People Group Archives: EMBRACE Lab

Chitra “Chippy” Banarjee serves as a graduate research assistant in Dr. Ladda Thiamwong’s EMBRACE Lab at the UCF College of Nursing while pursuing a joint MD/PhD degree at the College of Medicine. She has a broad background in biochemical and biobehavioral research, with specific training and interest in using computational techniques to process and analyze […]

PhD candidate Eunice Ojo, DNP, RN, CV-BC, PCCN, researches technology-based fall risk assessment, fall prevention and health disparities among older adults as a graduate research assistant in Dr. Ladda Thiamwong’s EMBRACE Lab at the UCF College of Nursing. Through her work, she has contributed significantly to improving the recruitment of older adults for research, the […]

A graduate research assistant in the EMBRACE Lab under the mentorship of Dr. Ladda Thiamwong, Patria Marcano Maldonado is passionate about working with data — collecting, organizing and making sense of it. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in data analysis with the goal of using analytical tools to drive innovation and solve real-world […]

Kworweinski Lafontant is an NSCA-certified strength coach and an ACSM-certified exercise physiologist and personal trainer from Orlando, Florida. As a master’s student at the University of South Florida, he served as research coordinator for the Physique & Performance Enhancement Lab under the mentorship of Dr. Bill Campbell. Lafontant is currently completing his PhD in Kinesiology […]

Jethro Raphael Suarez is a Biomedical Engineering PhD student in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in UCF’s College of Engineering and Computer Science. As a Graduate Research Assistant in the College of Nursing, he manages all physical activity measurement devices in the EMBRACE Lab, overseeing their continuous operation and maintenance. Suarez’s research focuses […]

Dr. Dahee Kim is a postdoctoral scholar working with Professor Ladda Thiamwong. Her research interests include diversity and intersectionality in aging and older families; community-based prevention/intervention programs, stress-coping strategies, resilience, health literacy, emotional wellbeing, measurement development and the life course perspective. Education Selected Awards & Honors Selected Professional Activities

Nurse, researcher and educator Michael Joseph “MJ” Diño, who works under Professor Ladda Thiamwong in the EMBRACE Lab, specializes in health informatics, educational technologies, robotics, human-computer interaction, mixed reality, artificial intelligence and academic integrity. He is an Apple Distinguished Educator (ADE) and the first Asian to win the Nurse in the Limelight Innovator Award given […]

Dr. Abigail Tice is a postdoctoral scholar in the UCF College of Nursing on Dr. Ladda Thiamwong’s research team. Tice focuses her work on healthy aging and working with older adults in the community. She is interested in finding lifestyle-based therapeutic modalities to correct circadian misalignment in older adults. Education Selected Awards & Honors

Carla Leinbach is a first-year PhD student in the College of Nursing. As Director of Community Partnerships and Participant Relations for the Enhancing Mind-body Resilience for Aging with Cultural Equity (EMBRACE) Lab, she connects with participants and develops partnerships across Florida. Leinbach’s research interests include motivation, cognitive reframing, and how neural-net-based artificial intelligence adoption impacts […]

Janet Lopez is a nurse scientist who is dedicated to addressing health inequities through a comprehensive approach. She focuses on developing innovative strategies to improve health outcomes for underserved communities. After completing her post-doctoral fellowship at the Veterans Rural Health Resource Center (VRHRC) in Gainesville, Florida, she concentrated on promoting health equity among rural Veterans […]