignments while she was on active duty included the Indian Health Service, the Food and Drug Administration and the Office of the Surgeon General.
Barbara Damron, PhD, MSN, RN, FAAN
Professor
Dr. Damron is currently the Chief Government Relations Officer for The University of New Mexico for all federal, state, tribal, county, and city government relations for UNM Health Sciences Center, Main and Branch campuses. Her current research focuses on higher education policy. Prior to her government work, Dr. Damron was funded by the National Cancer Institute, the American Cancer Society, the Oncology Nursing Society, and other national foundations. Her research at that time focused on cancer health disparities, biospecimen collection, and health policy. Dr. Damron conducted her research while serving as a research member of the UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center. She has had over 20 years of clinical experience as an Oncology Clinical Nurse Specialist and as a hospital executive. She is the former Cabinet Secretary for Higher Education and former State Higher Education Executive Officer (SHEEO) for the State of New Mexico.
Elizabeth Dickson, PhD, RN
Assistant Professor
Dr. Dickson’s interests include a broad public health and health policy umbrella inclusive of maternal/child health, communicable disease, sexual and reproductive health, adolescent health, diabetes education/prevention, and population health of Native American and Spanish-speaking immigrant communities. More recent funded research efforts include school health and policy, adolescent sexual health education and services, and community based participatory research.
Stephen Hernandez, PhD, RN
Associate Professor
Dr. Hernandez’s research has primarily focused on military service members. He has examined perceptions of stigma and barriers to accessing mental health services, as well as, resilience and stress. Dr. Hernandez is currently researching the effectiveness of an intervention on increasing resilience in U.S. Air Force Healthcare personnel and has also completed research focused on gaining a deeper understanding of hemodialysis patients’ quality of life. His areas of clinical experience include intensive care, medical/surgical, trauma, and telemetry nursing.
Christine E. Kasper, PhD, RN, FAAN, FACSM
Dean and Professor
Dr. Kasper has been principal investigator on National Institutes of Health, NASA and Department of Veterans Affairs grants. She has CDMRP funding to study the role of "desert dust" metals on the pathobiology of Gulf War Illness. She is also assessing the effects of blast injuries from embedded metal fragments in the military and was named to the Sigma Theta Tau International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame in 2015 for this work.
Patricia Ann Watts Kelley, PhD, RN, FNP-BC, GNP-BC, FAANP, FAAN
Associate Dean for Research & Scholarship and Professor
Dr. Kelley’s research interests are in the areas of clinical knowledge development and continuity of care of wounded service members, military and Veteran caregiver burden, health promotion, and self-care management in persons living with complex chronic conditions. She served as the specialty consultant to the US Navy Surgeon General for Nursing Research.
Roberta P. Lavin, PhD, RN, FNP-BC, FAAN
Professor
Dr. Lavin’s current research focuses on addressing critical topics in disaster, human services and public health emergency preparedness, with focuses on implications for policy related to the profession of nursing and treatment of chronic conditions during disaster. She began her career as a U.S. Public Health Service Officer at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in an acute care psychiatric admission unit for people experiencing homelessness. During the course of her career, she cared for federal prisoners, immigration detainees including leading a team to address a mass migration in Guatemala, served as the Director of the Secretary's Command Center after 9/11 and the anthrax attacks, and had the opportunity to create the Disaster Case Management program to meet the needs of the poor and underserved after a disaster. She entered academia in 2010 at a small Catholic University.
Jongwon Lee, PhD, RN
Associate Professor
Dr. Lee focuses her research on Asian American women's health and prevention-seeking behaviors. She is particularly interested in research aimed to reduce disparities in breast and cervical cancer among Korean and/or Vietnamese American women and to develop culturally appropriate community-based interventions that meet the needs of these populations. Her research interest has also focused on the development and psychometric evaluations of instruments.
Mark Parshall, PhD, RN, FAAN
Professor
Dr. Parshall has research interests in symptom science, particularly dyspnea and exacerbations of chronic cardiopulmonary diseases and quality of life in chronic disease. He has methodological expertise in questionnaire development, psychometric analysis, survey research and multivariate/multivariable modeling.
Sharon Ruyak, PhD, CNM
Assistant Professor
Dr. Ruyak’s research focuses on the biobehavioral mechanisms of adverse pregnancy and infant outcomes, especially in disadvantaged populations including mothers and infants affected by substance use disorders. Current funded research projects examine the intersection of maternal diverse forms of early life psychobiological stress and trauma across the lifespan and prenatal substance use as it relates to placenta function and neurobehavioral development of the fetus and infant.
Elizabeth Tigges, PhD, RN, PNP-BC
Professor
Dr. Tigges has research interests in mentoring interventions; Measurement: institutional mentoring climate, collaborations and community engagement; Evaluation of research centers; Recruitment strategies for community based studies; Adolescent sexual risk behaviors and psychosocial determinants of health behavior.
Xiaozhong Yu, MD, PhD, MPH
Professor
Dr. Yu has a multidisciplinary academic background in Public Health and Toxicology, specifically in Environmental and Occupational Health sciences. His area of expertise focuses on developing advanced biomedical technologies such as advanced omics, tissue culture engineering, exposure assessment, and Systems Biology to explore the relationship between environmental exposures and human health.
Katherine Zychowski, PhD
Assistant Professor
Dr. Zychowski is currently a part of a larger cohort of scholars at UNM all working on various aspects of health detriments caused by legacy uranium mining in Native American communities. She is passionate about public health research that impacts underserved populations, more specifically, research that will drive changes in policy and promote healthy communities. Zychowski was awarded an NIH/NIEHS K99 ‘Pathway to Independence’ career development award in 2018.