The work of eight University of Miami School of Nursing and Health Studies doctoral students and their advisors stood out at the University of Miami 2026 Graduate and Postdoctoral Research Symposium, March 18.
Professor Rosina Cianelli was excited to learn that Theodora Tertus, B.S.N., RN, one of her two Ph.D. in nursing science advisees participating in the event, won the oral presentation prize in the "Social and Behavioral Sciences" category. Tertus's award-winning talk, "The Divided Self and Intimate Partner Violence among Black Women," proved an impressive follow-up to her first-place poster win from last year's symposium.
Associate Professor of Clinical Nicole Gonzaga Gomez was equally enthusiastic to share that her mentee, Christopher Lay, B.S.N., RN, a third-year student in the D.N.P. Nurse Anesthesia Program, was the only Doctor of Nursing Practice student among Ph.D. students to win first place recognition in the "Health/Life Science" category for his poster presentation, "Reducing Perioperative Aspiration Risk Using Gastric Ultrasound." Nurse anesthesia program director Greta Mitzova-Vladinov said Lay's project has been successfully implemented at Jackson South Medical Center to reduce aspiration risk during anesthesia, and that he and fellow SRNA-3 Emma Mullen will represent the school at eMerge Americas 2026 this April.
The other nursing science Ph.D. students who presented at the annual event included:
- Philemon Buadee, B.S.N., RN: "Translation and Validation of the Modern Homonegativity Scale among Spanish-Speaking LGBTQ Caregivers Sample" (faculty advisor: Joseph DeSantis).
- Karen Daniela Neira Fernández, B.S.N., M.S.N.: "Online Health Information-Seeking and Breastfeeding Beliefs, Intentions, and Practices: A Narrative Review" (faculty advisor: Cynthia Lebron). She was awarded a prestigious University of Miami Fellowship from the Graduate School last year.
- Abdul-Manaf Mutaru, M.P.H., B.S.N., RN: "Healthy Mothers-Healthy Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial for Obesity Prevention Among Hispanic Mothers and Children" (faculty advisor: Hudson Santos). Mutaru was recently accepted into the prestigious NIH-funded Advanced Research Training (ART) program at Emory University's Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, designed to shape the next generation of health equity leaders.
- Gagbe Charles Nukunu, B.S.N., RN: "The Impact of Race, Sexual Identity and Sexual Orientation on Healthcare Experiences of Mistreatment and Discrimination of LGBTQ+ Adults in Miami-Dade County" (faculty advisor: Karina Gattamorta). Nukunu was awarded a University of Miami Fellowship last year, has received support to attend the 2026 Biomedical HIV Prevention Summit in Chicago this April, and recently was notified of his acceptance into the prestigious NIH-funded Advanced Research Training (ART) program at Emory University's Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing.
- Macarena Calderón Silva, M.P.H.: "Socioecological Facts Associated with HIV Risk among Latina Transgender Women in the Americas: A Scoping Review" (faculty advisor: Rosina Cianelli).
- Lina Paola Buitrago Ubaque, B.S.N., RN: "Cardiometabolic Biomarkers Performance for Early Detection of Metabolic Risk in Hispanic Pediatric Population" (faculty advisor: Arsham Alamian).
"It was gratifying to see our school so well represented at the symposium," said Professor Victoria Behar-Zusman, the Ph.D. program director. "I want to congratulate our Ph.D. students. They make us proud. I also want to thank our faculty for their dedication to mentoring and advising students, for supporting them at the event, and for promoting the efforts of all University participants by acting as judges."
