Faculty Members Who Mentor PhD in Nursing Students


Kimberly D. Acquaviva, PhD, MSW, CSE
Betty Norman Norris Professor of Nursing
RESEARCH AREAS: Inclusive hospice and palliative care, LGBTQ+-inclusive care, healthcare AI, artificial intelligence
Jeanne Alhusen, PhD, CRNP, RN, FAAN
Associate Dean for Nursing Research
RESEARCH AREAS: Violence's impact on maternal-child health, reproductive care access for women with disabilities
(434) 924-1585
Windy Williams Alonso, PhD, MS, RN, FHFSA, FAHA
Chair, Department of Nursing Research, and associate professor
RESEARCH AREAS: Heart failure, rural health, exercise interventions for heart failure, preserved ejection fraction
Kelley Anderson, PhD, RN, FNP, CHFN
Associate Professor of Nursing
RESEARCH AREAS: Heart failure, preventative care, cardiac disease symptoms, nutrition counseling, rural healthcare gaps
Alanna Bergman, PhD, AGNP-BC, RN
Assistant Professor of Nursing
RESEARCH AREAS: Global health, health equity, stigma reduction, and infectious diseases including HIV, tuberculosis
Cathy Campbell
Associate Professor of Nursing
RESEARCH AREAS: hospice and palliative care nursing, end-of-life care, transgender elders at end of life
Crystal Chu, PhD, RN
Assistant Professor
RESEARCH AREAS: Decision tools, decisional regret, breast cancer, oncology nursing, guided treatment decision-making
Katrina Debnam
Associate Professor of Nursing
RESEARCH AREAS: adolescent relationships and sexual development, peer support, relationship development of teenagers
Elizabeth Epstein
Professor and PhD Program Lead
RESEARCH AREAS: moral distress, nursing ethics, burnout, and nurse attrition, NICU family and caregiver connectivity
(434) 982-3285
Jessie Gibson
Assistant Professor of Nursing
RESEARCH AREAS: Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, anxiety, neuropsychiatric symptoms, digital mental health
Randy Jones
Associate Dean for Partner Development and Engagement
RESEARCH AREAS: decision aids for men with prostate cancer, health disparities, building community-engagement
(434) 924-0125
Jessica Keim Malpass, PhD, RN, CPNP-AC, FAAN
Associate Professor
RESEARCH AREAS: Health economics, artificial intelligence, implementation science, children with medical complexity
Dominique Tobbell Klakoski
Professor & Director of the Eleanor Crowder Bjoring Center for Nursing Historical Inquiry
RESEARCH AREAS: Nursing history, the history of healthcare, the evolution of American nursing programs
Kathryn Laughon
Associate Professor of Nursing and PhD Program Director
RESEARCH AREAS: Violence and health, brain injury and intimate partner violence, sexual violence and mental health
(434) 924-1985
Virginia LeBaron
The Kluge-Schakat Associate Professor of Compassionate Care in Nursing
RESEARCH AREAS: Smart technology for at-home cancer pain management, technology to improve clinicians' communication
Jeongok Logan
Associate Professor of Nursing
RESEARCH AREAS: The connection between arterial stiffness, cardiovascular disease, and cognitive decline
Meghan Mattos
Associate Professor of Nursing
RESEARCH AREAS: Interplay between dementia, sleep, insomnia, and cognitive decline, aging in place, sleep and cognition
(434) 243-3936
Maria Alexandra McDonald, PhD, RN, FNP-C
Assistant Professor
RESEARCH AREAS: Genetic indicators of depression, mental health, women's health
Emma Mitchell
Associate Professor of Nursing
RESEARCH AREAS: Novel methods for cervical cancer screening and treatment in low-resource settings, global health, HPV
Victoria Petermann, PhD, RN
Assistant Professor
RESEARCH AREAS: Uterine cancers, rural health, social determinants of health
Paula Sherwood
Professor of Nursing
RESEARCH AREAS: Brain cancer patients and their caregivers' behavioral and biological experiences, caregiving and stress
(434) 243-3974
Ishan Williams
Professor of Nursing
RESEARCH AREAS: Equitable healthcare AI data, dementia and caregiving, Alzheimer's disease, caregiver support
(434) 924-0480