Speakers

Marta Okoniewski, MPA
Director of Student Engagement
AACN

Marta Okoniewski, MPA, is the Director of Student Engagement at the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). She led the development, launch, and growth of the GNSA, a national network providing high value programs, services, and resources to nursing students enrolled in master’s and doctoral programs. Prior to joining AACN, Ms. Okoniewski worked as the Program Coordinator at New York University College of Nursing within the Academic and Clinical Affairs Department. She received her master’s in public administration from New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and her bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Scranton.

 

Anne Pearson, BA
Student Services Coordinator
AACN

Anne Pearson is the Student Services Coordinator at the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). She supports graduate nursing students across the country through the Graduate Nursing Student Academy (GNSA) and Liaison leadership program. She has a background in education equity policy research and received her baccalaureate degree in political science from Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky.  

Speakers

Marta Okoniewski, MPA
Director of Student Engagement
AACN

Marta Okoniewski, MPA, is the Director of Student Engagement at the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). She led the development, launch, and growth of the GNSA, a national network providing high value programs, services, and resources to nursing students enrolled in master’s and doctoral programs. Prior to joining AACN, Ms. Okoniewski worked as the Program Coordinator at New York University College of Nursing within the Academic and Clinical Affairs Department. She received her master’s in public administration from New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and her bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Scranton.

 

Anne Pearson, BA
Student Services Coordinator
AACN

Anne Pearson is the Student Services Coordinator at the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). She supports graduate nursing students across the country through the Graduate Nursing Student Academy (GNSA) and Liaison leadership program. She has a background in education equity policy research and received her baccalaureate degree in political science from Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky.  

Speakers

Brittany Hay, DNP, APRN, ANP-BC, FNP-BC
Assistant Professor
University of South Florida

Dr. Brittany Hay is an assistant professor at the University of South Florida, lead director of the nurse practitioner concentrations, and director of the adult-gerontology primary care nurse practitioner concentration. She has extensive experience in the advanced practice nurse role caring for patients and families prior to becoming faculty. As a DNP, she has engaged in multiple successful systems level initiatives utilizing evidence-based practice and quality improvement approaches. Dr. Hay has advanced education and scholarship in diagnostic reasoning and teaching. She leverages competency-based educational strategies to support student development of the requisite knowledge, skills, and attitudes for successful contemporary practice.

Speakers

Dawn Mueller-Burke, PhD, CRNP, NNP-BC
Assistant Professor/Neonatal Nurse Practitioner
University of Maryland Baltimore
University of Maryland Medical Center

Dr. Mueller-Burke has a clinical focus in the Neonatal Intensive Care arena where she spent most of her career as a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON) PhD program with a focus in neonatal neurophysiology. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Johns Hopkins University in a developmental genetics laboratory with a focus in stem cell biology. Her research sought to better understand neonatal brain injury and to identify potential interventions, including hypothermia and stem cell therapy to improve outcomes after neonatal brain injury. She shifted her focus to leadership and educational-based endeavors once joining the faculty at the University of Maryland School of Nursing in 2004 where she teaches across degree programs, specifically in the NNP program. She is nationally certified as a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner, with a per diem practice in the NICU at the University of Maryland Medical Center. In 2011 she served as the Faculty Chair of the DNP Transition Task Force incorporating the AACN Essentials, leading all the APN Master’s specialties at UMSON to the doctorate (DNP) beginning Fall 2014. She is currently the Chair of the New Essentials Curricular Revisions Taskforce at UMSON, with a targeted implementation of the graduate programs in the Fall of 2024.

Speakers

Emerson Ea
Clinical Associate Professor
Associate Dean, Clinical & Adjunct Faculty Affairs
New York University

Dr. Emerson Ea is the associate dean and a clinical associate professor at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing. His scholarship interest areas include nursing education and innovation, immigrant health and well-being, and cardiovascular health. He has published on topics related to work and personal outcomes among internationally educated nurses, Filipino immigrant health, gerontologic nursing, and nursing education and practice. Dr. Ea was part of the inaugural cohort of the American Academy of Nursing Jonas Policy Scholars, working with the Cultural Competence and Health Equity Expert Panel (2014–2016).

Dr. Ea is chair of the Kalusugan Coalition, a community organization that aims to promote cardiovascular health among Filipino Am ericans in the New York metropolitan area, and chair of the Education Committee of the Philippine Nurses Association of America.

Dr. Ea earned a PhD in nursing from Duquesne University, DNP from Case Western Reserve University, MS in adult health from Long Island University, and BSN from the University of St. La Salle, Philippines.

Karyn L. Boyar, DNP, FNP-BC, RN, CNE
Clinical Assistant Professor
New York University

Karyn Boyar is an assistant clinical professor at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing, the director for the Master in Clinical Nursing Research Program as well as a Certified Nurse Educator. As an educator and family nurse practitioner specializing in neurology and long-term care, she teaches both didactic and clinical courses and simulation. She has over 20 years of experience in healthcare and over ten years of experience in the clinical care and management of patients with Parkinson’s disease and Dystonia.

Before joining the faculty at NYU, Boyar was the clinical specialty coordinator at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the designated outreach coordinator for the National Parkinson Center of Excellence at the Robert and John M. Benheim Center for Movement Disorders.

Boyar earned her DNP from Pace University and MS and BS in nursing science from Pace University. Currently, she serves on the board of directors of the IARCN (International Association of Clinical Research Nurses) as a member-at-large.

Her current scholarship focuses on bringing Design Thinking Models to life for undergraduate students in the large classroom. She has presented her work on Design Thinking on the local, national and international levels and has contributed several book chapters disseminating this innovation in teaching.

Mary Jo Vetter, DNP, RN, AGPCNP-BC, FAANP
Clinical Associate Professor
Director of the DNP Program
New York University

Mary Jo Vetter is a Clinical Associate Professor and Director of the DNP Program at NYU Meyers College of Nursing. She engages in clinical practice as the founder of VetterAPN Consulting promoting clinical and care management strategies to support successful aging in place. Dr. Vetter has expertise in evidence-based quality improvement, establishing cutting-edge NP led, primary care services in the community, and virtual care delivery. She has a proven track record of innovation in practice and education that focuses on promoting the nurse practitioner as leader. She has received awards and accolades for her contributions to clinical academic partnerships, advancing and leading the profession, and transforming advanced practice nursing.

Stacen Keating, PhD, RN
Clinical Associate Professor
New York University

Stacen A. Keating is a Clinical Associate Professor at NYU's Rory Meyers College of Nursing. Dr. Keating teaches across programs in both the undergraduate, graduate and doctoral departments (DNP). She has established competencies in Instructional Design as well as Design Thinking (DT). Design Thinking is a means of teaching nurses a framework of creative thinking and innovation and has established a process for utilizing this framework within her public health classes. Her areas of scholarship interest are further focused on global public health. She has written numerous publications related to both educator and student needs. A key focus has been to assist nurse educators and students attain access to the most evidenced based resources to achieve excellence within professional nursing practice. Dr. Keating is on the Nursing Advisory Board for Nurses International, a 501c3 organization devoted to providing excellence in global nursing education, especially in countries with limited resources. Dr. Keating has developed educational products in collaboration with colleagues at Nurses International which are open access resources and are readily available at Nu rses international's main website. Key courses relate to: oncology nursing, fundamentals of nursing and medical surgical nursing. Additional courses taught at NYU include: Community/Public Health Nursing (UG), Applied Epidemiology (DNP), Environment and the Health of Populations (G) and Psych Nursing (UG, simulation).