The Emory University Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing welcomes 17 new scholars and clinicians to its faculty for the 2022-2023 school year.
“The addition of these faculty members reflects our tremendous enrollment growth and the quality of the school’s top-ranked educational, research and outreach programs,” said Linda McCauley, PhD, RN, FAAN, FRCN, dean of the School of Nursing. “We are thrilled they have joined our efforts to prepare visionary nurse leaders and scholars.”
Meet the new faculty members:
Zahra A. Barandouzi, PhD, RN
Assistant Professor
Previous position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Emory University Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing
Teaching/research: Barandouzi's research focuses on symptoms science by looking at the interaction of social determinants of health with the gut-brain axis in the development/maintenance of psychoneurological symptoms to design precise interventions using AI to relieve symptoms in the cancer population.
Andrea C. Brown, DNP, FNP-C, PMHNP-BC
Senior Clinical Instructor
Previous position/institution: Nurse Practitioner, Emory University Hospital Emergency Department
Teaching/research: A dual certified family nurse practitioner (FNP) and psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner (PMHNP), Brown works to improve the integration of palliative care practices in the emergency department and implement processes promoting global mental health awareness.
Ikseon (Ike) Choi, PhD
Assistant Dean of Education Systems Science, Professor
Previous position: Professor of Learning, Design and Technology, University of Georgia College of Education
Teaching/research: Choi is a learning systems scientist exploring how people learn and solve problems. Applying artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and biosensing technology, he designs pedagogical innovations to enhance human learning and performance, advancing nursing education.
Cherie Cofield, PhD, MSN, RN
Assistant Clinical Professor
Previous position: Clinical Assistant Professor, University of Michigan
Teaching/research: Cofield’s emphasis is on a student-centered learning environment where teaching and learning from students is essential. Her area of scholarship is adolescents with chronic pain from sickle cell disease.
Erica N. Davis, PhD, RN
Assistant Clinical Professor
Previous position: T32 Post-doctoral Fellow, Emory University Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing
Teaching/research: Davis' research is focused on heart failure patients, symptom science, inflammation, socio-cultural perceptions, and diet. She contributes to nursing education in community health, professional development, and social determinants of health.
Sarah Febres-Cordero, PhD, RN
Assistant Professor
Previous position: Post-doctoral Fellow, Emory University Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing
Teaching/research: Febres-Cordero is a harm reduction nurse scientist and educator specializing in community collaboration and communication science to create culturally competent interventions with people who use drugs to end drug-related harm.
Alex (Aleksandr) Fedorov, PhD
Assistant Research Professor
Previous position: Ph.D. Student, Georgia Institute of Technology
Teaching/research: Federov’s research focuses on self-supervised and semi-supervised multimodal representation learning, aiming to develop foundation models that ensure robust and fair medical artificial intelligence systems across diverse healthcare data.
Rick Goranflo, EdD
Director of Academic Advancement, Assistant Professor of Practice
Previous position: Assistant Dean for Assessment, Evaluation and Quality Improvement, Oregon Health & Science University School of Nursing
Teaching/research: Goranflo is interested in issues that influence faculty job satisfaction and motivation.
Yufen Lin, PhD, RN
Assistant Professor
Previous position: Post-doctoral Fellow, Emory University Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing
Teaching/research: Lin’s research interests focus on cancer symptom science and management, omics science, innovative interventions (e.g., technology-based interventions), and health disparities and health equity.
Catherine Lucid, DNP, ACNP, RN, AOCNP, CNEcl
Assistant Clinical Professor
Previous position: Bone Marrow Transplant Nurse Practitioner, HCA TriStar Sarah Cannon Center for Blood Cancers, Nashville, Tenn.
Teaching/research: Lucid’s work involves the future use of flipping the classroom and active learning extended beyond nursing education and into the patient setting in the adult oncology population.
Erick McNair, PhD, MSc, CCP, FICA
Cardiovascular Perfusion Program Director, Associate Research Professor
Previous position: Assistant Professor, University of Saskatchewan Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Department of Surgery (Division of Cardiovascular Surgery); Clinical Perfusionist, Saskatchewan Health Authority.
Teaching/research: McNair has taught undergraduate, graduate and medical students in cardiovascular disease. His area of research involves the discovery of novel biomarkers of acute kidney injury in patients undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass-supported cardiac surgery.
Foster Osei Baah, PhD, RN
Assistant Professor
Previous position: Marshall W. Nirenberg Postdoctoral Fellow, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute/National Institutes of Health
Teaching/research: Osei Baah’s research program focuses on the social determinants of cardiovascular health behavior, cardiometabolic disease risk, and the self-care of chronic cardiovascular diseases in marginalized populations, with the goal of designing interventions that enhance health behavior and promote equity.
Courtney Pitts, DNP, MPH, FNP-BC, FAANP
FNP Specialty Director, Clinical Professor
Previous position: Professor and FNP Program Director, Vanderbilt University School of Nursing
Teaching/research: Pitt’s scholarly interests include HIV and primary care, racial and ethnic diversity in NP education and the nursing workforce, improving access to care in rural and underserved areas, and promoting advocacy and public policy engagement among nurses through nursing education.
Michael Smart, PhD, FNP-C, AGPCNP-C
Assistant Clinical Professor
Previous position: Clinical Instructor, VA Primary Care, Atlanta
Teaching/research: Smart’s work has involved providing clinical supervision and coordination for adult gerontology primary care nurse practitioner and family nurse practitioner programs. His research involves peer support in chronic disease management within the veteran population.
Marissa Terry, DNP, APRN, CPNP-AC
Assistant Clinical Professor
Previous position: Clinical Assistant Professor of Nursing, Kennesaw State University
Teaching/research: Terry will be an Equity and Inclusion Teaching Fellow, focusing on fostering inclusive educational and workplace environments. In addition to her work at Kennesaw State, she is an acute-care pediatric nurse practitioner, complemented by her involvement at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta's Scottish Rite Campus.
Heather Wensil Venrick, DNP, FNP-C
Assistant Clinical Professor
Previous position: Clinical Instructor, Appalachian State University
Teaching/research: Venrick works in the FNP program at Emory as a site visitor and a course coordinator or co-coordinator. She has published work on getting children more physically active and increasing outdoor time. Her other research interest includes resilience in registered nurses and improving nursing academic experiences.
Brian White, MS, RN, CCP, LP
Cardiovascular Perfusion Program Assistant Director and Clinical Coordinator; Clinical Instructor
Previous position: Cardiovascular perfusionist, Wellstar Kennestone Regional Medical Center, Marietta, Ga.
Teaching/research: White helped to build and launch the ECMO program at Kennestone and assisted in building the educational training program for ECMO nurse specialists. He has also lectured for medical and pharmaceutical companies at national conferences as well as perfusion schools across the country.
About the School of Nursing
As one of the nation's top nursing schools, the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University is committed to educating visionary nurse leaders and scholars. Ranked the No. 1 master's, No. 2 BSN, and No. 6 DNP programs in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, the school has been recognized as a Center of Excellence in Nursing Education by the National League of Nursing. The school offers undergraduate, master’s, doctoral and non-degree programs, bringing together cutting-edge resources, distinguished faculty, top clinical experiences, and access to leading health care partners to shape the future of nursing and impact the world's health and well-being. Learn more at nursing.emory.edu.