Jennifer Alwine, BSN, RN

Predoctoral Fellow

Program: Advanced Training in Self-Management Interventions for Serious Chronic Conditions (T32)

Faculty Advisor: Kelly Wierenga, PhD, MSN, BSN, RN, FAHA

Jennifer is a predoctoral research fellow who is passionate about supporting self-management among individuals with type 2 diabetes. She is interested in how health beliefs and family health communication influence individuals’ self-management of their type 2 diabetes. Jennifer has worked as a research assistant at Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University School of Nursing for four years, contributing to numerous studies and serving as a nurse interventionist. She aims to develop educational interventions and health campaigns that promote diabetes self-management and aid individuals in avoiding complications. In 2020, Jennifer graduated from Indiana University with a bachelor's degree in Nursing with honors and highest distinction.

Martha Grace Cromeens, JD, PhD, RN

Postdoctoral Fellow

Program: The Center for Enhancing Quality of Life in Chronic Illness (CEQL)

Faculty Advisor: Janet S. Carpenter, PhD, RN, FAAN

Anna K. Forster, PhD, RN

Postdoctoral Fellow

Program: Advanced Training in Self-Management Interventions for Serious Chronic Conditions (T32)

Faculty Advisor: Kelly Wierenga, PhD, MSN, BSN, RN, FAHA

Dr. Anna Forster is a T32 postdoctoral fellow building a program of research that aims to improve chronic disease outcomes by addressing physical activity behaviors in older adults. She earned her PhD in Nursing from Purdue University in 2022. As a past Robert Wood Johnson Future of Nursing Scholar, Dr. Forster’s dissertation work focused on how wives’ daily physical activity is influenced by both their own and their husbands’ positive affect. Currently, she is continuing her work surrounding affect and physical activity in older adults through project collaborations with her mentor team (led by Dr. Kelly Wierenga), continued course work, and development of a pilot study. She is an active member of Sigma and the Gerontological Society of America. In her spare time, Dr. Forster enjoys cross-stitching and playing the piano.

Elizabeth Harman, PhD, MT-BC

Postdoctoral Fellow

Program: Interdisciplinary Training in Cancer Prevention and Control (NCI T32)

Faculty Advisor: Sheri L. Robb, PhD, MT-BC

Elizabeth Harman, PhD, MT-BC is a clinical music therapist and researcher from Cincinnati, OH. Elizabeth received her master's degree (2011) and PhD (2021) at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. Elizabeth's research interests include music-based interventions to mitigate the impact of medical trauma and toxic stress for pediatric oncology patients and developing low-burden, clinically relevant research in medical music therapy.

Sherita House, PhD, RN, CCRN

Postdoctoral Fellow

Program: Dean's Diversity Fellows

Faculty Advisor: Robin Newhouse, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN

Dr. Sherita House obtained a Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is a postdoctoral fellow at Indiana University School of Nursing and a Nurse Corps Officer in the U.S. Navy reserves. Her research interests are health systems research and staff outcomes in civilian and military hospitals. Her current research focuses on intervention development using a relational coordination training intervention to improve staff outcomes among healthcare professionals in the intensive care unit.

Jonas Ndeke, MD, MPH

Predoctoral Fellow

Program: Interdisciplinary Training in Cancer Prevention and Control (NCI T32)

Faculty Advisor: Juhua Luo, PhD

Jonas Ndeke comes to us from Central Michigan University, where he graduated with a Master's in Public Health. He holds a graduate certificate in secondary teaching and a medical degree from the University of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He is currently an Epidemiology Ph.D. student within the School of Public Health at Indiana University Bloomington. He's part of our Interdisciplinary Training in Behavioral Oncology T32 program, which allows him to continue researching evidence-based epidemiological approaches to improve cancer prevention and outcomes, particularly among underserved populations. He enjoys traveling, watching documentary films, and playing soccer in his spare time.

Wilberforce Osei, PharmD

Predoctoral Fellow

Program: Community Outreach and Engagement Diversity Scholars

Faculty Advisor: Todd Skaar, PhD

Wilberforce obtained a Doctor of Pharmacy at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences at Boston. He is currently a Clinical Pharmaceutical Science Ph.D. Student within the School of Pharmacy at Purdue University.  His current research focuses on the discovery and implementation of genomic predictors of drug response. In his spare time, he enjoys watching basketball, playing soccer, and traveling.

Michelle L. Mravec, BSN, RN

Predoctoral Fellow

Program: Advanced Training in Self-Management Interventions for Serious Chronic Conditions (T32)

Faculty Advisor: Wendy Trueblood Miller, PhD, RN, CNS, CCRN, FAAN, FAES

Michelle is a PhD student and predoctoral fellow who earned her BSN from Indiana University in 2018. She knew she wanted to pursue nursing research after being introduced to the research process in her Undergraduate Honors Nursing Program. She immediately began her graduate coursework, worked clinically as a neonatal intensive care nurse, and worked as a research assistant for a year after graduating. In her second year of graduate school, Michelle received the T32 fellowship "Advanced Training in Self-Management Interventions for Serious Chronic Conditions" and decided to step away from working clinically to focus solely on graduate school. Her research interest is focused on better understanding and improving bowel self-management for adults with spina bifida. She is an active member of several professional organizations including Midwest Nursing Research Society and the Spina Bifida Association.

Margaret Sposato, MSN, MA, RN

Predoctoral Fellow

Program: Advanced Training in Self-Management Interventions for Serious Chronic Conditions (T32)

Faculty Advisor: Wendy Trueblood Miller, PhD, RN, CNS, CCRN, FAAN, FAES

Betsey Zenk Nuseibeh, MM, MEd, MT-BC

Predoctoral Fellow

Program: Interdisciplinary Training in Cancer Prevention and Control (NCI T32)

Faculty Advisor: Sheri L. Robb, PhD, MT-BC

Betsey is a predoctoral research fellow building a program of research at the intersection of cancer survivorship, stress reduction and music therapy.  She is interested in how the reduction of stress through active participation in music can affect feelings of loneliness for cancer survivors. 

Betsey has worked in the field of music and music therapy for 20 years.  In 2008 Betsey founded the Cincinnati-based non-profit, Melodic Connections. She spent the next 12 years building a team of music therapists, music educators and musicians at Melodic Connections.  Together they created partnerships with key institutions in the city like the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, The Alzheimer’s Association of Greater Cincinnati, and Cincinnati Public Schools.  In 2020, 2021 and 2022 she has been a regular speaker at professional conferences, conceptualizing the intersection of music and resilience for the practitioner.

Betsey received her BM in Music Therapy from the University of Iowa. She has an MM in Oboe Performance from University of Cincinnati, College Conservatory of Music and her MEd from University of Cincinnati in Special Education.

Andrea Tanner, PhD, RN, NCSN

Postdoctoral Fellow

Program: Advanced Training in Self-Management Interventions for Serious Chronic Conditions (T32)

Faculty Advisor: Wendy Trueblood Miller, PhD, RN, CNS, CCRN, FAAN, FAES

Tanner is a T32 postdoctoral fellow and school nurse researcher eager to address the mental health of children and adolescents. With two decades of school nursing experience, Tanner brings a unique lens to researching a troubling mental health condition, Functional Neurologic Disorder, and its most common symptom of functional seizures. Her research interest is self-, family-, and school-management of functional seizures and the role school nurses can play in improving academic, mental health, and quality of life outcomes for adolescents experiencing functional seizures. Tanner's experience in school nursing practice and leadership, health and education policy, and nursing education inform her work and equip her with skills necessary to not only continue developing a critical program of research, but also prepare future nurses and inform local, state, and federal health and education policy. Tanner has been president of the Indiana Association of School Nurses, consulting research strategist for the National Association of School Nurses, and a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Breakthrough Leader in Nursing. Tanner earned her PhD from Indiana University, where she was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Future of Nursing Scholar and received the honors of IUPUI Elite 50 and Chancellor's Scholar.

Katelyn Webster-Dekker, PhD, RN

Postdoctoral Fellow

Program: Advanced Training in Self-Management Interventions for Serious Chronic Conditions (T32)

Faculty Advisors: Yvonne Lu, PhD, RN, FGSA, FAAN & Eileen Hacker, PhD, APRN, AOCN, FAAN

Katelyn Webster-Dekker is a postdoctoral research fellow focused on improving quality of life for older adults in long-term care settings such as assisted living. She aims to develop a research program using behavioral interventions for increasing physical activity, with the ultimate goal of helping older adults improve or maintain their physical function and prevent or delay the need for higher levels of care. She also has an interest in measurement methods for physical activity behaviors, particularly the use of devices to measure sedentary behavior objectively. She completed her PhD at the University of Michigan School of Nursing.