People Group Archives: Dissertation Chairs

Olajumoke (Jummy) Ojeleye is a nurse‑midwife, maternal and child health nurse scientist, and perinatal mental health professional, whose work spans clinical practice, academic scholarship, and community‑engaged research. Her research focuses on advancing maternal and perinatal mental health, with a particular emphasis on improving the experiences and outcomes of pregnant and parenting adolescents. Her scholarship reflects […]

Jian (Frank) Zou is an associate professor of statistics at UCF’s College of Nursing. His research interests include time series, high dimensional statistical inference, biosurveillance, spatial statistics and Bayesian analysis for risk management, as well as applications in AI (artificial intelligence) and data science. His work has been published in both statistics journals and data […]

Kaitlyn Rechenberg is an associate professor at the University of Central Florida College of Nursing. She is a board-certified pediatric nurse practitioner and pediatric mental health specialist with 10 years of clinical experience working with adolescents and young adults. She is an expert in conducting interventional research with adolescents and young adults living with chronic […]

Sergi Garcia-Retortillo is an assistant professor at UCF’s College of Nursing with expertise in exercise physiology, electrophysiology, exercise testing, and physiological network analysis. His research centers on the emerging field of network physiology, which seeks to understand how physiological systems interact as an integrated network to sustain function. He investigates the fundamental principles regulating interactions […]

Marissa “Mari” Mackiewicz is an assistant professor at UCF’s College of Nursing and a nurse scientist whose work focuses on ensuring all older adults have access to healthcare. Her research interests include substance use disorders and unmet oral health needs in older adult populations. Prior to joining UCF, Mackiewicz held post-doctoral positions at the University […]

Jenna M. Wheeler is an assistant professor at UCF’s College of Nursing. As a practicing registered nurse with nearly 15 years of experience in the neonatal intensive care unit, she has witnessed firsthand the effect of preterm birth on families. Wheeler’s research focuses on the mother-father relationship and mental health during pregnancy utilizing a mixed […]

Nurse, researcher, and educator Michael Joseph “MJ” Dino specializes in health informatics, gerotechnology, educational technologies, robotics, human-computer interaction (HCI), extended reality (XR), artificial intelligence (AI), and academic integrity. He is part of the Delphi Group, which pioneered the new definition of Nursing and Nurses at the International Council of Nurses, and past president of the […]

Professor Susan Mac Leod Dyess has more than 30 years of academic, clinical, and administrative experience and is a nationally recognized leader in interprofessional education, curricular design, and holistic nursing. She is known for her solution-oriented leadership and impactful community-based participatory action research. Her work integrates caring science, human-centered design, and systems thinking to transform […]

Sharon Tucker, a distinguished scholar in psychiatric mental health nursing and evidence-based practice, is the dean of the College of Nursing at the University of Central Florida and Orlando Health Endowed Chair in Nursing. Tucker joined UCF as a professor and chair of the Department of Nursing Practice in 2024. Her leadership experience spans more […]

Janet Lopez is an assistant professor at UCF’s College of Nursing and a nurse scientist dedicated to promoting healthy aging. Her work focuses on improving outcomes for older adults, caregivers and veterans, with particular attention to rural and underserved communities. Her research and scholarship integrates community-engaged approaches to address fall risk, frailty, mental health and […]