People Group Archives: Research Areas

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 Healthy Aging Lab, overseeing their continuous operation and maintenance. Suarez’s research […]

The first in his community to earn a PhD, David Asakitogum was originally educated as a nurse at the Bolgatanga Nursing Training College in his native Ghana. Over the next 15 years, he served as a nurse clinician and nurse educator in five rural districts in Ghana, advocating for prevention of malaria in pregnancy, prevention […]

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 […]

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” Dino specializes in health informatics, gerotechnology, educational technologies, robotics, human-computer interaction (HCI), extended reality (XR), artificial intelligence (AI), and academic integrity. He is an Apple Distinguished Educator (ADE) and the first Asian to win the Nurse in the Limelight Innovator Award given by Connecting-Nurses in partnership with the […]

Dr. Kailei Yan is a postdoctoral scholar working with Professor Victoria Loerzel. Her research interests include symptom management among cancer populations, behavioral studies, and technology-based interventions. Education Selected Awards & Honors Selected Professional Activities

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. Leinbach plays a key role in connecting with research participants and developing partnerships across Florida. Leinbach’s research interests include motivation, cognitive reframing, and how neural-net-based artificial intelligence adoption impacts intrinsic motivation. Education

Kimberly Navarro is a Certified Nurse Midwife and Board Certified Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner who is passionate about providing high quality care, ameliorating maternal health racial inequities, combating maternal mortality and promoting the normalcy of pregnancy. She has over 15 years of experience in women’s health and has been involved in serving her community and […]