I am a graduate of the University of South Florida (USF) College of Nursing and Public Health with a BS, MS, MPH (Maternal & Child), & Ph.D. (Nursing). I have been a nurse for 17 years and a family nurse practitioner since 2007 when I completed a post-master’s FNP certificate at USF. I have taught nursing for the past eleven years in some capacity at all level of students except doctoral students in several venues, including clinical practice, traditional and hybrid classroom, and in the online setting.

I am a practicing nurse practitioner. I have practiced in a variety of settings such as primary care, GI, home health, telehealth, corrections, & sexual assulat to name a few. Thus the skills that I have acquired over the years are diverse to work in any setting. I currently work for US Customs and Border Protection providing care to detainees and asylum seekers.

I also participate in research. My research interests are health disparities, obesity, microaggressions, and weight stigma, to name a few. My dissertation research explored the psychosocial outcomes of weight stigma among college students. I aspire to attend law school in the future to obtain a JD in advocacy to better advocate for my patients given the changing healthcare landscape. My short-term aspiration is to obtain additional certifications in psych-mental and geriatrics as a nurse practitioner.