FCN Welcomes New Faculty

(From left) Drs. Jennifer Brown, Kathleen Monforto, Monika Pogorzelska-Maziarz, Patrina Sexton-Topper, Miranda McPhillips, Jesse Wool, Gwendolyn Hamid, Patti Kostelnak

Gwendolyn Hamid, PhD, MSN, RN
Clinical Assistant Professor  

An adjunct instructor in the College of Nursing since 2015, Dr. Gwendolyn Hamid received both her MSN and her PhD at FCN. She worked as a graduate assistant while earning her master's degree, tutoring at-risk students across the nursing curriculum. Dr. Hamid earned her BSN as a second degree from Thomas Jefferson University; her first undergraduate degrees are in biology and English literature from Rosemont College.

Dr. Hamid returns to Villanova full-time after serving as a faculty member and course leader at Cabrini University, where she assisted in the development of policies and procedures for its BSN program. She is currently working on a National Institutes of Health-funded randomized controlled trial (RCT) with principal investigators Helene Moriarty, PhD, RN, FAAN, Professor, Diane & Robert Moritz Jr. Endowed Chair in Nursing Research, and Laraine Winter, PhD, senior research associate.

Miranda Varrasse McPhillips, PhD, RN
Eastwood Family Endowed Assistant Professor

Improving sleep and health-related quality of life in older adults is the focus of Dr. McPhillip’s research, as she develops and tests nonpharmacological interventions for insomnia in diverse older adults with mild cognitive impairment. She also collaborates with a multidisciplinary team on a national initiative that entails a multi-site evaluation of the implementation of asynchronous, case-based sleep education modules for nurse practitioners.

Dr. McPhillips earned her BSN and MSN at the Pennsylvania State University and her PhD at the University of Pennsylvania. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship through a Ruth L. Kirschstein NRSA T32, focused on training in Sleep and Sleep Disorders at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine Center for Sleep and Circadian Neurobiology as well as a predoctoral research fellowship (Ruth L. Kirschstein NRSA T32) focused on Training in Individualized Care for At-Risk Older Adults from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, New Courtland Center for Transitions and Health. Dr. McPhillips has worked as a Senior Lecturer and Simulation Education Specialist at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing.

Kathleen Monforto, PhD, RN
Visiting Clinical Associate Professor

Dr. Monforto earned her PhD and a Post-Master’s Certificate in Nursing Education at FCN and received her MSN and BSN from Georgetown University. She comes to the College of Nursing from La Salle University where she had been since 2018.  She has also worked in various roles at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia for more than 20 years and last fall collaborated with colleagues from CHOP to create a 15-week BSN Pediatric Course for VinUniversity in Hanoi, Vietnam, in partnership with nursing faculty from the University of Pennsylvania. 

With areas of interest in pediatric nursing and nursing education, Dr. Monforto is finalizing an integrative, collaborative review describing learning activities used within baccalaureate nursing curricula to foster awareness of diversity, equity and inclusion in nursing care. She also recently coauthored a chapter about pediatric nursing to be included in a book about extraordinary nursing practice. The manuscript is currently under peer review.

Monika Pogorzelska-Maziarz, PhD, MPH, CIC, FAPIC, FSHEA, FACE
Professor

An epidemiologist and health services researcher, Dr. Pogorzelska-Maziarz focuses her work on improving patient safety, particularly in preventing health care-associated infections (HAI), enhancing the infection prevention workforce and promoting antibiotic stewardship. Her primary research study, funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, aims to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted infection prevention and control departments and rates of HAIs in acute care hospitals. The National Institutes of Health has also funded her research study, The Paycheck Protection Program and Its Effects on Staffing and the Outcomes of Residents Living with Dementia.

Dr. Pogorzelska-Maziarz, who brings teaching experience in schools of nursing at the DNP and PhD levels, earned her BA in Natural Sciences (magna cum laude) from Fordham University, a Master of Public Health and PhD in Epidemiology (with distinction) from Columbia University. She is a Fellow in the American College of Epidemiology, the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology and the Association of Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology. 

Patrina Sexton Topper, PhD, MS, RN
Assistant Professor

Dr. Sexton Topper earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University of Dayton and Master of Science in Bioethics from Columbia University before going on to the University of Pennsylvania to earn her BSN, a PhD in Nursing and a Graduate Certificate in Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies.

A qualitative research consultant and adjunct faculty member at Penn Nursing before joining the FCN, she has taught undergraduate and graduate students in Public and Community Health Nursing Science, Sociocultural Influences on Health, Psychological Social Diversity in Health and Wellness, Social Determinants of Health, LGBT Health Coursework and Research Methods. Dr. Sexton Topper is involved in research studies related to nursing care for birthing people from minoritized populations and the use of health navigation services among transgender and gender diverse people with access to insurance. 

Jesse Wool, PhD, MBE, RN
Assistant Professor

Most recently an Assistant Professor at La Salle University, Dr. Wool connects his research interests largely to his experience at the bedside, after having served as a pediatric nurse at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for several years. He has found that ethical quandaries in the pediatric intensive care environment are common, frequently including complex health care decisions made by parents and caregivers in crisis. Dr. Wool and his research team developed a six-item scale with strong psychometric properties to measure parent-perceived miscommunication with health care providers, enabling clinicians and researchers to examine communication practices from a variety of viewpoints.

Dr. Wool earned his BSN from the University of Pittsburgh. He received a Master of Bioethics and PhD in Nursing from the University of Pennsylvania.